And the Multitude Followed Them

3 Nephi 19:10 And when they had thus prayed they went down unto the water’s edge, and the multitude followed them.

At first glance, this verse seems mostly devoid of meaning. Everyone went down to the river together. Big deal. However, it may be a big deal that the multitude went down to the river, following the disciples in doing so. I pull two messages out of this: one cautionary, one aspirational.

This message is a cautionary one because it demonstrates that people tend to follow other people. Granted, lots of people follow their own path, but even more people follow others, be they their religious and/or political leaders, they friends and family, those who seem to be the most popular and/or successful members of society, or just the rest of the crowd. Following others is a good way for an individual to get to wherever the person they're following is going. If that's a good place, that's a good thing. We're lucky to have religious leaders and the word of God that we can follow. However, we should be careful whom we follow, and we should especially be careful because people may be following us. Even those of us who feel like nobodies may have a guiding influence on others, if only because behavior is infectious, so we should be careful to make sure our behavior is good and that it guides others to do good as well.

Fortunately, the people in this verse definitely seem to be on a good path. At his moment in time, and for a generation of two afterward, the people were definitely following God. Specifically, they were following Jesus' disciples, who were (figuratively) following Jesus, Who had followed God. It's rare for a whole multitude to be on the right path, but here they were, all following the disciples to the waters of baptism. Not a lot of people do that these days. But the good news is that "the multitude" is made of individuals, including us and those within our sphere of influence. As we follow God and encourage others to follow Him as well, that small part of the multitude will be following God. And while we follow God, others may still follow us. It's possible, if unlikely, to get the whole multitude to follow God this way, and that, in my opinion, would certainly be a change for the better.

So, we should be aware of the tendency to follow. We should be careful whom we follow, and we should be careful where we lead others. And if we do, we can end up in a good place, and we may even bring others along with us. So lets try to follow (and be) good guides. So long as we're all following each other, we might as well follow each other to somewhere good.

Watch and Pray

3 Nephi 18:15 Verily, verily, I say unto you, ye must watch and pray always, lest ye be tempted by the devil, and ye be led away captive by him.

I don't know how many ties I've blogged about this phrase, but it's a good one. It's an important principle to remember. The best way to resist temptation is to watch out for it and to pray for the wisdom to see it and the strength to resist it. All of the Sunday School answers also help, but for resisting temptation specifically, watching and praying are especially important.

Lowering Ladders

Today, I read a story about a woman, Jocelynn James, who, with God's help, turned her life around 180 degrees and then went on to bless others' lives. I want that to happen in my life. I would like to grow the way she has grown and then to help others to grow the way I will have. Perhaps that's part of the reason God gave me the obstacles I have: so that when I overcome them, I can help others do the same.

Sometimes, when people achieve success, they pull the ladder up after them, but Jocelynn did the opposite, and I want to follow her lead. She scaled a cliff and lowered a ladder down behind her, and I want to do the same. I want to help others have a less difficult time overcoming the challenges with which I am currently struggling. As I learn to overcome my challenges, I hope I also learn how to help others overcome theirs. 

I want to overcome my challenges. And when I do, I want to help others overcome theirs, too.

Up Late Blogging Again

I sometimes get credit for having an abundance of spiritual thoughts, and I sometimes get flak for staying up too late. The truth is that I stay up until I think of something semi-spiritual to blog about. I do this because I made a commitment to blog every day. I made that commitment seven years ago, and I still try to keep it. That's why I stay up late, trying to think of something to blog about, preferably before midnight.

Tomorrow night, I'm not going to do that. Tomorrow night, if I can't think of anything blogworthy to blog about by, say, 10 pm, I'm just going to go to bed. This isn't healthy. I know I need the blessings, but I also need to get some sleep.

God Listens

I don't know who all else needs to hear this, but God listens. No matter what you want to talk about, no matter what you need to say about it, you can talk to God about it, and He'll listen, even if no one else would or can. He may not answer you right away, and when He does, it may not be the answer you want to hear, but you can always go to God with whatever you want to say, and He'll listen. God will always listen.

Good Gifts

3 Nephi 14: 9-11
Or what man is there of you, who, if his son ask bread, will give him a stone?
Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?
If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father who is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?

