The Most Important Part of the Lesson

If I teach nothing else tomorrow, I want to at least teach the kids that hymns can help crowd out unworthy thoughts. I feel that that is very important. The ability to use hymns to resist temptation is a skill that everyone should develop, most particularly the youth of the church. I'll probably end up sharing President Packer's analogy about one's mind being a stage that can only have one actor on it at a time, and I'll certainly have one of the children read the President Packer quote the lesson shares, if nothing else. This may not be the most interesting tidbit, and it certainly won't be the most fun part of the lesson (unless I think of some activity that could go along with that part of the lesson), but I think it's the most important hymns-related message I could share with the kids. They are going to encounter temptation at some times in their lives, as if they don't already encounter it, and when they do, it be great if they had learned a trick or two for how to resist it, and humming or singing a hymn is just such a trick. If even only one of those children hears, remembers, and benefits from that message, it will have been work taking the time to teach it.

Songs and the Spirit

I'm teaching the lesson in Primary this week, and the lesson is on Emma Smith compiling the first hymnbook. This is an interesting topic for me because I love hymns and the singing of hymns. What I love most the hymns is how well they invite the Spirit. Singing hymns is much like saying prayers. In fact, some hymns, like How Great Thou Art, literally are prayers. In addition, most hymns, if not all, have doctrinal messages in them, of which the Holy Spirit can testify. Hymns also invite the Spirit through the music itself. I don't know what it is about music, even secular, instrumental music, but it touches the soul in a very special way, often inspiring the same feelings and attitudes that attract the Spirit.

What makes this lesson challenging for me is its emphasis on Emma Smith. I don't know much about her, and some of what I've heard, I don't think I'd share in a Primary lesson (even though some of the kids have already heard it, too). I don't think I'll talk about Emma except to say that God asked her to make a hymnbook and then ask why He would want her to do that. Hopefully, one of the kids will answer that hymns are important, and then we can go from there.

Of the many good lessons we can learn from and about hymns, it'll be tough to decide which ones to prioritize. Is it important, for example, to share that sacred hymns and Primary songs can crowd out unworthy thoughts, but depending on how many students are listening at that point, it may be more productive to have a hymn-related activity first, like singing one hymn to the tune of another. That may help the youngsters to focus and thus actually get something out of the lesson. But I don't want to spend all our times on activities, unless those activities also teach important lessons, so I'll probably need to find some balance between the two.

This might be a tricky lesson. Fortunately, the testimony part should be fairly easy. I love hymns because the hymns can help us attract the Spirit. Come to think of it, maybe it'd make sense to sing an opening hymn to attract the Spirit before the lesson. For this lesson, I think I'm going to need it.

Satanic Support

One thing that strikes me about the three pillars of eternity is that Satan was there at each of these events, trying to thwart God's plans, only to inadvertently accomplish them.

Before the creation, God declared that mankind would be given agency, and Satan tried to take it away, but his actions started a pre-mortal war that allowed mankind to use their agency to choose to follow God's plan. Satan again tried to thwart God's plan by causing the Fall of Adam, not realizing that the fall, and all of the "bad" things that came with it, was an essential aspect of God's plan. And while we have no scriptural proof that Satan was present at any point during the Atonement of Jesus Christ, I'd be surprised if he wasn't. At the very least, I consider it likely that he was in the hearts of those who urged Pilate to crucify Jesus Christ, only to learn later that His death had been necessary to bring about the resurrection. At each of these pillars, Satan was there, trying to destroy God's plan, only to end up supporting it.

I wonder if God planned for that. I mean, of course He did. He knew it was going to happen, so He made His plan robust enough to withstand Satan's opposition. But what I'm wondering is whether or not God planned on Satan's opposition. Did He count on it? Did He intentionally make His plan such that Satan's "opposition" was actually an essential element in His plan?

It's times like these that make me wonder whose side Satan is really on. In an earlier blog post, I submitted an Utterly Ridiculous and Admittedly Untrue Theory that Satan was actually working for God in a role similar to that of a personal trainer. He, Satan gives us opposition with the intention of helping us grow. According to my Utterly Ridiculous and Admittedly Untrue Theory, Satan would have knowingly and willingly been helping God's plan along by pretending to oppose it.

Of course, Satan isn't actually trying to help God, but I still wonder if God was counting on Satan's help when He made His plan, knowing that He was going to get it. Whether Satan's "opposition" to God's plan was a planned-for catalyst or a surpassable speedbump, it's pretty ironic that Satan's attempts to thwart God's plan actually helped accomplish it, and it's fun to consider the possibility that God had been planning on that from the very beginning.

The Pillars of Eternity

Another phrase Elder Weatherford T. Clayton said that caught my attention was "the pillars of eternity." Specifically, Elder Clayton said "That plan [the plan of salvation] is built upon three grand pillars: the pillars of eternity." The footnote from that quote leads a 1991 talk by Elder Russel M. Nelson, titled Standards of the Lord's Standard-Bearers, but he only used the word "pillar" once in that talk, and a web search revealed that the more likely origin of the phrase may be a speech given in 1981 by Bruce R. McConkie, who was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve at the time. Fittingly, his speech was titled The Three Pillars of Eternity. So, what are these pillars, and why are they so important?

