"More Than Anything Else"

In his talk The Power of Godliness, Elder Kent F. Richards quoted Joseph Smith as having said that, in the early saints' perilous circumstances, they needed the blessings of the temple "more than anything else". Elder Richards then said that the same thing could be said for us. We live in difficult times, the challenges of which may even be equal to those faced by the Mormon pioneers. We need God's blessings no less than they did, and some of God's greatest blessings are found only in the temple.

Elder Richards listed many of the blessings that the temple can offer:

Our responsibility is to “receive” that which our Father offers. “For unto him that receiveth it shall be given more abundantly, even power”: power to receive all that He can and will give us—now and eternally; power to become sons and daughters of God, to know “the powers of heaven,” to speak in His name, and to receive “the power of [His] Spirit.” These powers become available personally to each one of us through the ordinances and the covenants of the temple.

Nephi saw our day in his great vision: “I, Nephi, beheld the power of the Lamb of God, that it descended upon the saints of the church of the Lamb, and upon the covenant people of the Lord, who were scattered upon all the face of the earth; and they were armed with righteousness and with the power of God in great glory.” (Emphasis added by Elder Richards)

When I read that last scripture, 1 Nephi 14: 14, I went in to the Gospel Library App to highlight it, only to find that I already had. I want to be "armed with righteousness and with the power of God." I want to have the strength and protection I need to withstand the temptations and other perils of my day. If those blessings are found in the temple, I want to visit the temple more frequently. In fact, it may be that I need the blessings of the temple more than I need anything else.

Yesterday, I blogged about how life is hard. The blessings of power that we can get from the temple can make life much easier. We'll still have to do hard things, but God will give us the strength and power we need to do them. We all frequently need the power and protection of God in our daily lives, and the one place where we can gain the greatest access to God's power is in the temple. If we are to withstand the evils and challenges of our day, we may need the blessings of the temple more dearly than we realise. In fact, if Elder Kent F. Richards is right, we need the blessings of the temple more than anything else.

Life Has to be Hard

I strongly dislike this doctrine. I don't like that there has to be "opposition in all things" (2 Nephi 2:11). I don't like that we have to struggle in order to grow. But it's true. We need hardships in order to gain the experience we need to gain the growth that we need to fulfil the purpose of our existence.

Sure, we could avoid opposition, but in doing so, we would also avoid necessary growth. An infant that never undergoes the struggle of trying to stand and walk will never gain the muscle they need to become fully-functioning, upright human beings. Yes, I understand that some people, for reasons beyond their control, cannot walk, and yet are fully capable human beings. I simply mean to say that if we avoid opposition, we also avoid growth.

Even so, it is still somewhat tempting to try to avoid opposition, even when I know that I will miss out on opportunities to gain strength if I do so, but if there's one thing that I hate more than the fact that life is full of challenges, it's that I often find that I lack the strength I need to confidently face those challenges. I dislike hardship and I dislike weakness, but avoiding the first ensures the second. However, reducing the second will soften the blow of the first.

Gaining strength by facing opposition will take some of the edge off of the opposition we face. It's very much like exercising. If we exercise by lifting weights, that will make us stronger, which will make it easier for us to lift the weights that life forces us to carry anyway. If we exercise by walking or running, we will gradually become able to walk / run faster and farther and with less effort. Opposition gives us strength. In that sense, opposition is a good thing, but is it a necessary thing?

A few days ago, I heard a man thank God for his obligations, and I remember wondering whether or not I was grateful for my obligations. As I've admitted, I don't like that life is hard, and my obligations often require me to do things that I sometimes find difficult to do. However, I know that blessings, including strength, come from fulfilling my obligations, and I often wouldn't do those things unless I felt obligated to do them.

Most people avoid hardship when they can. People tend to take the easier of two roads or the more convenient of two options. People who avoid the challenges that they don't have to face also avoid some of the strength they could have gained from facing challenges. There are some people, myself probably included, that would avoid all, or at least most, challenges, if we could get away with it. But we can't. We need the strength that comes from facing challenges, and God knows that we wouldn't face those challenges and gain that strength unless we had to. So, God filled life with challenges so we wouldn't be able to go more than ten feet in any direction without encountering some opposition. God gave me obligations because He knew that I wouldn't rise to the challenge of doing those things I'm obligated to do unless I felt obligated to do them. He made the challenges of life almost entirely unavoidable so we would not be able to get through life without gaining some strength in the process.

Spiritual strength is necessary for our salvation and exaltation. God sent us here because we had to face challenges and gain experience in order to reach our full potential and become like Him. Life has to be difficult because we need to face challenges to gain spiritual strength, and some of us wouldn't do that unless we had to. It's still one of my least-favorite pieces of doctrine, but at least I know why it's true. God wants me to become Godlike, and I would like to become Godlike. But in order to do that, I need to face challenges that I am strongly tempted to try to avoid. That's probably part of why God made those challenges almost unavoidable. Life has to be difficult because if we could get through life without facing any difficulty, there'd be very little point in going through life at all.

The Politics of People

Elder Patrick Kearon's talk Refuge From the Storm was mostly about refugees and how we can help them. I wondered how appropriate it was for him to talk about such a politically-charged issue over the pulpit at General Conference, but then I realized that his talk wasn't political at all. He didn't pass any judgement on any of the wars or on any country's foreign policy concerning the refugees. While the nations of the world certainly have opinions about the refugees, Elder Kearon's talk about the refugees expressed no opinion on the nations of the world.

Instead, he made the issue as personal as he could. He talked about individuals and what we can do as individuals and as small groups. He asked us to be compassionate, as disciples of Christ should be. Other than approaching this subject at all, Elder Kearon said nothing that sounded to me like it didn't belong in a General Conference talk. All his talk was about kindness and service and the blessings that come, both to ourselves and to others, through our service.

Many things these days have become considered political issues, when they were moral issues first. Now, there is talk about terrorism and the allocation of resources which can distract us from the core of the issue. We are all God's children, and some of us could use help. Similar political distractions are being placed on other issues as well, such as abortion and gay marriage. When we boil those issues down to their most basic elements, we see that they are actually about people whom we should love and support, whether or not we support their choices and lifestyles. God expects us to be kind to others, no matter where any of us stand on any of the issues.

Most of the time, if not all of the time, our actions and our decisions, including our political decisions, should not be motivated by our political desires, but by our desires to be true disciples of Jesus Christ. Christ taught us to be kind and to give service. Personally, I think God could care less about our political interests, but He's far more concerned with how we treat each other. At the end of the day, it's all about people, not politics.

What to Remember - What to Forget

Elder Gerrit W. Gong's talk Always Remember Him speaks of remembering and forgetting. He said that remembering and forgetting are an important part of our eternal journey. As we gain experience here on earth, there are some things that we should always remember and bear in mind, but there are also things we would do well to forget.

We should try to remember God's commandments and promises and anything else from which we could learn, including most experiences, positive or negative. But the things we should forget are almost all linked closely to the negative experiences we should remember to learn from.

When someone sins against us, the Lord counsels us to forgive them, and the Lord, being our perfect example with forgiveness as with everything else, has said "He who has repented of his sins, the same is forgiven, and I, the Lord, remember them no more." Thus, we should probably follow His example by forgetting at least part of the memory of other's sins against us.

However, completely forgetting that the event ever took place would be unwise. If we literally did that, people would be able to take advantage of us over and over again, and some people would. Naturally, we need to remember that that person did that thing, so we can be careful not to give them the opportunity to do it again. We should remember at least that the event took place.