I would wonder what would happen if we asked God for a stone or a serpent, but I think I answered that last time. God gives us good gifts, no matter what we ask for. He gives us blessings, and He gives us experiences that help us grow. I don't think God would ever give us something that would just hurt us, with no upside. Even the afflictions He gives us are made for our benefit, so they end up being blessings in the long run.

I think that God only ever gives out good gifts. It's just that we don't always share His perspective about what sorts of gifts are "good."

The Lower Lights

3 Nephi 9:18 I am the light and the life of the world. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.

3 Nephi 15:12 Ye are my disciples; and ye are a light unto this people, who are a remnant of the house of Joseph.

What I like about this little combination of verses is that, while Jesus Christ is the light of the whole world, we can still be lights to the people around us. While He guides and heals everyone, we can guide and heal those closest to us. It's not as grand or as glamorous, but it feels even more personal. I know that we can come to know Jesus Christ, but our friends already know us. And if, through our influence, they get any closer to Him, all the better. Sure, our lights aren't as bright as His, and they don't reach as far, but ours feel closer. And our lights, though lesser, can still light the path well enough to point others to Him. We don't have enough light to help everyone, like He does, but we have enough light to help our friends.

Ask, Seek, and Knock... For What?

3 Nephi 14:7-8 Ask, and it shall be given unto you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. 

 

For every one that asketh, receiveth; and he that seeketh, findeth; and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened.

Doesn't this kinda depend on what you ask for? For example, if I pray and ask God for one million dollars, does that mean that God will give me one million dollars? I don't think it works that way. God doesn't always give us what we ask for. He gives us what we need.

Yet, we might still get whatever we seek for, depending on how we seek it. God won't just give me one million dollars, but He will allow me to earn it, if I can. If I seek riches, I can obtain them, not as a blessing from God, but as a natural result of my choices.

I'm not exactly sure how the knocking works in this case. It's a little too abstract. What are we knocking on? What does it mean to knock? What does it mean to have "it" open to us? 

I don't know, but I do know that even though God will only ever give us good things, no matter what we ask for, He will let us get just about anything we can get ourselves, good or bad. We must remember to only seek and ask for good things, or we'll regret it, either because we won't get it, or worse, because we will.

Works in Progress

Have you ever looked at a piece of art before it was completed? It usually doesn't look as good as the finished product. Some of the details will be missing. The colors may be a bit off. In fact, it might not look that great at all. If we were to judge a piece of art before it's completed, we would be doing both it and ourselves a disservice. We should not judge too harshly any work of art while it's in progress.

That includes people. All people are "works in progress." Everyone is continuing to grow and change. Everyone is progressing toward one endpoint or another. No one who still lives is their whole, final self. We should not judge anyone too harshly while they're still in the process of becoming whomever they are going to become.

And that includes ourselves. We should be patient with ourselves, just as we are with others. We, too, are works in progress. We, too, are continuing the grow and change. We know how imperfect we and others are right now, but we shouldn't dwell on that any more than we dwell on how an unfinished artwork is imperfect.

We are, all of us, still in the process of becoming perfect. Let's not judge anyone too harshly for not being quite there yet.

Willing

The other night, I urged my readers to let God heal them. While willingness is not always required for physical healing, or for magical healing in D&D, a soul in D&D does need to be "willing" in order to be returned back to life, and God, in real life, needs us to be willing to let Him heal us.

God doesn't force His blessings onto anyone. He respects our agency. He will only help us if we let Him. So, let's let Him bless us. He wants to shower us with love and healing, protection, and guidance. But the only way He can give us those blessings is if we're willing to receive them.

Spiritual Batteries

My power just went out, but I can still blog because I have some battery life in my phone. Thankfully, I charged it today, so it should have plenty of juice in case the outage lasts into tomorrow. And my laptop has a pretty full charge that I can transfer to my phone if the outage lasts even longer than that. Even without external power, I can keep blogging for days.

I wonder if it's possible to have that much spiritual power. With God, we can do anything, but when God withholds His blessings, as He did with Job, how long will our faith hold out? It's easy to serve (or forget) God when He blesses us. How long would we keep serving Him after those blessings stop coming? It's an important, if academic, question to ask. How strong are our spiritual batteries? How fully charged are they? If our spiritual power got shut off for whatever reason, how long would our spiritual batteries last?