To answer those questions, I'm tempted to simply copy large sections of Elder McConkie's speech, but I'll try to restrain myself to sharing only the most important few.

According to Elder McConkie:

The three pillars of eternity, the three events, preeminent and transcendent above all others, are the creation, the fall, and the atonement. These three are the foundations upon which all things rest. Without any one of them all things would lose their purpose and meaning, and the plans and designs of Deity would come to naught.

If there had been no creation, we would not be, neither the earth, nor any form of life upon its face. All things, all the primal elements, would be without form and void. God would have no spirit children; there would be no mortal probation; and none of us would be on the way to immortality and eternal life.

If there had been no fall of man, there would not be a mortal probation. Mortal man would not be, nor would there be animals or fowls or fishes or life of any sort upon the earth. And, we repeat, none of us would be on the way to immortality and eternal life.

If there had been no atonement of Christ, all things would be lost. The purposes of creation would vanish away. Lucifer would triumph over men and become the captain of their souls. And, we say it again, none of us would be on the way to immortality and eternal life.

It all sounds pretty epic. In fact, even just the term "the pillars of eternity" sounded epic, which is why I bothered looking any of this up, and now I'm glad I did. I feel like I found some important truths (and some nice quotes) half-buried in the past, hidden away in a talk that's older than I am.

I'd like to blog more about these pillars later. For now, I think I'll just leave you with these quotes and enjoy the tangential learning I just experienced. I wouldn't have found these quotes if I hadn't looked them up, and, as I think about it, the General Authorities often mention, in their General Conference talks, references to previous talks. So, if a phrase in a talk stands out to you, if there's a term you'd like to understand better, look it up. It may appear elsewhere in the words of the prophets, and they may shed more light on whatever it was that piqued your interest. I looked up "the pillars of eternity" because it sounded cool, and in doing so, I learned that they are actually the most important events that ever occurred. I wonder what other "cool" insights I could find if I looked more closely at these Conference talks more often.

"The Supreme Blessing of Being Judged"

Toward the end of his talk, Our Father's Glorious Plan, Elder Weatherford T. Clayton said, "After the Resurrection we will have the supreme blessing of being judged by our Savior, who said, 'I will draw all men unto me, that they may be judged according to their works.'"

When I heard that, I got hung up on the phrase "the supreme blessing of being judged." I thought, how could being judged be a "supreme blessing"? Even in context, knowing that we will be "judged according to [our] works" doesn't sound too promising. We all have at least a handful of "works" that we would rather not be judged by.

But maybe I'm focussing on the wrong words. Perhaps it's not a "supreme blessing" to be judged, and perhaps it's not a "supreme blessing" to be judged "according to [our] works," but it can still be a "supreme blessing" to be judged "by our Savior."

Our Savior, Jesus Christ, loves us. He loves us so much He was willing to die for us. More than that, He suffered through tremendous pain and agony, which punishment He did not deserve, so that He could spare us the punishments that we do deserve. He completed the Atonement so He could have the "supreme blessing" of judging us, not so much according to our works, but according to His mercy (and our repentance).

I'm sure that it will still be overwhelming, and I'm sure that many tears will be shed, but I think that it will be a "supreme blessing" to be "judged" by Him.

I've Got Nothing

I can't think of anything to blog about this evening. I've had plenty of thoughts recently, some of which have been fairly deep, but none of them are blogworthy. I suppose this is bound to happen periodically; one cannot expect to gain a new insight every day, though perhaps the problem is that I haven't been looking hard enough or in the right places or with the right frame of mind. I'm sure God is always willing to speak to us, if we are truly listening, but listening like that is a skill that takes a long time to develop and even longer to master. I have yet to master the skill of listening to God. Thus, having not heard the voice of inspiration in recent memory, I have nothing to blog about. I am sorry. I will try again tomorrow.

Many Heroes

I just watched Sully with several family members this evening. Sully is a film about the "forced water landing" of a passenger aircraft with 155 people on board. Despite losing both engines at low altitude and being unable to reach any airports to land safely, the eponymous pilot still managed to land the plane relatively safely in the Hudson river, and everyone on board survived.

But one of the most striking things to most of us who watched the film this evening was that "the miracle on the Hudson" wasn't a miracle just because of Sully. Though almost everything hinged on his expertise as a pilot, he wasn't the only hero that day. There were several crew members, both in the air and on the ground, who helped guide the plane and passengers safely. There was dozens of emergency responders who came to pick up the passengers after the plan landed on the river. All told, there were many heroes that day, and the film clearly portrayed that.

In life, there are many people who each play roles in getting things done. Even when there's one person acting as a leader or playing a critical role, the other people play important roles, too. The Elder's Quorum and Relief Society Presidents of the world may direct the work, but every member pitches in. Every helper is a hero.

Sully did an amazing job, and he saved over a hundred and fifty lives that day, but he wasn't the only one. There were countless heroes that day because countless people were there to lend a hand. I hope that each of us can be willing to do our part and lend a hand in the effort of saving souls. Our individual parts may be small, especially compared to others', but each individual makes a difference, and even if we can't do much, the world needs all the heroes it can get. There were many heroes that day, and I hope that there are many heroes every day.