Also, as with any other experience, positive or negative, there are many spiritual lessons we could learn from the experience of being sinned against. For example, we could gain some perspective of the level of Christ's capacity to forgive those who have sinned against Him. We could learn practical tips of what to watch out for in the future. We can learn from other's bad example what we should do in such situations instead. We should not forget any experience until we have learned all we can from it, and there is always more to learn, so we probably should not put the experience itself out of our mind, unless it is spiritually or emotionally harmful to us.

We should, however, drive out of our mind any thoughts, including memories, that cause us spiritual or emotional harm. We will be blessed as we strive to forget the pain that others have caused us and the negative feelings we have felt toward them. Jesus was a champion of doing this. Even as the Roman soldiers were literally torturing Him to death, He ignored the pain they were causing Him and put any and all negative thoughts out of His mind, and instead felt compassion and concern for the people who were literally killing Him. I'm not sure we can do that. I'm not sure if God even expects us to try to be that forgiving. But I'm sure that it would be strongly cleansing for our souls if we could let go of pain and hurt feelings that quickly and that completely. While we should remember to gain wisdom of our experiences, we should try to let go of the pain.

It is often difficult to forget the negative feelings we have felt, and even in the worst of experiences, there are some parts that would be beneficial to remember. Knowing what to remember and what to forget is about as difficult as remembering the things we should remember and forgetting the things we should forget. But holding on to wisdom and letting go of pain can be greatly beneficial to us. If nothing else, doing so will help us gain and retain wisdom and will help us not to continue experiencing our pain. It will help us to forgive others, which can be cleansing for our souls, and it can help us to avoid such situations in the future, which will help prevent future pain. Many blessings can be gained from remembering and forgetting the right parts of our negative experiences, which is good news. Those blessings may even be worth going through the effort of earning them.

Why You Should Listen to That Little Voice Inside Your Head

The Holy Ghost is often described as speaking to us with a still, small voice. This voice often gives us guidance which we don't always fully understand. In a talk titled The Holy Ghost, Elder Robert D. Hales told of several promptings he had received and followed, despite not knowing why he was being prompted to do those things. In each case, he later learned that his actions were answers to people's prayers. The things he said were precisely what others needed to hear, despite his not knowing about their situations beforehand. The Holy Ghost knew how he could do the most good, and He prompted him, and he obeyed without question, and thus, prayers were answered.

We each receive inspiration from the Holy Ghost occasionally. Sometimes, we mistake these gems of inspired counsel for stray thoughts, thinking that the promptings are merely random impulses. But so what if they are? Suppose you got a feeling to visit someone randomly, unannounced. Is there anything wrong with that, inherently? If you catch them at a bad time, you can just apologize and arrange to meet up later. If they're not home, you can leave a note. However, if they are home, and if they could use a visit from you at about that time, acting on that "random impluse" might just be an answer to their prayers.

Granted, there are some inner voices we shouldn't listen to. Some come from the adversary, and some actually are merely our own thoughts, giving us bad ideas. We do have to question our impressions to a certain extent, but we don't necessarily have to identify the source of the impulse. We just have to discern the nature of what we're feeling prompted to do. If we feel prompted to do something good, we should do it. If we feel tempted to do something bad, we shouldn't do it. But if we can't tell whether the thing we feel like doing is good or evil, I say "Why not give it a try?"

We often don't know what God has planned. Sometimes, our place in God's plan doesn't make much sense outside of the perspective of the big picture. We may have no idea at all why we're feeling impressed to do a certain thing. But as long as we're not being prompted to do something evil, why not do it? It may be a random thought conjured up by our own minds, but why not give it a whirl? As long as it's not an evil act, the worst it could be is impulsive, and the best it could be is inspiration from God.

I'm okay with being a bit random, with doing things I feel impressed to do, whether I'm confident in the accuracy of the impression or not. As long as I'm not doing anything I know is wrong, the worst case scenario is that I act a little weird sometimes, which I already do. And the best case scenario is that I could end up following guidance that, at the time, I didn't know came directly from God.

The promptings of the Holy Ghost sometimes seem a little random, but there's nothing inherently wrong with being random. If we follow the non-evil impulses we get, we may find ourselves following the Spirit more often than we might think. Trust your impulses. You may discover that some of your "random impulses" are actually revelations from God.

The Rebuilt Cathedral

In the final talk of the Sunday Morning Session of last General Conference, President Dieter F. Uchtdorf talked about about a city that had been almost entirely destroyed by bombing. Notably, one of their great Cathedrals had been demolished, leaving little more than a loose pile of charred, stone blocks. However, those stone blocks were collected and catalogued as people picked up the pieces, both literally and figuratively, in the aftermath. Eventually, the Cathedral was rebuilt, and some of the original bricks were reused in the construction. Now, the Cathedral stands again, made mostly of white bricks, but with many blackened ones that serve as reminders of what the city and the Cathedral endured.

There are many lessons we can learn from this. We can learn that even when life completely falls apart, even if we feel that we have been damaged beyond repair, there will always be a way to pick up the pieces. As President Uchtdorf said:

[I]f man can take the ruins, rubble, and remains of a broken city and rebuild an awe-inspiring structure that rises toward the heavens, how much more capable is our Almighty Father to restore His children who have fallen, struggled, or become lost?

However, there may still be scars. We can to this world to gain experience, and not all of those experiences will be pleasant. We sometimes wish that we could forget such experiences, or that they never happened, but that would partially defeat the purpose of life. He need to keep the memories of those experiences and learn from them in order for them to help us grow. When they rebuilt the Cathedral, it was important that they kept the charred bricks as a memento.

Yet, we should remember that not everything can be reused. When life breaks us apart, that is sometimes because God wants to build us back up into something better, and not all of the bricks that make up our current selves have a permanent place in God's eternal plans. We each have some traits that we could do without, some habits that we should abandon, some vices that we should strive to overcome. We each have flaws that God would like to help us remove, and sometimes, that requires a complete remodelling, and while many of our bricks have eternal value and can be reused, many more of our bricks will need to be replaced.

Ultimately, God wants all of us to become like perfect Cathedrals, but "perfect" doesn't always mean "pristine" or "undamaged." Often, we go through unpleasant experiences, and we need God's help to build us back up. Thankfully, when God restores us, He helps us become our perfect selves, using only the parts of ourselves that make us better. When we fall apart, God puts us back together, and He builds us up even better than we were before, perhaps with a few pockmarks, but stronger and wiser for the experience. So, the next time things go badly, trust in God's ability to set things right, and trust in His wisdom to keep and reuse all and only the best parts.

After Love, Then Service

Tomorrow, I will share a brief message about love. Specifically, I'm going to share President Dieter F. Uchtdorf's message After Love, Then What? As I read over his message, a handful of topically-appropriate quotes came to mind, including "They do not love that do not show their love" (William Shakespeare), and this passage from Elder David A. Bednar's talk, More Diligent and Concerned at Home:

We should remember that saying “I love you” is only a beginning. We need to say it, we need to mean it, and most importantly we need consistently to show it. We need to both express and demonstrate love.

I can't speak for Shakespeare, but both Uchtdorf and Bednar focussed their messages on the importance of showing love and acting as motivated by love, not just feeling love or talking about love. Like faith, love is a principle of action. Just as sufficient faith can and should influence our actions, sufficient love should do so as well. If we truly, deeply love God and our fellow man, in accordance to the first and second great commandments, that love will be reflected in our actions, which will involve keeping the rest of the commandments.