I'm worried that I might not like my answer. Perhaps I ought to work on that. I know it's crazy to think about having to get by without God's help, even for a little while, but still, it's important to be willing to stay faithful, even if one's blessings get cut off

Beloved Child

Our lesson manual this week includes the recommendation to listen to the song "This Is My Beloved Son." As I listened to that song, I was struck with the impression that Jesus was not God's only "beloved Son." God loves all of His children. Every human being on earth is a beloved son or beloved daughter of God.

I know that's not much of an insight, but it's what I needed to hear. I needed the reminder that I am a beloved son of God. So I thought I'd pass that "insight" along, in case you need it, too.

You are a child of God. He loves you. He wants what's best for you, and He wants you to be happy. He wants to hear from you, and He wants to heal you. Let Him.

"I Can Change"

This morning, I almost wore a shirt that says "Donating blood... is my super power" and depicts the three most famous members of the Justice League, plus a person who, evidently, had just given blood. However, I knew I was going to the Temple later today, and I figured that that shirt wasn't reverent enough to wear at the Temple, even if you are just going to sit on a bench on temple grounds, so I grabbed an Institute shirt instead. But then I saw that my mom was wearing her "super power" shirt. I commented on it, and we considered the possibility of us wearing the same shirt, so we could match. At some point during that conversation, I said "I can change," and shortly afterward, I considered the profound implications of that phrase.

We can all change, and not just our shirts. We can change our minds and our opinions. We can change our attitudes and our hearts. We can change our decisions and our habits. Ultimately, we can change our lives and destinies. Of course, none of that is as easy as changing our shirts, but it's still possible. We can change. We mostly just need to decide to change and then put in the necessary effort.

This morning, I changed my shirt. Over time, we can change our lives.

Making Quiet Moments

I like to go out on bike rides where I find a quiet spot, and I sit, and I pray, and I listen. I don't think we get enough of that these days. There aren't enough quiet spots. There isn't much time to sit and pray and listen. Often, if we want those quiet moments, we need to make them. We need to set aside time to pray and ponder. For several months now, my mom and I have made those quiet moments for ourselves by going to the temple nearly every week. I'd recommend doing something similar. We all need quiet moments to pray and ponder, to refresh and recenter ourselves. And when those moments don't happen naturally often enough, we have to make them.

"I Have Suffered the Will of the Father"

3 Nephi 11:11 And behold, I am the light and the life of the world; and I have drunk out of that bitter cup which the Father hath given me, and have glorified the Father in taking upon me the sins of the world, in the which I have suffered the will of the Father in all things from the beginning.

I don't want to be exactly like Jesus Christ. I don't want to do what He did. I don't want to "[drink] out of that bitter cup which the Father hath given me." I don't want to suffer.

But I know that suffering is unavoidable, and I know that it's better to suffer now than later. Since I have to suffer, I might as well suffer for a good cause.

Still, I'd have been right there with Jesus, asking God to let the cup pass from me. I don't like suffering. Jesus' or mine or anybody else's. I would rather that people not have to suffer.

But, given that it has to happen, I suppose I'd rather get it over with than prolong it. I'd rather suffer the will of the Father than try to fight against it. Given that I have to suffer, I'd rather have the kind of suffering that leads to blessings than the kind of suffering that is eternal.

Near-Infinite Patience

What struck me most about 3 Nephi 10 was all those line about a hen gathering her chickens. In verse 4, it's "how oft have I gathered you as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings." In verse 5, it's "how oft would I have gathered you." And in verse 6, it's "how oft will I gather you as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, if ye will repent and return unto me with full purpose of heart."

Clearly, the Lord is exceptionally patient. In order for a hen to gather her chickens repeatedly, it seems likely that they must have wandered off repeatedly, and still have been welcomed back with open wings every time they returned.

When they returned, that is. There were times, evidently, that they chose not to return, yet the Lord had been willing to accept their return, had they chosen to return.

And still, looking to the future, the Lord sees Himself welcoming His people back, repeatedly, as many times as they choose to repent.