Persistent Afflictions

Last Wednesday, I learned that Hector, the Human Cleric/Paladin of Lathander, is still a werewolf.
As you may recall, Hector has gone through several phases (no pun intended) of "being" and "not being" a werewolf. As soon as he was bitten, I knew there was a chance, so I prepared for the possibility of him being a werewolf. The next week, Hector rolled the dice to see whether or not he was a werewolf, and the DM informed me that he didn't feel particularly wolfy, so I assumed that Hector was not a werewolf.

Shortly thereafter, we received proof that he was one. He transformed, multiple times, in front of witnesses, proving that he was, in fact, a werewolf. After Hector failed to tame the beast within, broke free of his chains, and nearly mauled Lily, the party's Wizard, she "cured" his lycanthropy with a "Remove Curse" spell, which instantly reverted him back to human form. That was a week before last Wednesday.

Last Wednesday, while exploring an ancient crypt, Hector found a silvered spearhead and picked it up. The silver of the spearhead burned Hector's skin on contact, and, as we all know, silver is the main weakness of werewolves.

Apparently, lycanthropy is not easy to cure. At least, it's not as easy as casting a 3rd level spell on the afflicted person. No real-world affliction is.

In life, we all have trials, and though we know that all our trials are temporary, that doesn't mean that they'll all go away overnight after praying about them once or twice. Miracles can happen, but usually, God lets us suffer through our afflictions long enough to learn several lessons from them, whether that means a few days, several months, many years, or whole lifetimes. Some afflictions persist with us, no matter what we do about them or how hard we pray about them.

God made life that way for a reason. Earth is the only place we've ever lived in that isn't heaven. If that is to remain true, we need to gain the knowledge and wisdom that can only be gained by experiencing afflictions. And Earth is uniquely capable of providing us with afflictions. If all our problems were solved immediately, we wouldn't have much time to learn from them or benefit from them. In the eternal perspective, we still don't. In life, we have to have persistent afflictions because we wouldn't learn as much without them.

Now, it's possible that Hector is still not really a werewolf any more. Given the number of times I've been wrong on that topic, I can't rule out that possibility. The spearhead could have been unholy, and maybe it burned his skin because he's a Paladin and evil stuff hates Paladins, but that wouldn't have made for as interesting of a blog post, and it doesn't seem very likely to me. After the discovery that the silver burned Hector, the DM informed me that curses in this campaign setting are hard to shake off.

The same is true here. Many afflictions are terribly persistent. There are lifelong illnesses and disabilities. There are addictions and bad habits that are very hard to break. There are many problems that can stick with us for what feels like forever, and that's not because God hates us and wants us to suffer. That's the other guy. God doesn't want our afflictions to last any longer than they have to, which means that there are good reasons why afflictions last so long in life. That's why there aren't many simple solutions to life's problems and why we can't just cast some magic spell and be cured of our afflictions, in most cases. That would defeat the purpose of the affliction and would, in a large way, defeat the purpose of life. We have to have afflictions so we can learn from them, and those afflictions need to be persistent because we have a lot to learn.

Guidance and Companionship

Yesterday, at Institute, the teacher asked us what we liked most about being members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I chose not to answer that question because I tend to comment too much in classes, so I try to hold back and allow others to make comments and answer questions. However, if I had answered, I think I would have said "the companionship of the Holy Spirit."

I enjoy that companionship (when I'm worthy of it) for many reasons. First of all, it's nice just to have someone to talk to. Companionship, espescially the companionship of such and kind and understanding individual, is a blessing in and of itself. But more than that, the Holy Ghost is worth keeping around because of the guidance He provides. In his talk, "His Daily Guiding Hand," Elder M. Joseph Brough spoke about the guidance God gives us. He listed several tools God uses to provide us with guidance, including the Holy Ghost, saying "My prayer is that each of you will recognize in your experiences that Heavenly Father is leading, guiding, and walking beside you and, with that knowledge, you will proceed with confidence, knowing you are never really alone."

 I am grateful that I never need to be alone. The Spirit of God is always willing to be with me; I just need to try to stay worthy to be with Him. And when I am worthy to be with Him, I can receive guidance and revelation that can help me with every aspect of my life, in addition to the comfort and peace that come simply from having Him around. As Latter-Day Saints, we can be blessed daily by the guiding hands of our Heavenly Father, most especially through inspiration from the Holy Ghost. As with Elder Brough, my hope is that we will all strive to be worthy of, and thus qualify for, the companionship of the Holy Ghost, so He can comfort us, guide us, and direct us down the right paths. In my opinion, constantly having the Spirit with us is one of the greatest blessings of being a baptised member of this church. Let us always strive to be worthy of it.

Two Voices

My latest D&D character is a Half-Orc named Kregg (or Craig, when he's around humans). In the D&D universe, there are multiple deities that each had a hand in creating the world. In this world, Orcs were created by a god named Gruumsh, who loves violence, and created Orcs with a burning desire to fight other creatures for no other reason than just for the sake of fighting them. Even Half-Orcs, who are typically half-human, as Kregg is, cannot fully escape Gruumsh's influence; they all feel the urge to fight. However, Kregg came to own a magical, sentient sword named Peacekeeper, who now acts as Kregg's moral compass. She telepathically teaches him a better way to behave than listening to Gruumsh. Kregg sometimes feels conflicted, hearing two conflicting voices in his head whenever a situation could, but shouldn't, be answered with violence. In this way, Kregg somewhat represents us all.