We are to "love the Lord [our] God with all [our] heart[s], and with all [our] soul[s], and with all [our] mind[s]" (Matthew 22:37), and the only way we can really show that level of love is to keep the commandments. Similarly, we are to "love [our] neighbor[s] as [ourselves] (Matthew 22:39). And the only real way to do that is to show our love through our actions, mostly be serving our fellow men.

Kind feelings are a great start and should be a large part of our motivations, but true love takes more than feelings. True love takes action. President Uchtdorf illustrated that point in a parable about sons who were commanded to do something. The first refused, and then obeyed, while the other said he would do it, but then he didn't. Christ used this parable to teach that those who were righteous are the ones who actually do God's will, not those who profess love for God but then don't try to keep the commandments.

President Monson taught that love is the essence of the gospel, but merely feeling and declaring love for God and our fellow man is not enough. We must also show our love through compassionate service. If our love for God and others is sincere, it will lead us to want to serve them and to find other ways to express our love rather than merely saying that we love them. As Elder Bednar said, we do need to say that we love others, but more importantly, we must also show that we do.

Don't Count on Chickens

They say that one shouldn't count his or her chickens before they hatch, but hatching is only the first step. After hatching, a chicken has to grow to adulthood before they can start laying eggs of their own or be used for meat. In the meantime, the farmer has to invest a good deal in those chickens. It takes money to feed and house a number of chicks, and any number of those chicks might not live long enough to give the farmer a good return on their investment. That's why, while others say not to count one's chickens before they hatch, I think it may be best not to count on your chickens at all.

Suppose it costs you $100 per day to maintain your farm, and you have 100 chickens which lay an average of one egg per day, and you can sell each egg for $1 apiece. Theoretically, you should break even, but reality almost never sticks to theories. Your chickens could lay a total of more or fewer than 100 eggs on any given day. The value of eggs could vary. Any number of your chickens could die on any given day. If you're counting on each of your 100 chickens to lay one $1 egg per day, you may wake up one morning to find yourself facing severe disappointment.

Life is full of surprises and disappointment, so one shouldn't set too much stock in his or her own plans. Absolutely, you can have a plan. That's fine. But you should also have a backup plan, or be willing to be flexible and/or patient if your plans go awry. Problems often come up when we least expect them to. The trick is to make sure that the problems that upset your plans don't upset you as well.

There are other ways to make money besides raising chickens. If your chicken farm goes under, you might have to try something else for a while. You may get another chance to try and start a chicken farm later down the line, if that's what you really want to do, but you shouldn't count on anything working perfectly the first time you attempt it. It's rare for anyone to get anything right on their first try. It may be best to consider your first failed chicken farm a (probably costly) learning experience, and use what you've learned from your first attempt to help your second attempt go smoother.

But even on your second or third attempt, life is unpredictable and is going to have a lot of ups and downs. Sometimes, things just don't work out. And, yes, that can be disappointing, but they shouldn't be heartbreaking. One shouldn't set their hearts on anything that's not sure to happen, and in this world of uncertainty, it's hard to be certain of anything.

So it may be best not to set our hearts on starting a chicken farm. We never really know how things are going to turn out. So, while we may attempt to do great things and dare to have ambitious dreams, we should try not to be too devastated if not all of our chickens hatch. At least we had one or two chicks hatch, and they were cute while they were ours. Perhaps our next attempt at chicken farming will be more successful. But we shouldn't count on it.

While there is any chance of eggs not hatching, we shouldn't bet our happiness on whether our eggs hatch or not. There are very few things in life that are certain and that we can count on, and we can base our happiness on those things, but our prospects of starting a successful chicken farm are not among them. We can certainly buy more eggs later, if we want to, but next time, we should remember that we can't really count on them to hatch, so we should try not to let our hearts get broken again if they don't.

"That's What I'm Here For"

Yesterday, my catchphrase was "That's what I'm here for." I said it almost any time someone asked me to do something or thanked me for doing something. Despite the fact that I'm on vacation, I am also here to serve.

At one point, after throwing away a banana peel and claiming that that's what I was there for, my mom reminded me that I'm here to be on vacation and to have fun. I replied that that's what I said. While not strictly true, my claim that being here to serve and being here to have fun mean essentially the same thing does have a small amount of truth to it. Service can be fun, especially if you have a good attitude about it. While I don't think I'd pursue service opportunities just for fun, I do get some joy out of doing service.

Besides, I'm physically fit. I consider it my duty to help my travel companions. In fact, since God has blessed me with a certain amount of physical fitness, I consider it my duty to help just about everyone I can. It may be part of the purpose of my existence on earth, or, in other words, what I'm here for.

Whether I'm on vacation, at home, at work, or wherever I am, giving service is part of what I do, part of what I was meant to do. It's part of why I was made and why I'm here. It's what I'm here for.

Solving or Surviving Problems

This morning, one of the members of my travelling party was upset because they couldn't get the shower to work the night before. Later, another member of my group discovered that the device which we thought was a freezer didn't actually freeze all of the things inside of it. In both cases, I looked at the objects that weren't working the way we thought they should, and I discovered how they really work. I don't think it was that I was more clever than my companions. I know that they are very intelligent people. I think that the traits that I had that allowed me to solve the riddles were patience and optimism.

So often, we face challenges that confuse us or overwhelm us, and that can be terribly frustrating, but if we can endure the frustration and keep looking for solutions, we can sometimes find them after the point at which we were tempted to give up. Solving problems isn't something that can only be done by the smart or the strong. Often, problems are solved by those who keep their chin up and keep trying to work things out.

That said, there are times when it is better for a person's emotional health to just give up. When there is no solution to a particular problem, it is sometimes better to simply resolve yourself to endure it.

Whether it's better for you to continue attempting to solve a problem, or simply accept the problem and attempt to endure it, really depends on how you feel at the time. There have been moments when I kept trying too long and ended up getting terribly frustrated, and there have been times when I gave up to soon and later regretted it. You just have to know yourself. Try to figure out how much difficulty you can handle before you become frustrated, and then work at your problems until you reach that point. You don't have to frustrate yourself continuing to work on a problem that you lack the resources to solve, but you shouldn't give up too quickly, either. Only you can know when to keep trying and when to stop.

I've been blessed with a fair amount of resilience in the face of certain problems, and I try to use that blessing to try to help solve the problems of others. If you lack that resilience, you might be able to develop it, but for now, it may be best to know your emotional limits and to know when to ask for help. Also, just a reminder: Whether you have a great deal of patience and problem-solving skills or not, you can ALWAYS ask God for help. And if I'm around, feel free to ask me for help, too.

Why We Pay Tithes First

Very rarely does a day go by in which I do not blog. Even more rarely does a day go by in which I don't blog, when I could have. Yesterday was one of those days. I suppose I was just too concerned about getting ready for my upcoming trip and making sure I had done most, if not all, of the homework that would be due when I got back. My attention was elsewhere, and I missed my opportunity.

Had I not been so distracted with other things, I could have blogged yesterday. Had I left one or two pieces of homework unfinished, for me to complete next week, or sometime on my trip, I could have blogged instead. If I left left a chore undone, I could have blogged instead. Whether or not my priorities where in the right place is debatable, but I had made a commitment to blog daily, and I could have blogged that morning, but I didn't.