Or nearly so.

You see, for all the Lord's patience, it isn't infinite. It's near-infinite, but not quite infinite. He can't keep playing this game forever, and neither can we. Eventually, there will be a Final Judgement, and we will have to show then, if not before then, which side of the line we are on.

The Lord has been patient with us, He is patient with us, and He will continue to be patient with us - up to a certain point. His mercy will be available to us as long as we need it, so long as we don't need it forever. The ultimate goal is to be gathered into the arms of the Lord, and to stay there. We need to learn how to stay righteous, how to stay Celestial, how to stay pure.

We need to learn how to stay gathered, because even the Lord can't keep gathering and regathering his chickens forever.

Actions Affect Ourselves

3 Nephi 9:12 And many great destructions have I caused to come upon this land, and upon this people, because of their wickedness and their abominations.

Of course, the Nephites who lived in the cities that were destroyed weren't totally innocent. They may not have killed the Savior, but they still brought their punishment on themselves. Let's try not to make the same mistake. Sure, we may suffer unfairly because of others' sins, but unless we repent, we will also suffer, fairly, because of our own.

Actions Affect Others

In 3 Nephi chapter 8, we read about great calamitous destructions that came upon the Nephites (and presumably the Lamanites as well), in part because of their own wickedness, but also in direct response to an intensely wicked act for which they bore no responsibility. The descendants of Lehi did not crucify the Savior, but they experienced horrendous (super)natural disasters anyway.

Naturally, this seems unfair. People should be punished for their own sins, not for other people's sins and transgressions. Yet, we are often affected by the actions of others, and other people are often affected by our actions, for better or worse, whether they deserve it or not. We need to think and act carefully, so our actions don't negatively affect others, and we need to be aware that some of the hardships we experience may be the results of the actions of others, not necessarily signs of divine disapproval.

Regardless of how our actions affect others and how others' actions affect us, we can take some comfort in knowing that, in the end, God will make sure that everyone is treated fairly. The cosmic scales of justice will be balanced, and everyone will ultimately get what they deserve. But until then, we unfortunately need to put up with a little bit of unfairness. Mortal life sometimes isn't fair. Part of the test is seeing how we deal with the unfairness of life. So, let's do good for others, whether they deserve it or not, and let's be patient in our afflictions, whether we deserve them or not.

Everything will balance out in the end. But in the meantime, we'll just have acknowledge and accept the fact that people's actions can and will affect other people.

Unimpressed by Miracles

3 Nephi 7:19 And in the name of Jesus did he cast out devils and unclean spirits; and even his brother did he raise from the dead, after he had been stoned and suffered death by the people.

20 And the people saw it, and did witness of it, and were angry with him because of his power; and he did also do many more miracles, in the sight of the people, in the name of Jesus.

What I find amazing as I read about Nephi in this chapter is how amazing his miracles were, yet the people hated him for it. At this point, the people weren't impressed by miracles at all. I find that almost ridiculous, but I also wonder how true that is with us. If we saw miracles like that, how impressed would we be? If we saw a person working miracles, would we think they were a prophet, or would we suspect they were a charlatan, a magician, or even a devil-worshiper? There are few good people who can work miracles, but lots of wicked people who might pretend to.

So, maybe I shouldn't be too quick to judge. I'd like to think that, if I saw someone raised from the dead, I'd know it was a miracle, but really, I think I'd wonder if the guy was ever really dead.

"Great Power"

3 Nephi 6:15 Now the cause of this iniquity of the people was this—Satan had great power, unto the stirring up of the people to do all manner of iniquity, and to the puffing them up with pride, tempting them to seek for power, and authority, and riches, and the vain things of the world.

What was this "great power" that Satan had over the Nephites? I can only think of one "great power" that Satan uses regularly. He can talk to us. And we sometimes listen."

That's basically it. That is the "great power" of Satan. Maybe some Satan-worshipers disagree with that, and there was a dark force that exerted some influence on one person on one occasion, but for the rest of us, the most power he will ever exercise over us is the "great power" of talking to us.

The only reason Satan has any power at all is because we sometimes listen to him. If we stop listening to him, his "great power" won't do him any good. His only ability will be to talk to a brick wall or shout into the void. We can make sure his lies fall on deaf ears. And if we do that, we can take away his "great power" and leave him completely powerless.