We all have at least two voices in our heads, in addition to our own. On one hand, the devil attempts to tempt us to do evil, and on the other hand, the spirit inspires us to do good. These conflicting voices can sometimes make it difficult to make choices, causing a daily struggle between right and wrong. As I roleplay Kregg, I'll make sure he chooses good more often than not, but I'll also make those choices at least as difficult for him as they sometimes are for me. That way, I can use Kregg as a sort of role model, a Paladin of Self-Control. Because if Kregg can hear good and evil voices in his head and choose to listen to the good, then maybe the rest of us can, too.

The Only Love That Comes Close

Despite what I said yesterday about latching onto quotes and taking them out of context, I believe that there are some quotes, perhaps many, that don't need context to be profound and worth studying. Case in point: In the first talk of the Saturday Morning Session of the April 2017 General Conference, President Eyring said "Though earthly families are far from perfect, they give God’s children the best chance to be welcomed to the world with the only love on earth that comes close to what we felt in heaven—parental love."

I believe that there's a reason why God goes by the title of "Heavenly Father." Earthly families create excellent parallels that help us understand God's love for us and why He does what He does. I'm not sure we can comprehend how much God loves us, but we can have some idea how much our earthly parents love us, and (I assume) we can keenly feel the love we have for our children. Having some grasp of the extent and power of parental love, we gain a frame of reference for imagining our Heavenly Father's love for us.

My earthly family isn't perfect. I don't think anyone's is. But I feel a good deal of love and support from my family, and it makes me think, "If my mortal family loves me this much, how much must my Heavenly Father love me?" Of course, there are differences. My Heavenly Father has a more complete knowledge of my sins and failings, and He has a lower tolerance for some of my eccentricities than some of my family members do, but I imagine that He still loves me at least as much as my mother does, and that feels like a fairly decent amount of love.

I'm blessed to have such a strong sense of love in my life, and I'm grateful that it helps me understand God's love for me. Without my family, I'm not sure I would have any real concept of what love is, and I certainly wouldn't have any way to comprehend how much love God has for me. I am richly blessed by God's love, and a big part of how I know that is because I am also richly blessed by parental love.

Weaknesses and Progression - Thinking Too Much

In his most recent talk to the women of the church, President Eyring said something that made me pause for thought: "Those who do not see their weaknesses do not progress."

This makes a certain amount of sense. After all, if you don't know what the problem is, you can't fix it. But I'm not sure how to reconcile this teaching with the concept of eternal progression. God is perfect. God has no weaknesses to see. Yet, God is progressing. Then, was President Eyring's claim incorrect? Does it apply only to humans? Or am I misunderstanding the definition of "progress," "perfection," and/or "weakness"?

The word that was translated as "perfect" in some translation of the Bible was translated as "complete" in others. Can a thing be "complete" but still have weaknesses? More to the point, does God have any weaknesses? What is the definition of "weakness" (specifically, as President Eyring meant it to be defined)?

Is it possible that God is not progressing? One who has no weaknesses, and thus "do[es] not see their [non-existent] weaknesses]," cannot overcome them, and thus cannot progress. Perhaps God has the same problem King Louis of Disney's animated classic The Jungle Book claimed to have: He reached the top and had to stop.

Yet, if that is true, the inability to improve upon perfection could be considered a weakness or a limitation, and if one could overcome that inability, they would be making progress, so a situation in which progress is impossible is theoretically impossible.

I'm probably putting way too much thought into this. President Eyring was speaking to people, and for people, his statement is true. If a person, who certainly has plenty of weaknesses, fails to recognise any of those weaknesses, he or she cannot actively work on overcoming them, which is probably pretty close to what President Eyring meant. I'd be surprised if President Eyring meant for his statement to be taken literally and over-analyzed. Perhaps I ought to listen more to the main themes of Conference messages rather than latching onto a single thought or phrase and reading far too much into it.

Inner Peace Despite External Troubles

When President Eyring spoke about the peace the Savior said He would leave with us, I don't think he was talking about the peace that comes from not having problems. We would all like that kind of peace, I'm sure, but unfortunately, that wouldn't really be good for us. We came to Earth to grow, and that requires that we face obstacles and opposition. However, through the Holy Spirit, we can still have a form of peace, despite regularly experiencing troubles.

This inner peace is centered on hope and an eternal perspective. It reminds us that the troubles of this life are temporary, and if we endure them well, the rewards are eternal. It encourages us to have faith in God and His plan and timing. It comes from having a quiet conscience and remaining worthy of the companionship of the Holy Ghost, who is also called "the Comforter." He gives us comfort when we suffer afflictions in the course of serving God. Through the Spirit, we can have inner peace despite external troubles.