This reminds me of why we're counselled to pay tithing first, before we pay our other expenses. If we pay the other expenses first, it's easy to accidentally consume our income on other things, perhaps less necessary things, and then not have enough money leftover to pay a full tithe. However, if we pay our tithing first, we will have met our spiritual commitment, and we'd have the rest of our money leftover to pay our other expenses. Miraculous exceptions aside, the amount of money we have will not change. We'll just be allocating our money in a different way - a way that is more aligned with our moral principles and that is more likely to grant us spiritual blessings.

I don't know exactly what my schedule will be like for the next few days, but I'm pretty sure that I'll have at least some time each morning, so I can, theoretically, blog then. I will certainly try. Though it is tempting to sleep in or enjoy the amenities of my current venue, blogging is more important to me than sleeping or making sure the rug gets swept. I have made a commitment to blog. Those other things are less essential.

Accidents

Cars are great. They can get people around quickly and easily. They're very convenient, if expensive. But there's one main problem I have with cars: they're fragile. If any part of a car touches anything they're not supposed to touch, the car will get scratched, cracked, and/or potentially totalled. And cars, being expensive, are also expensive to fix. You'd think we'd have invented something that's less costly and more forgiving of mistakes. On the other hand, why should we think we could have done that? God didn't.

Mortality is a great experience, but it's also terribly dangerous. One wrong move and we can damage our fragile souls, leading to horrendously costly repairs. There are countless sins listed in the scriptures, and even more sins of omission, and any amount of sin is enough to keep us out of God's presence, unless it is repented of. But repentance comes at a terrible cost - one far higher than any of us could pay. Souls are highly valuable. Never in our lives will we accumulate the means to buy our own souls, or even to afford to have them "repaired" after we've damaged them.

Unless, of course, we have insurance. Jesus Christ has offered to pay the cost of repairing our damaged souls. In fact, He has already paid that cost. And the price that we must pay back to Him is much more manageable.

The main problem I have with cars is also the main problem I have with life. We are entrusted with something of great value, which we almost immediately, almost inevitably break. Thus, we have caused incalculable damage that we, by ourselves, have no means to repair, or even pay for. Thus, we are entirely dependent on those who know how to fix cars (or heal souls), and those who have the means and the disposition to pay for those repairs.

I don't like the idea of being indebted to anyone. In fact, modern day prophets have repeatedly warned us against going into debt. Yet, becoming indebted to Jesus Christ is all part of God's plan for us. He knew that we would make mistakes. He knew we would shatter our fragile, priceless souls. And He knew that, in order to heal our souls and return to live with Him again, we would have to incur a debt that we could not possibly hope to pay.

That is, by far, the biggest problem I have with God's plan. It is far too easy to cause far too much damage. Fortunately, God has a pretty good insurance policy. The monthly cost is pretty high, as He asks us to offer Him all our hearts, but in return, we have all our repairs completely paid for, and we have unlimited accident forgiveness. Which is fortunate, because anyone who lives long enough will eventually cause more accidents than they can count.

Even with insurance, it really stinks to get into an accident and incur costly damages, especially when oneself is at fault, but a good insurance policy can take most of the pain out of the experience. God has provided us insurance against spiritual damage by sending His Son to atone for our sins, but I'm still not totally happy with this arrangement. Even if the cost never fell on me to pay, I have a problem with the idea of expensive accidents being far too easy to cause. I wish it wasn't so easy to make such expensive mistakes. But that's the world we live in, and it's the only world we've got, so I guess we just have to live with the risk of causing an incredible amount of damage by accident and be grateful that we are almost never the ones who ultimately have to pay for it.

Rambling About Math

I should blog about General Conference talks. I should at least blog about something. I should also finish my math homework, even though it's really tedious and frustrating. I wish I had had the time to sweep today. I'll probably sweep tomorrow, after church and after I finish my math.

Apparently, my spell-checker doesn't know the word "math."

I did get some things done today, but not everything I planned to get done. Not everything I should have done. I think I'm going to stay up an finish my math homework. I really only have a few problems left to do. But each problem has multiple steps and computations to it. I'd figure out how many computations I have left to do, but that would require me to do more math. I don't want to do any more math right now.

But I have to.

And isn't that what life is? Doing things you don't want to do, doing things you "should" do. That's part of being an adult.

I like to understand things. When I know why I'm doing something, and I think it's a good reason, I'm a lot more willing to do it. For example, I know how to calculate the Standard Deviation of a set of data values, but I don't really know what a "Standard Deviation" is or why I should care about it. I don't know why I would ever want to calculate the Standard Deviation of a set of data values, so I'm not really excited about doing it. I know why I would want to calculate the probability of a certain result of a binomial probability test, so that was pretty interesting the first few dozen times I had to do it. But now, it's just tedious.

And it's frustrating to get wrong. So many times, I'd have to redo a computation (or two or three) because I found out that I hit a wrong button in one of my computations. I know how to do the math, I know I do. I just make mistakes. And one little mistake can mean redoing an awful lot of work. And even when I do everything right, the answers I get don't always perfectly match what's in the textbook because my textbook rounds the numbers differently than my calculator does, so I don't even get the satisfaction of watching all the numbers line up after all the work I did to come up with them. Usually, I can do even the most tedious work happily, as long as I have evidence that I'm doing it well, but now I don't even have that.

I don't think I like math.

No, I like math. I loved algebra. I even like some parts of statistics. It's really just this section of statistics that I don't like, and I only don't like it because I have to do it so many times.

There are patterns in the numbers of the math problems my professor asks us to do as homework. Sometimes, we're asked to do every third or fourth math problem. For this section, we're asked to do every other problem. And there are a lot of problems.

I have many problems. One of my problems is that I am a human and that I live in an imperfect world and that I don't like that. I usually don't dislike it as much as I do now. I usually don't have to do this much math.

That's all the rambling I have time for. Thanks for listening. Sometimes, I just need to get stuff off my chest, and this blog is good for that. But right now, what I need to do is more math.

Reflecting Light

In Elder Quentin L. Cook's talk, See Yourself in the Temple, he described a mirror that was etched with the outline of a temple, so a person looking into that mirror would literally see themselves inside a temple. He also spoke of the mirrors inside the temple, which have a special role in the sealing ceremony which links generation to generation in an unending family chain. Until I listened to that talk, I don't think I've thought much about the symbolism of mirrors, but I have used it in blog posts before, saying that God is the source of spiritual light, and we can reflect that light to shine on others.

Except in astronomically exceptional circumstances, light doesn't bend. It travels in a straight line from its source until it hits an object that either absorbs the light or reflects it. If a person lights a candle in a hallway, its light won't illuminate a picture that's on the wall around the corner. At least, not directly. If another person is in that hallway, they can stand in the corner with a mirror and reflect the candle's light toward the painting which the candle would otherwise not have been able to illuminate.

In our lives, we all have the chance to meet people who have distanced themselves from God and have figuratively gone around the corner from the source of God's light. Such people live in darkness, without the hope, the love, and all the other blessings that the gospel could bring into their lives. Some of them have forgotten God, or have never learned of Him in the first place.

We can help them. We can live in such a way that God's light reflects off of us and shines on them. We can share with them the glorious truths of the gospel and the peace and hope it can bring. We can extend an invitation to those who have turned away from the light, or who have never seen it. Even if they still reject the light, we can at least let them know that the light is there, waiting for them to come around the corner and embrace it. We can act as mirrors to shine God's light on people who would otherwise be difficult for God to reach.