Sure, he can have "great power" over us, but that's only true if we listen to him.

At the Top of Their Wishlists

At the top of my mother's wishlist (and probably God's too) is a message that goes something like this:

* * * * * Most of all, I wish to know that my children and grandchildren
1) have testimonies of Jesus Christ and His restored gospel,
2) are living good, happy, useful lives, and
3) like me
4) love and support each other.

These are good things to want, and while I'm not doing perfectly at all of these all the time, I'm happy to say that, in general, I'm doing pretty well with this list, and I regularly strive to do even better.

Actually, come to think of it, we already know what God's wishlist looks like. The items on that list are called Commandments, and at the top of that list, you'll find these two:

Matthew 22:37-40 

37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

38 This is the first and great commandment.

39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

 That's what's most important. Love God. Love each other. Live good lives. That's as simple as the Gospel gets. So, to show my love for my Heavenly Father and for my wonderful mother, I'm going to try to live the best life I can and show and strengthen my love for both of them and for everyone else.

Love is important. So important, that the best people I know put it at the top of their wishlists.

The Undaunted Defenders

3 Nephi 4:8-10 And it came to pass that the armies of the Nephites, when they saw the appearance of the army of Giddianhi, had all fallen to the earth, and did lift their cries to the Lord their God, that he would spare them and deliver them out of the hands of their enemies.

And it came to pass that when the armies of Giddianhi saw this they began to shout with a loud voice, because of their joy, for they had supposed that the Nephites had fallen with fear because of the terror of their armies. 

But in this thing they were disappointed, for the Nephites did not fear them; but they did fear their God and did supplicate him for protection; therefore, when the armies of Giddianhi did rush upon them they were prepared to meet them; yea, in the strength of the Lord they did receive them.

When we face daunting challenges, as we all occasionally do, we should remember to turn to the Lord, as the Nephites did. Instead of fearing our problems, we should trust our God and call upon Him for help in overcoming our challenges. In the strength of the Lord, we can overcome anything the world throws at us. It may take time. It may take an eternity. But if we stay on the Lord's side and never give up, we can overcome any challenge, even our most daunting ones.

Ponderize - Power and a Promise

Ephesians 6:10 And now, my bretheren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 

Hmm, two mistakes. I said "And now" instead of "Finally," and I left out a comma between "Lord" and "and." Still, not bad for how little I practiced it this week. I need to practice more with this week's Ponderize verse.

Ephesians 6:11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

Another short one, immediately following the last one. It may be kinda cheating, but it's what I feel like doing. And who knows? Maybe I'll memorize the whole armor of God section this way (but don't bet on it).

In the meantime, I like how Ephesians 6:10 tells us a good way to gain spiritual power and how Ephesians 6:11 tells us what that power will allow us to do. I like promised blessings, especially those that involve the promise of strength and victory. Those are the sorts of blessings I'd like to have right now, and I hope that ponderizing these verses will help me figure out how to get them.

Upkeep Costs

I haven't played Magic: the Gathering in ages, yet there's one concept from that game that has stuck with me, even though the concept itself barely ever comes up in the game: upkeep costs. All non-land Magic: the Gathering cards can only be played at a cost, but that cost usually only has to be paid once. However, a relatively small number of Magic cards also have an upkeep cost, which you have to pay at the start of each turn, or you lose the card and its effects. But while upkeep costs are rare in Magic: the Gathering, they're common in real life.

For example, becoming a world-class athlete comes at a cost. It takes a significant amount of training and exercise and discipline to become a great athlete. Yet, even once you've achieved that status, you don't get to keep it unless you continue to pay the upkeep cost. You need to keep training, keep exercising, and maintain a healthy diet, or your physical prowess will start to slip, and others, who are paying those upkeep costs, will begin to excel you. To become a world-class athlete, you have to pay the cost, and to stay a world-class athlete, you need to keep paying that cost.

There is a similar effect in spiritual matters. To achieve a certain level of faith and spirituality, we need to develop that faith and spirituality through prayer and study and other Sunday School answer stuff. But, even once we've achieved that level of spirituality, we need to make an effort to maintain it, or we'll start to slip.