Trouble is unavoidable. Even if you don't get into trouble yourself, others will make it for you. However, even in the face of such problems, we can have a deep and powerful peace. I long for that kind of peace, especially when I think of the problems I've had. I'm sure the same is true for you. Thankfully, we can have inner peace, no matter what we're going through. The key is to keep the Spirit with us, and we do that by doing things that attract the Spirit, including repenting and making covenants. When we have the Spirit with us, we can have peace, no matter what is going on around us. We may not be able to get rid of our problems, but we can get the companionship of the Spirit, and that will bring us a form of peace.

Back to Work

It was fun while it lasted. I enjoyed the week my Mom and I spent on the road, visiting friends and relatives, and not having to worry about much of anything except how far it was to the next gas station. But the vacation is over now, and while I'm glad to be back in my familiar home with my other friends and relatives, this also means it's time to get back to work.

Two days ago, I made an analogy comparing returning home from vacation to returning to our heavenly home from mortality. Unfortunately, this concept of going back to work fits the analogy fairly well. Mortal life has plenty of work in it, and some of us are almost eager to "rest in peace," but I'm not sure how much "rest" we're actually going to get. We know that missionary work will continue on the other side of the veil, and eternal progression takes an eternity of effort. I don't think we're really going to get an opportunity to rest from all our cares and labors any time soon. Cares, maybe; labors, no.

Naturally, the nature of our work may be significantly different on the other side. For example, we won't need to work for a living any more, so that's something to look forward to. The work in the post-mortal work will be spiritual rather than physical. In that sense, it may be said that we will experience physical rest, but if our bodies and spirits are connected in such a way that what happens to one will in some way affect the other, I'm not sure how much of a consolation that will be. Perhaps our spiritual work will begin to feel like physical work.

However you slice it, the afterlife isn't going to be an eternity of resting. We may get some rest, but we will also get plenty of work, and while the work may be very different than the kinds of work we're used to here, it still isn't likely that, after we die, we're going to literally "rest in piece." More likely, not long after we die, God's going to put us right back to work.

Easter vs Christmas

I feel like I should blog about Easter, but I'm not sure what I could say that hasn't already been said, better, by general authorities. Except that I wonder why Easter isn't as big a holiday as Christmas is. Celebrating the birth of Christ is important (even if He wasn't actually born in December), but it's almost certainly even more important to celebrate the single greatest achievement of His, or anyone's, life. Easter is a day on which we commemorate the Atonement and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. On the first Easter Sunday, Jesus Christ broke the bands of sin and death, making sure that we wouldn't have to be bound by them for eternity (though we, for hopefully brief periods of time, will each be bound by each of them). Through the Atonement and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, we can all overcome every problem and challenge that faces us. Without the Atonement and Resurrection, Jesus Christ would have been little more than just another teacher. Without Easter, there would be little reason to celebrate Christmas.

Of course and unfortunately, I know the reason why Christmas is more celebrated than Easter is: commercialism. Easter sells some decorations and candies. Christmas sells decorations, candies, and millions upon millions of gifts. So retailers advertise Christmas more than the advertise Easter, and Christmas ends up playing a much larger role in Western society than Easter does. It's unfortunate, but I think that's the reason why Easter isn't quite as big as Christmas.

However, not being as widely or as festively celebrated as Christmas doesn't make Easter any less important than Christmas. In fact, for reasons I've stated before, it may be even more important. Christmas celebrates Jesus coming to Earth; Easter celebrates what He came here to do. Christmas reminds us that Jesus lived on Earth once; Easter reminds us that we can all live in Heaven forever. Christmas focusses our attention on a Babe in a manger; Easter focuses our attention on our risen Lord and Master in all His glory.

Now, there's nothing wrong with Christmas. It's a great holiday and it's well worth celebrating. But to the Christians who believe in Jesus' triumph over sin and death, and look forward to our own similar triumphs, Easter may be even more important than Christmas is.

Heading Home

Mom and I are heading home today, but in a way, we've been "heading home" since we left it. Every day spent with friends and relatives, every hour spent on the road, took us closer to the time of our return. This could be discouraging in that the time of our vacation has been counting down since it started, but it can also be kind of encouraging in that we are going home. I like vacations, and I'm certainly going to enjoy the rest f our vacation for as long as it lasts, but I also like my home, and I look forward to getting back to it when the time comes.

The same could be said about our lives on earth. In a way, we were drawing closer to the time of our deaths since the moment we were born, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Life on earth is good, and we should certainly enjoy it for as long as it lasts, but it will eventually end, and when our time on earth is up, we're going to go home.

I don't think I'm ready to come home yet. There are still a few things I want to get done first. But I don't dread going home, either. I have a good home with a loving family, and as long as we're talking about our heavenly home and family, we all do. I look forward to being with my home and family again. But that doesn't mean that I'm going to rush my return. I still have one day left on my road trip, and I still have at least some time left in my mortal life, and I plan to enjoy the time I have left and make the most of it. I'm glad Mom and I are heading home, but I'm also glad that we're not quite there yet.

With God as Our Guide

A few days ago, I had a conversation about travelling with or without a guide or tour group. Travelling without a guide or group allows a greater degree of freedom, but it also carries a greater risk of things going wrong. If you travel with a guide or group, you still get to have an adventure, but it's safer than going alone.
On Earth, we're all going on a sort of adventure. We're all spending time away from our eternal homes, having experiences we couldn't otherwise have had. At this point, we can't choose whether or not to go on this adventure; we already made that choice, but we can still choose whether or not we'll follow a guide, and which guide we'll follow.