Of course, those people still have the freedom to make their choice. If they prefer their beliefs and lifestyle, we should respect that. But we can at least let them know that the light of God is real and that it has brought great blessings into our lives and that it perhaps might be beneficial for them as well. Then they can make a more informed decision, whether they ultimately choose darkness or light. We shouldn't try to force the gospel on anyone, but we can give them access to at least a reflection of that light, if they want it. And if any of them choose to come into the light once they've seen it, all the better.

God respects others' choices, and we should, too, but He also shines His light in every direction, and so should we. There may be some people we can reach with our reflections who otherwise would never have seen God's light at all. Some people are comfortable where they are, but others would be more comfortable in the light, if only they knew where to find it. We may not be able to shine much light ourselves, but we can reflect God's light to them, to give them a guiding light to follow. There are some dark corners in the world that God's light isn't currently able to reach, but with our mirrors, we can reflect God's light into those places, if only briefly, to the benefit of those who live in darkness but who would otherwise be seekers of light.

Some people don't have God's light in them currently. We can share it with them.

Conscientious of Imperfection

In the last General Conference, Elder D. Todd Christofferson gave a talk about the importance of fathers and fatherhood. This must have been a difficult talk to give, as there are many people in situations that don't match the ideal through no fault of their own. Their are children that don't have good fathers, or that don't have fathers at all. There are fathers who, because of disabilities or their work situation, are not able to fill all of the traditional roles of a good father. And, of course, all people fall short of the ideals they know they should strive for. Elder Christofferson did an excellent job of addressing these less-than-ideal situations, even while his main message was that it's important for fathers to be the best fathers they can be.

Nobody is perfect, and there are always going to be people in situations that are painfully less-than-perfect as well, so we must be conscious of such situations, even while we encourage everyone to strive for the ideals. There are no perfect families or fathers any more than there are any perfect people, and it's not any person's fault if they or their familial circumstance are not perfect. We all have shortcomings to work on, and sometimes, there is nothing to be done. Those people do not need to be urged to do the impossible, but we all need occasional reminders to do what we can.

Many fathers can be better than they are, and the bulk of Elder Christofferson's message was directed to them, but there are some people who are already doing the best they can and cannot do any better. Those people should be congratulated heartily, no matter how far they fall short of the perfect ideal. No one achieves perfection in this life, anyway. Rather than worrying about how imperfect we are, we should all try to do what we can with the limited power and energy we were given. And when we give talks or talk to anyone, we should follow Elder Christofferson's example and try to be aware of the situations and hardships of others so we can avoid accidentally pressuring them to do more than they actually can. Some people are already doing the best they can do in their difficult situation. We shouldn't make their situation even more difficult by telling them that they're not doing enough.

Vacation Preparation

In anticipation of an upcoming week-long vacation, I'm doing that week's homework early, cramming it in between the deadlines of this week's homework assignments. The goal is to get it all done now so I won't have to worry about any of it while I'm on vacation. This is making my workload heavier in the short-term, but hopefully, it'll lead to a much more relaxed and relaxing week than if I had to take my homework with me to Disneyland.

When I think about life in general and God's purposes for it, I sometimes think that we have a lot of work to do. We have lofty goals for ourselves - goals that will take quite some time to reach. In a sense, we have a lot of homework to do, and it would be best if we could get at least some of it done before we go on to our "vacation."

To reach the full measure of our creation, we must become God-like; first in personality, then in power. If we don't achieve such as state of personal perfection in this life (and, realistically, we won't), we will have to continue our progress in heaven. Thankfully, we'll literally have all the time in the world to continue improving. But we shouldn't procrastinate. The sooner we achieve perfection, the sooner we can attain Godhood. The sooner we finish our homework, the sooner we can enjoy our vacation.

Though we know that the progress we can make in this life is limited and that people call it eternal progress for a reason, we can still get some good work done while we're here. And the more we accomplish here, the less making up we'll have to do later. I don't want to have a week's worth of overdue homework to do when I get home from Disneyland, and I don't want to have to do a lot of homework while I'm there, so I'm going to do as much homework as I can before I go so I can really enjoy my vacation when I take it. Similarly, I'm looking forward to being granted some God-like powers and a universe of my own, so I'm working on developing a God-like personality now, so I won't have to take Remedial Christianity in heaven. When I get to heaven, I'll want to be able to enjoy being there without being burdened by how much personal growth I still have to do. The more diligent I am now, the sooner and more fully I'll be able to enjoy the fruits of my labors later.

I have a lot of work to do, but I'd rather get it done now than have it still hanging over me when I go on my vacation.

I'm Giving a Talk Tomorrow

Tomorrow morning, I'm going to give a less-than-five-minute talk. Were this in a church setting, this would be no problem at all. I'd start with a joke, explain the basics of my topic, maybe share an example or an analogy, share my testimony on the truthfulness of whatever gospel principle I spoke about, and then I'd basically be done. But this talk is very different from the others I've given. This talk is purely academic, not religious, and it's technically called a speech. For this speech, I am going to be graded based on my content, organization, and delivery. I guess that's the main reason I'm kind of nervous about this assignment: I am going to be given a grade.

I've never been good at receiving criticism. I tend to take it too personally, and to be down on myself, rather than seeing my shortcomings as opportunities to improve. Also, I care about my grade. I've gotten As in almost all of my classes, and I want to keep it that way. Any grade lower than an A is a disappointment, and my teacher has warned us in advance that she very rarely grants a perfect score for any speech. My speech will not be perfect, and if I'm any farther than 10% away from being perfect, my grade will be less than an A.

Of course, I'm worrying about this far more than I have to. I'm sure I'll do well. I've practised. I have a certain amount of natural charm. And even if I don't get an A on my speech, my scores on the quizzes have been high enough that it ought to average out. And even if it doesn't, it's not the end of the world. The exact grade I get on this particular assignment isn't all that important, as long as I do my best and my grade reflects that I did well.

There are many differences between the speech I'm about to give and the talks I'm used to giving, but the most challenging component is the same. In either case, I would have to stand up in front of a congregation and talk to them for a few minutes. That, I can do. This isn't going to be exactly like the talks I'm used to giving, but there are some similarities, and where those similarities come into play, I feel that I'm very well-prepared. And for the aspects of the speech that I'm not so accustomed to, I can practice and become familiar with them.

I chose to take Public Speaking instead of some other Communications class because I thought that having given many talks in Sacrament Meetings would give me an advantage at public speaking, and I still think it will. It's just that there are some aspects of public speaking that giving talks didn't prepare me for. I hope I still do well on those parts. And if I don't, well at least I'll know which parts I need to practice.

Read About Jesus to Think About Jesus

One Sunday, a rambunctious Primary child, in frustration, exclaimed "Sometimes—sometimes—it’s just hard for me to think about Jesus!" This child is not alone in having a hard time focussing on the Savior. We promise, weekly, to "always remember Him," but I'm not sure we can. Even on Sundays, the day specifically set apart for worshipping the Lord, we sometimes find it difficult to concentrate on Jesus Christ.

Fortunately, Bishop W. Christopher Waddell, Second Counselor in the Presiding Bishopric, gave a talk in which he listed three things we can do to help us think about Jesus. Without rehashing his entire talk, those three steps basically boil down to reading the scriptures, especially those that teach about Jesus, and following His example.

Naturally, following Jesus' example is easier said than done. In fact, it's a process that takes longer than a lifetime. We can try to follow His example, and in some cases, we can partially succeed, but I find the rest of Bishop Waddell's advice far more practical.

It's not hard to read or at least listen to the scriptures. Through technology, we can have the scriptures read to us while we're doing other things. Listening to the words of Christ is not only possible; it's practically convenient. Plus, I think it'll work.

The more we read or at least hear about Jesus, the more He'll be on our minds. Reading about His life and His teachings will help us get to know Him as a person. And the thoughts that we have while we read or listen to the scriptures can carry with us for at least a few minutes afterward, and may come to mind again later on. If we make a habit of spending some time in the scriptures, even if we also do other things at the same time, spiritual thoughts, including thoughts about Jesus, will come to mind far more easily.

It will still occasionally be difficult to think about Jesus. This world has many distractions, and some of them are highly effective. Still, despite the many other thoughts that could occupy our minds, e can think about Jesus frequently, if not constantly, and we can start by, at least occasionally, turning to the sacred books that contain His words.

What To Bring To The Temple

"Those who bring nothing to the temple take nothing away."

This quote, though taken from a Magic: the Gathering card, is surprisingly accurate when applied to actual LDS temples. While donations are not accepted at our temples, one does need to bring a spiritual offering with them to the temple in order to take any blessings with them from it. This offering includes a reverent spirit, respect for the sacredness of the temple, devotion to God, a commitment to keep one's promises, and a willingness to repent. Those who come to the temple with the right attitude and the intention to give their heart to God will gain great blessings from the Lord in return. In addition, those who bring an acceptable spiritual offering to the temple will retain all elements of their offering as they leave, perhaps even in greater abundance. For example, those who enter the temple with a respect for its sacredness may leave the temple with an even greater appreciation for how sacred it is.

However, while great blessings can be gained by those who attend the temple with the proper attitude, those who don't have that spirit when they enter the temple will be similarly empty-handed when they leave. God often magnifies and multiplies our offerings. If there is nothing for Him to multiply, the product of the multiplication will be zero. However, if we are willing to let the spirit enter our hearts, the spirit of the Lord can touch our hearts while we're at the temple, even if we take nothing with us but a willingness to receive His spirit. A willingness to receive the spirit may, if God deems it so, be offering enough. But if one doesn't even bring that much with them to the temple, I expect that they won't take even that much with them when they leave.

Latter-Day Saints don't take many physical things with them to the temple. Mostly, we just need our Temple Recommend cards and the proper attire. But unless we also bring a small spiritual offering, we can't expect to gain many spiritual blessings from the experience. On the other hand, those who bring to the temple at least a little bit of love for God and a small amount of desire to serve Him can be richly rewarded by their visit. Those who bring nothing to the temple take nothing away, but those who bring willing hearts to the temple will leave with their souls filled.

Just Bloggng Before Bed

I should probably blog about the scriptures I just read about Fasting, but it's late, I'm tired, and I should be resting up so I can be ready for the day tomorrow. My sleep cycle is definitely off by a few hours, and I mostly have my tendency to stay up late to blame. I did read the scriptures, and I look forward to having them at my fingertips tomorrow afternoon, but for now, I think that blogging about those scriptures would not be as wise as simply going to bed. Maybe I'll blog twice tomorrow to make up for not really blogging today, but I wouldn't hold my breath. At the very least, this could technically count as blogging, so I've fulfilled my requirement and I can go to bed. I'll write you a better blog post tomorrow.

Why Do We Fast?

The lesson I'm giving day after tomorrow is about Fasting, and it starts with the question, "Why Do We Fast?" There are several reasons. As I thought about it yesterday, I came up with about half a dozen reasons off the top of my head.

One reason is to be obedient. As Latter-Day Saints, we've been commanded to fast periodically, if we are able. We fast each Fast Sunday partly because we're supposed to. But by no means is that the only or most important reason.

We also fast for our health. Fasting every so often allows the body a chance to refresh itself. Some say that fasting also improves some cognitive functions. But again, that's not the real reason we fast.

We fast to secure blessings, both for ourselves and for others. Fasting increases the spiritual power of prayer because "sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven." When we fast, we show God how badly we want the blessings we're praying for, and God often responds favorably to our requests.

When we fast, we also donate money to the poor and needy in the form of Fast Offerings. This extends blessings directly to those who need them, and earns us a few brownie points with the God whom we're petitioning for blessings.

Those last two may be the best reasons for fasting, but my favorite reason to fast is to practice resisting temptation. Fasting allows us to exercise self-control in a way that doesn't put our souls at risk if we fail. It's a safe way to stretch the spiritual muscles we use to fight off temptations.

I'm sure there are other reasons, but securing blessings, blessing the poor, and practising resisting temptation are the three most important reasons, in my opinion, and they'll probably give me enough material to fill the 30-45 minutes I'll have for my lesson. I'll also look through the scriptures referenced in the manual for other information to share about fasting. Perhaps I'll share some insights from that here, like I did a few days ago. Hopefully, this time, I'll remember to print up the blog post and bring it with me when I go to teach the lesson.

More on Colors - Visiting Brown Hair Island

I'm not done rambling about this yet.

Everyone is biased. That, as far as I am concerned, is a fact. When you choose friends, you may be biased toward funny people, or intelligent people, or people who like the same games or TV shows as you do. When hiring employees, you might be biased toward people who work quickly, or people who do high-quality work, or people who work well with others. When interacting with others, there's a fair bet that you will be biased toward people with a similar skin tone to yours.

Is this a problem?

Let's imagine that there is an island where everyone has brown hair. We'll call it Brown Hair Island. Everyone on Brown Hair Island prefer brown hair. They prefer people with brown hair. They are nicer to people with brown hair than they are to people who don't have brown hair. But this isn't really a problem because everyone on Brown Hair Island has brown hair.

One day, a person with red hair visited Brown Hair Island and was upset that the people on Brown Hair Island weren't as nice to them as they were to each other, and the red-haired person had every right to be upset. The people of Brown Hair Island were being rude to the red-haired person for no good reason. But when the red-haired person talked about this to a brown-haired person, the brown-haired person said that they had once visited Red Hair Island, and they experienced similar discrimination.

The majority of people in America are light-skinned, and those people generally feel more comfortable around other people with light skin. This is, in a sense, a light-skinned island. But there are neighborhoods in America where there are a lot of dark-skinned people, and when I pass through those areas, I sometimes feel uncomfortable, unwelcome, and at times, even unsafe.

The fact that there are light- and dark-skinned islands in the world isn't necessarily a problem, and the fact that people visit, and even live on, islands that don't match their skin tone isn't a problem, either. But there is a problem, and unfortunately, it's not one that can be easily solved.

The simple solution is for everyone to treat everyone else the same, regardless of their skin tone, but that's about as easy as being as good friends with funny people as you are with intellectual people, even if you prefer the intellectual people. I'm not sure it can be done. People can't just "turn off" their own biases and preferences. We can try to reduce them, but I'm pretty sure they'll always be there. And if the majority of the people who live on a certain island can't completely get rid of their preference for brown hair, a red-haired person on that island will never be able to shake the feeling that the people of that island would like them better if they had different-colored hair. That is brown-haired privilege, the privilege of having brown hair on a brown-haired island.

I agree that the world shouldn't be that way, but I'm not sure what can be done about it. Our preferences are part of what makes us individuals, and even though people shouldn't prefer one kind of person over another, I'm fairly certain that people always will. Of course, we can try to reduce the problem. We can try to prove to brown-haired people that red-haired people are just as likeable as people with brown hair. But you know, some people are still going to prefer brown hair over red hair, and as a red-haired person, I'm just going to have to live with that.