If we go without a guide, we'll be able to go wherever we want, including straight into danger, if we're not careful. If we choose the wrong guide, we will almost certainly be led into a trap. But if we use God as our guide, we can still have all the adventure of a mortal life without causing problems for our eternal lives. We can travel through mortality and still make it home safe and sound.

Travelling is fun, and I am attracted to the idea of travelling without set plans. It's liberating, but it's also somewhat dangerous. And when you're travelling through an area as dangerous as mortality, it's critical that you have and follow a good guide. I wouldn't wander through an African jungle without a good guide, and it's just as important, if not more so, not to travel through mortality without a good guide. So, as tempting as it is to choose my own paths, I'm going to try to be wise enough to let God guide me. Life is an adventure either way. There's no need to make it a dangerous one by abandoning my guide.

Keeping Commitments

I'm tired, but I made a commitment to blog, so I guess I'll blog about the importance of keeping commitments. Normally, I'm pretty big on freedom. I think that people should be able to make their own decisions, and change their minds if they want to. There may be repercussions, but even if people have the freedom to break their word without repercussions, they probably shouldn't. It's not polite. It's not fair to those who were counting on them to keep their promises. And it's probably not healthy for the individual. The word "discipline" left a sour taste in my mouth when I was very young, but I've since learned the importance of self-control, and one way to develop discipline and self-control is to keep your promises, even when you don't want to. Plus, it's dishonest not to. When a person says they're going to do something, they're making a statement that's either honest or dishonest, depending on whether or not they actually do what they said they were going to. Honesty has its own benefits, independent of self-discipline, and dishonesty has its own consequences as well.

Some years ago, I made a commitment to blog daily, and, for the most part, I've kept that promise. I've missed a few days for forgetting. I've missed several days from camping. And I've missed at least one day by being too sick to blog. But almost every day, I've kept my promise to post a semi-spiritual blog post each day. Part of me wants to keep that going, just for the sake of keeping that going, but I also want to keep blogging for the sake of keeping my commitment. I made God a promise, so even when I'm tired, and even when I have nothing to say, I think it's worthwhile to keep my commitment.

Our Creations and His

Today, I spent most of the day on a boat, taking pictures of animals and islands. As I did, I thought about how amazing it was that we, mankind, had made machines that, in addition to aiding in travel and image-capturing, also help us better observe and appreciate nature. I felt good about how much we, mankind, had accomplished, and how we were, at that time, using what we had made to better appreciate what God had made. Of course, the things we've made can't hold a candle to the things He has made, but we are still able to do good with them, and I'm sure that's what God wants us to do. I think that I, and the other passengers on that boat, made good use of technology today, mostly because we spent most of our day using technology to help get us closer to nature. God's creations are wonderful, and I think God is pleased when we use our creations to better observe, protect, and admire His.

I Would Like To Bear My Testimony...

I know that God lives and loves us. I know that the scriptures are true. I know that families can be together forever. I am grateful for my family and for the love I feel from them and from my Father in Heaven. I know that the Holy Spirit speaks to us. He gives us guidance and comfort. He helps us know what's true and right and good. It takes continual effort to keep Him with us, to stay worthy of His companionship, but I testify that it's worth it. The blessings we get from the Spirit are worth the time and effort it takes to study the scriptures, pray, and exercise self-control. And having a testimony you can lean on is worth the time and effort it takes to grow one.

To Grow a Testimony

This morning, I heard that the best way to grow a testimony is to share it, and hearing that made me immediately think of my blog. When I started this blog a few years ago, I used it to share my testimony and insights. Since then, I've also started using it to share my questions and doubts. Now, there's nothing wrong from having questions. Some of the best revelations come from asking the right question at the right time. But there's nothing wrong with having faith, too, even when things don't seem to make any sense. It want this blog to help me grow my testimony, not weaken it. So, let me grow my testimony by sharing it, or at least a part of it.

I know God is real. I know He reaches out to us to guide us. I know He wants to help us because He wants what's best for us, because He loves us.I know that we can trust Him, even when we have questions and doubts. We may wish that He would answer more of our questions, and when He doesn't, that may leave us with even more questions, and even some doubts, but even then, we can trust Him. I can trust Him.

As you may have gathered (and as I may have stated), there's some stuff I've been working through. I've had a personal concern and an unanswered question turn into a larger concern and a good deal of frustration on my part. I'm going through a trial of faith. And I want to pass it. Or at least a part of me does. But to pass it, I'm going to need more faith and more trust. So, over the next few days, I'm going to try to grow my testimony here, by bearing it.

The Example of Family

Last night, I literally saw "my mother kneeling . . . as she bowed her head to pray," and tonight, I heard my brother-in-law read, pray, and sing a Primary song with my niece. It was wonderful to see the example of faithful family members keeping up the daily traditions that strengthen testimonies and familial bonds. Watching them filled my heart with the Spirit and with motivation to follow their good examples. I'm grateful for my family and for the good examples they set for me. I want to follow their examples so my testimony can grow as strong as theirs are. May we all set good examples for our friends and family members so we can all motivate each other to make the daily decisions that will help us be strong in the gospel and have strong family ties as well.

Faith and Fruit

I think Miriam went a long way toward explaining the connection between certainty and faith. She shared Alma 32: 33-34:

And now, behold, because ye have tried the experiment, and planted the seed, and it swelleth and sprouteth, and beginneth to grow, ye must needs know that the seed is good.

And now, behold, is your knowledge perfect? Yea, your knowledge is perfect in that thing, and your faith is dormant; and this because you know, for ye know that the word hath swelled your souls, and ye also know that it hath sprouted up, that your understanding doth begin to be enlightened, and your mind doth begin to expand.

As I understand the analogy from just a cursory rereading, the seed is Christianity or becoming a Christian. The seed sprouting and growing might represent feeling the Spirit, or any of the other blessings that come through membership in the church. Once we've received those blessings, we can be certain that the church is good. However, where I got confused was how we can have that certainty and still need faith.

Alma explains it later. In verse 36, he says that we must not lay aside our faith. Continuing the analogy, he says that, even once the tree begins to grow, we must nourish it, "looking forward with an eye of faith to the fruit thereof, [or we] can never pluck of the fruit of the tree of life."

The fruit, if I understand it correctly, represents the eternal blessings the faithful will receive in the next life. Even when we are certain that the church is true, we still need to have at least some faith that the promised blessings will eventually be ours. Then again, if we know that the church is true, that must mean that we know that the promises are true, so we would, theoretically, "know" that we will receive the promised blessings.

Perhaps that's what President Burton mean about certainty. We can have an evidence-based certainty that the church is true, as well as an inner certainty that the church is true, but we cannot have an evidence-based certainty that we will receive the promised blessings, because we haven't really seen a lot of evidence about that yet, so we still need to have faith in it. Still, we can have an inner certainty, an assurance borne by the Spirit, that the promised blessings are real. Thus, we can be certain of the promises, but that certainty still requires faith in the witness of the Spirit.

It's a bit strange, but I guess that explanation works. If you're still confused, I don't blame you. But I think I've reconciled, at least for myself, how one can be certain of something but still need to have faith.

Priorities and Putting Things Off

Between homework and youtube and packing and chatting with my brother, I almost forgot to blog. It's amazing how long we can put something off, practically by accident, just by doing other things instead. And the scary thing is, we each only have a certain amount of time. If we put something off, intending to do it tomorrow, or next week, or within the next few years, we may never get the chance. It makes me think about priorities, and, specifically, of doing the most important things first -- or I might not get to do them at all. I don't plan on dying any time soon, but then again, who does? I should cherish my time more than I do, and spend it better. Thankfully, I already have plans to spend a good deal of quality time with a close friend. Speaking of which, I should probably get back to packing for that.

Faith and Certainty

President Linda K. Burton spoke of "certain women," meaning women who were certain in their testimonies of Jesus Christ and His gospel. However, I'm not sure if such certainty is possible, seeing as the idea of certainty seems to conflict with the idea of faith. Given that the existence and divinity of Jesus Christ is a matter of fact rather than opinion, it is theoretically possible for a person to have a certain knowledge concerning that fact, but I'm not sure if anyone on Earth (except perhaps a select few) would be granted the opportunity to gain that knowledge. After all, God does expect and require the vast majority of us to develop and exercise faith. Yet, if our faith grows strong enough, it may become much like certainty in that we can act on our faith as though it was actual certainty. We may not know what will happen if we follow the Gospel plan, but we can be certain that it will turn out well, and, apparently, some people are. Those people make good role-models, even if their "certainty" is really just very strong faith.

The word "certain" has many definitions, and perhaps it would be wise for us to not get those definitions mixed up. There is a certainty that concerns the absolute knowledge of objective facts and there is a certainty that stems from incredible faith. Few people on Earth right now have an absolute certainty of Jesus' existence and divinity, but many people have certain faith in Him, and that's the kind of certainty we should strive for. We're not striving for a certainty based on knowledge; we're striving for a certainty based on faith.

Holiness is Hard

In Sister Carol F. McConkie, in her talk , The Beauty of Holiness, said the following about what holiness is:

Holiness is in the striving and the struggle to keep the commandments and to honor the covenants we have made with God. Holiness is making the choices that will keep the Holy Ghost as our guide. Holiness is setting aside our natural tendencies and becoming “a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord.”

None of those things are easy. The words "striving" and "struggle" instantly bring difficulty to mind, but making the sorts of choices that will allow us to maintain the companionship of the Holy Ghost can be very difficult, too. The Holy Ghost is easily driven away by impure or unholy thoughts or actions. If we ever think or say something mean about someone, even ourselves, we run the risk of losing the Spirit, and we certainly detract from our holiness. And overcoming the natural man isn't just a challenge; it is the major challenge of mortality.

Every aspect of holiness, as it is defined by Sister McConkie, is difficult, but it is also worth it. There are many perks to being holy, from what I've heard. Keeping the commandments and our covenants can earn us a myriad of blessings, keeping the Holy Ghost with us is a host of blessings in and of itself, and "becoming 'a saint through the atonement of Christ'" may be the greatest blessing of all. Yes, it is challenging, but almost every worthwhile goal is. Holiness is not something one can achieve easily, but it is a trait well worth "the striving and the struggle" to earn.