Colors, Perspectives, and Privilege

I just posted a paragraph in response to a meme about how white people can't see white privilege. Since I'm still thinking about the topic and don't want to flood my friend's post under a philosophical wandering through the subject of perspectives, I thought I'd continue to explore my thoughts here. Here is my original response:

Have you ever worn a pair of glasses or sunglasses so long that you forgot that you were wearing them, that they were constantly coloring or distorting your view of the world? Maybe white privilege is like that. We don't see the distortion in the world because the distorted world is all we've ever seen. We don't feel the glasses on our faces because they've always been there. We're used to them, acclimated to them. We're so used to wearing our glasses (or having our privileges) that we don't even notice that the glasses are there.

And here is what I didn't add:

Or maybe the reason we don't notice any glasses on our faces because there aren't any. Maybe people only think we're wearing glasses because the glasses they're wearing makes it look like we are.

The reality is that all people are wearing glasses that color and distort the way they view the world. We each have our own perspective that shapes our view of the world.

Imagine five people looking at a box. To Sarah, the box looks white. To Michael, the box looks black. Gary sees the box as being green. Tammy sees the box as being blue. And to Charlie, the box looks red.

What color is the box?

Is the box actually any one color, or does the color of the box depend on whom you ask? If all five people thought the box was the same color, say, green, except for Tammy, who still thinks the box looks blue, does that mean that the box actually is green and Tammy is wrong to think it's blue? If Tammy got a dozen of her friends together and they all said the box was blue, would the other four now suddenly be wrong to say the box is green?

I don't think that reality is colored (pun intended) by how the majority of people perceive it. If the box actually is painted one color, that color wouldn't change depending on people's perception, or misperception, of it.

Bringing this back around to white privilege, the fact that white privilege exists (or the fact that it doesn't, whichever is the case) does not change depending on whether or not people perceive it. If the box is green, then it is green even if Tammy thinks it's blue, and if the box is blue, then it is blue even if Gary thinks it's green.

The trouble is that it's hard to tell what color the box really is because each of us see the box through our own colored glasses, which none of us can remove, or even feel ourselves wearing. Our perspectives color our world, and there's not much we can do about that. We can alter our perspectives, but we can't completely remove them. There may be some way to measure the color of the box impartially, but how we view the measurements will still be colored by our glasses, so we still may not be able to clearly and correctly identify the actual color of the box.

So do I have white privilege, even though I don't really see it, or do I not have white privilege, even though others think I do? What color is the box? I don't know, and I'm not sure if anyone really does.

Inasmuch

In 1 Nephi 2: 20, the Lord promised Nephi "inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments, ye shall prosper," and I'm sure He extends the same promise to each of us as well. I think that the "inasmuch" part is important. It means "to the extent that" or "insofar as." In other words, we will prosper to the extent that we keep the commandments. If we keep the commandments with all our hearts, we will be richly blessed. If we keep the commandments half-heartedly, we'll be blessed about half as richly. If we do the bare minimum of what it takes to keep the commandments, we'll receive a bare minimum of blessings. If we don't keep the commandments at all, then we won't be blessed at all.

Actually, that's not quite correct. God still gives is children plenty of blessings, even the disobedient and barely obedient ones, so the correlation between blessings and obedience isn't perfect. But still, the general idea holds true. If we want a lot of blessings, we should offer God a lot of obedience in return.

God wants to bless us, so I'm sure He blesses us as much as He can, but many of His blessings are contingent on righteousness. As long as we're even trying, God gives us some credit, and some blessings, for that. If we do a little better, God blesses us a little more. If we do well, God blesses us well. And so on, until we are completely obedient to all of God's commandments and are granted complete access to all of His blessings.

I am grateful for a God who wants to bless His children and who eagerly tells them what they must do to qualify for those blessings.  By keeping the commandments, we can earn blessings. By keeping a lot of commandments to the best of our ability, we can earn a lot of blessings. I encourage all of us to try to keep the commandments to the extent to which we desire to be blessed. If you want or need more blessings, or just want to keep getting the blessings that you've got, you know what to do, and how much to do it.

Obedience Lesson Scripture List

Somehow, in preparing to lead a discussion on obedience, I overlooked the fact that the name of the Institute class for which I'm preparing this message is "Teachings and Doctrine of the Book of Mormon." Perhaps I ought to find examples of obedience (or disobedience) in the Book of Mormon, or at least familiarize myself with the scriptural references in the lesson manual. As of now, my plan is to list the scriptures in the lesson plan, making comments here and there, and calling that my "blog post" for today.

1 Nephi 2: 1-20 -- This is a long one. It basically covers all but the last few verses of the entire chapter. This chapter basically kickstarts the story behind the Book of Mormon. Lehi was warned to take his family and flee Jerusalem, Laman and Lemuel didn't believe in their father's vision and didn't want to leave, but Nephi prayed about it and didn't murmur, so God helped him trust his father and gave him the oft-quoted promise that he would proser inasmuch as he kept the commandments.

The word "inasmuch" may be important here. In fact, going into detail about what that word means and what it implies may be worthy of its own blog post, so perhaps I'll save it for later. Besides, I have several more references to check out.

1 Nephi 3: 4-7, 15-16 -- In this chapter, the sons of Lehi are sent back to get a scriptural and genealogical record of their people. Laman and Lemuel complain and say it'll be too hard, but Nephi is faithful to the commandments of the Lord. This is where we get another popular quote, this one from Nephi:

I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them.

 1 Nephi 4: 1-2 -- Nephi encourages his brothers to be faithful to the commands of Almighty God.

1 Nephi 7: 12 -- "The Lord is able to do all things according to his will, for the children of men, if it so be that they exercise faith in him."

1 Nephi 17: 1-31 -- God strengthens those who keep His commandments. Nephi is commanded to build a ship and enlist his brothers' help in the project. Nephi readily agrees; his brothers need some convincing. Nephi tells them how the children of Israel were blessed when they kept the commandments and cursed when they didn't.

1 Nephi 18: 1-4 -- Nephi and his brothers build the ship according to the instructions of the Lord.

2 Nephi 31: 6-10 -- Jesus demonstrated obedience to the commandments by being baptised, and we should follow in His footsteps.

Mosiah 2: 20-24, 41 -- As part of his legendary speech, King Benjamin tells about our perpetual indebtedness to Jesus, since we are blessed every time we try to repay Him by keeping His commandments. Also, we are encouraged to "consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God," because of all the blessings that such people get.

Mosiah 15: 7 -- Christ allowed His will to be swallowed up in the will of the Father.

3 Nephi 11: 11 -- Christ "suffered the will of the Father in all things from the beginning"

3 Nephi 12: 19-20, 48 -- We are commanded to have faith, repent, and be baptised. We are told that, unless we keep the commandments, we cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. And we are commanded to eventually become as perfect as our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are.

In summary, Nephi gave us a good example of obedience, as did Jesus, and the Book of Mormon in general teaches us a lot of interesting things about obedience, particularly regarding the consequences of obedience and disobedience. As long as I can remember all that, and maybe take a copy of this list with me, I think my lesson will go fine.

Commandments ARE Blessings

Commandments bring blessings in that we get blessings when we keep the commandments, but there are ways in which we can view the commandments themselves as blessings. Since we get blessings when we keep the commandments, we could view each commandment we receive as an opportunity to get more blessings. God's commandments also steer us away from doing things that would cause negative natural consequences, so we can thank God for giving us such commandments to help us avoid pitfalls. Because God uses commandments to help us avoid problems and obtain blessings, these commandments act as evidence of God's love. And if we look at commandments more as advice that we'd do well to follow than as rules that we'd be punished for breaking, then God's commandments seem more like the guidance of a father than like the dictates of a tyrant.