A "New" Primary Answer

Several questions we ask each other in the church can be answered with the same set of familiar responses. "How can we draw closer to God?", "How can we increase our faith?", and "What do we need to do to be saved?" can all be answered with "Pray", "Study the Scriptures", "Be Baptised", and "Go to Church." There are many other questions to which the "Primary" or "Sunday School" answers apply, and there are many more Primary answers than those I listed, including one I only heard recently.

In the first talk of the April 2017 General Conference, Sister Bonnie H. Cordon of the Primary General Presidency taught us how we can come to know and trust the Lord. In doing so, she used the two most common Primary answers, praying and studying the scriptures, plus a "new" Primary answer, or at least one that I hadn't heard of being used as a Primary answer before: "Give Service."

Giving service to others is an essential element of the teachings of the Savior. He spent and gave His life in the service of others, and we can hardly call ourselves His disciples unless we are willing to serve others as well. Through service, we attract the Spirit and many other wonderful blessings, including inner peace, a sense of perspective, and an awareness of God's love. Service is such an integral part of the gospel and a source of so many great blessings, I'm surprised I hadn't heard it used as a Primary answer before. Perhaps I simply wasn't listening well enough before. At any rate, I certainly consider it a Primary answer now, and I consider it a "new" Primary answer, even though it probably always was one.

Post-Conference Thoughts

The weekends always feel pretty short, but that's especially true when it's General Conference weekend. We essentially spend the whole weekend listening to the prophet and apostles and other church leaders, leaving very little time for anything else, and we still aren't able to absorb all of the lessons those leaders tried to share with us. With any luck, we each had one or two things that really stuck out to us, that stuck with us all the way home and stayed with us, even through the semi-annual ice cream parties we always have. Hopefully, those messages stuck out to us for a reason, and maybe those are the messages that we really needed to here, so the Spirit brought those thoughts to our hearts and kept them in our remembrance so we can remember to act on them later. Of course, it could be that our brains latched onto those thoughts for no real reason at all, but I would like to think that, after such a spiritual meeting, the Spirit would help us know what we most needed to learn from it and would help make sure that those are the messages we remember, even when the others fade. With any luck, these post-Conference thoughts can help guide and direct us over the coming months. Still, since I'm sure we've missed and will forget many of the valuable lessons from Conference, it would still be wise to review the talks. But in the meantime, it's a good idea to act on the Conference lessons that we actually remember. It's entirely possible that they stood out to us and stuck with us for a reason.

Review for the Newcomers

One thing that immediately stuck out to me during the first session of Conference today was how much of it sounded like something you might hear in Gospel Essentials class. But as I think about it, that makes a lot of sense. General Conference attracts a good number of visitors (or so I hope), and it is one of the few regular meetings we literally broadcast out to all the world. Conference could easily be a person's first real exposure to our church, so it makes sense that we should spend the first few hours of Conference explaining some of our basic beliefs. I don't know how many non-members tuned in to Conference this morning, but those that did learned a lot more about the basic tenets of Mormonism than they may have heard elsewhere, and they heard it straight from the horse's mouth, so to speak. In fact, far from being bored / annoyed by the review, I wonder if it would make sense to start Conference with a recitation of the Articles of Faith, just in case anyone within earshot is hazy on the subject of what we believe. Reviewing the basics periodically is a good idea anyway, and twice a year is about as "periodically" as you can get. So, while I may have zoned out once or twice during the first few talks, I'm glad they included as much about the basics as they did. Not everybody knows this stuff yet, and it's so important that it wouldn't hurt for even lifelong members to here it again.

Failing to Forsake

The final talk of the October 2016 General Conference was Repentance: A Joyful Choice by Elder Dale G. Renlund. In this talk, Elder Renlund quoted D&C 58:42-43, which reads "Behold, he who has repented of his sins, the same is forgiven, and I, the Lord, remember them no more. By this ye may know if a man repenteth of his sins—behold, he will confess them and forsake them." I understand how and why confession is an essential part of repentance, and I can almost understand it with forsaking, but there's just one problem: By evil design, sin can be terribly addicting, so forsaking one's sins can be very difficult, which could make repentance almost impossible.

Imagine a smoker who decides that it's a sin to smoke and who tries to repent of smoking by confessing the sin and forsaking it, but not long after he or she makes that decision, he or she gets a strong craving and gives in to the temptation to smoke a cigarette. Does that mean that they didn't truly forsake their sin earlier? Does that mean that they didn't truly repent?

Personally, I don't think that God would be quite so strict. He knows that habits can be hard to break. He's probably fairly lenient with those who make an honest effort to repent. We must try to forsake our sins, but I hope that God won't be too hard of those who have trouble with that. We might have difficulties forsaking our sins, but that doesn't necessarily mean that God will forsake us.

Repentance means change, and change often comes over time, in steps, and there may be some missteps along the way, but I don't think those missteps invalidate the first steps toward repentance. Forsaking sin is the result of the repentance process, and it is the ultimate goal of repentance, but it is a process. I certainly hope that failing to forsake a sin cold turkey isn't actually as detrimental as some interpretations of D&C 58:43 make it sound.b