The whole idea of commandments still leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I dislike that we live in a world where we can't just do as we choose without any fear of consequences. But since there are consequences, I'm grateful that God warns us about them. Since there are blessings that are ours for the taking, I'm grateful God tells us how to get them. And I'm grateful that God doesn't force us to do what's in our own best interest, but instead gives us the freedom of whether to listen to Him or not. I don't like the idea of being told what to do, but I still have many options, and in the face of options, I am grateful to be given sound advice. There are ways to look at commandments in a positive light, to see them as blessings and opportunities rather than restrictions and obligations. I should try to look on the bright side more often and to see God's commandments for the blessings they really are.

Blessings, Rewards and Consequences

A few days from now, I'm going to lead a discussion on how Obedience Brings Blessings. A few days after that, I'm going to lead another discussion on another topic related to the Commandments. And after that, the October 2016 General Conference will be right around the corner, if it isn't already. I think I need to focus my thoughts, and my blog posts, on the topics of Obedience, the Commandments, and the last few General Conference talks from April 2016.

Let's start with Obedience. How does obedience bring blessings? I can think of two ways: Rewards and Consequences.

When we keep God's commandments, He often rewards us with blessings. For example, many people who demonstrated enough faith to pay their tithing were rewarded with the ability to still manage to make ends meet, either by getting their money to stretch farther than they thought it would or by receiving extra income from a source they didn't expect. Those blessings came as a result of keeping that commandment, but it wasn't what I would call a natural result.

Some blessings come as a natural consequence for keeping the commandments. For example, if we live the Word of Wisdom by abstaining from drugs and alcohol, we will be healthier than those who don't. That is great blessing, but not a miraculous one. As miraculous as the human body is, achieving good health by adhering to sound health advice is not the result of divine intervention. God doesn't miraculously grant good health to those who live the Word of Wisdom. He doesn't have to. The Word of Wisdom alludes to a set of natural laws which, if followed, will result in natural and desirable consequences, even without God's involvement.

Just as there are natural laws that effect natural consequences, I believe that there are spiritual laws that effect spiritual consequences. Certain things, like spending time in quiet reflection, are good for the soul. The peace that comes from maintaining a clear conscience and the joy that comes from serving others are, I believe, natural results of adherence to spiritual laws.

However, I don't think that natural consequences are the only blessings that come from keeping the commandments. Some blessings, I suspect, come only by the influence of God. After all, what's the point of having infinite power if you never use it? I think that God does take an active role in blessing those who please Him, even if He doesn't have to.

Some blessings come as a natural result of our behavior, and some blessings come directly by the hand of God. While distinguishing between the types of blessings we receive may not be important (since we should thank God for all our blessings, whether they're miraculous or not), I think it may be important to bear in mind that there is a difference.

Some blessings, we can count on, just as we can count on buoyancy to keep our ships afloat. Those blessings come as consequences of natural laws that I doubt that even God Himself could break. Other blessings are granted by God's choice, meaning that He could choose to withhold them, if being denied those blessings would be to our eternal benefit. Of course, if God has promised blessings, He will keep His promises, but some blessings are His to grant or withhold as He will, and we should not demand to receive those blessings, even if we feel that we've earned them.

So, some blessings come naturally while others are granted as special rewards. All of them are desirable and are acquired only by those who keep the commandments. Thus, while there is some distinction between types of blessings and how and why they are obtained, all of them come though obedience, making obedience the most important factor in whether or not we receive blessings. Sometimes, obedience is the only factor, and sometimes it isn't, but it is always a vital factor, so if you want to receive any blessing of any kind, you would do well to be obedient to the commandments of God.

Good Tools

Anyone who follows my mom on Facebook knows that she and I did a lot of work today. Thankfully, the work went smoothly, partly because we kept each other's spirits up, but mostly because we were using excellent tools. We had sturdy gloves that fit well and that have a cloth part for wiping sweat off your brow. We had a strong wagon for hauling rocks and gravel. We had a mattock strong enough to easily cut through even our hardest dirt. We had various hammers and wedges for taking pallets apart and removing nails from the boards. And we borrowed a reciprocating saw from a good friend, which made dissembling pallets and cutting the boards down to the right size much easier. We still had a lot of hard work to do, but having good tools (and good company) made the job a lot easier.

I would compare this to having the gospel in our lives. Life is challenging for everyone, but it's much easier to face when you have the teachings and blessings of the gospel to help you. God won't remove your problems from you, but He often makes sure you have the tools you need to do the job.

I'm grateful for the tools I have, both the physical ones and the spiritual ones. Both kinds of tools make the tasks of life a lot easier to manage.

Rest Later

This is just going to be a short, lame blog post about why this is a short, lame blog post. When I got home today, I was tired. I had had a long day with many great moments in it, plus a few moments that weren't so great, but in all, it was pretty tiring. So, before trying to figure out what to blog about, I decided to rest for a few minutes, check out my Facebook notifications, and maybe watch a Youtube video or two, and I'm sure you can all guess what happened after that.

Rest is important. It is sometimes necessary to unwind after a long day. But not while there's still work that needs to be done. In those final moments of the day, when you're almost done with your daily tasks, but you still have one or two more things to do before you can call it a day, that is when you need to dig deep, give your labors one final effort, and then collapse on your bed, or do any other restful thing. Just before you cross the finish line is not a good time to stop and catch your breath, especially when you're on a timer. I just ran out of time to blog "today," partly because I rested too soon.

Rest assured that, "tomorrow," I won't make the same mistake.

What Jazal and Jesus Have in Common

My current favorite Magic deck, my Mono-White Tokens/Lifegain Commander deck, includes a handful of Legendary creatures, including Jazal Goldmane. Jazal is a Leonin, a lion-like creature, of whom his brother, the Planeswalker Ajani Goldmane, said this: "As my kha (leader), he is the source of my inspiration. As my brother, he is the embodiment of my aspirations."

When I think of a leader who is also my brother, the source of my inspiration, and the embodiment of my aspirations, only one or two people come to mind. I am referring, of course, to Jesus Christ. Jesus is our brother and our leader, but He is much more than that. He is the one who gives us hope. He is the one who encourages us to keep striving for righteousness. He is "the source of [our] inspiration." He inspires us to become the best people that we could possibly be. And the best person that we could ever hope to be like is Him.

Jesus Christ is our exemplar. He was perfectly righteous. He marked the path that we, as Christians, have chosen to follow. Jesus Christ was and is the ultimate Christian. He is the ideal we all strive for. He is "the embodiment of [our] aspirations." When we say that we want to be more Christlike, we are literally saying that we want to be more like Him.

And we should. Jesus Christ was (and still is) a really good person. He almost literally wrote the book on what it means to be good. He is an excellent role model for us, not just because He's our older brother or because He's the leader of our faith, but because He is the central focus of our faith. He is the one in whom we have faith. He is the one like whom we all strive to become.

Jazal Goldmane will always have a place in my Commander deck, partly because he's a great creature (a 4/4 for (2)WW with First Strike and a really powerful activated ability), but mostly because whenever I read that quote at the bottom of his card, it reminds me of my Brother, my Leader, "the source of my inspiration," and "the embodiment of my aspirations." I like Jazal Goldmane because he reminds me of Jesus Christ.