That's happened to me more time than I can count. I try to be spiritual, and I sometimes succeed and become spiritual, but I rarely succeed in putting in the daily effort it takes to maintain that level of spirituality. I reach a relatively high point on the celestial mountain we're all climbing, but then I ease up and end up backsliding. Then, galvanized by my failure, I often put in a herculean effort and reach greater heights again, only to later backslide again when I determine that a herculean effort is unsustainable and I stop paying the cost.

Thankfully, the cost of maintaining anything usually isn't as great as the cost of getting it in the first place. It just takes consistent, near constant effort. This can be accomplished fairly simply by establishing good habits, yet, unfortunately, I generally fail to do that.

So, I know what must be done. I must develop a habit of performing the rituals (like prayer and scripture study) that will help me maintain a healthy level of spirituality. If I don't, I'll continue to go through patterns of highs and lows, if I don't give up on the mountain altogether. I need to develop that habits that'll help me maintain and continually improve my progress up this mountain. I need to pay the upkeep costs, because if I don't, I'll lose everything.

The Blessing of Prophets

3 Nephi 1:20 And it had come to pass, yea, all things, every whit, according to the words of the prophets.

We may sometimes forget how remarkable it is that we have prophets at all. The prophets and their prophecies can provide us with valuable warnings about the near and distant future. They can help us prepare for the future and avoid making mistakes that would otherwise take us down bad roads. And, evidently, the prophets have a fairly good track record for their prophecies coming true. I'm grateful that God gave us prophets to let us know what to expect on the road ahead. The prophecies about the future are incredible, but I also think it's incredible that we even have prophets at all.

A Trade Off of Eternity

D&C 104:82 And inasmuch as ye are humble and faithful and call upon my name, behold, I will give you the victory.

Perhaps it's time for me to come to terms with the fact that every choice is a trade off, and in this case, I'm trading obedience for blessings. All choices involve sacrifice. I need to sacrifice some of my willfulness, and perhaps some of my desire to have my questions answered, in order to be humble and faithful enough to qualify for the blessings of God. 

You can't get something for nothing. You can't get blessings without obedience. If I want those blessings, I must humble myself, bend my will to that of God, and obey.

The Lamanites Hath He Hated

Helaman 15:4 But behold my brethren, the Lamanites hath he hated because their deeds have been evil continually, and this because of the iniquity of the tradition of their fathers. But behold, salvation hath come unto them through the preaching of the Nephites; and for this intent hath the Lord prolonged their days.

Can anyone explain this? I have always been taught that God loves all His children, perhaps even unconditionally, so how is it possible that He "hated" the Lamanites?

The last time I disagreed with a prophet, the issue may have been a question of context. I agree that people are less than the dust of the earth in some ways, but I do not agree that people are less than the dust of the earth in all ways or overall. There are ways in which we could both be right, depending on the context.

However, I'm not sure under what context this conflict could be resolved. Maybe God loved each Lamanite individually, but hated them collectively, as a group? That doesn't make much sense to me, but maybe. What makes more sense to me would be to say that God loves the Lamanites, but hated their behavior, but that's not what Samuel the Lamanite said.

Is there a way that God could have loved and hated the Lamanites at the same time? Maybe, but love and hate seem like polar opposite emotions.

I'm frankly at a loss to see how it's possible that God can love all His children unconditionally and also have ever hated the Lamanites. If anyone can explain this, please do. I'd like to understand this.

Permitted to Act For Yourselves

Helaman 14:30 And now remember, remember, my brethren, that whosoever perisheth, perisheth unto himself; and whosoever doeth iniquity, doeth it unto himself; for behold, ye are free; ye are permitted to act for yourselves; for behold, God hath given unto you a knowledge and he hath made you free.

This sounds very fair to me. God lets us make our own choices, and, unless we repent, He then lets us face the natural consequences of our choices. In fact, even repentance follows this pattern. Repenting is a choice, and the consequence of that choice is forgiveness. I am grateful for the amount of freedom God gives us, and I'm grateful that He lets us make and learn from our own mistakes. I'm grateful for His warnings and for His commandments, but I'm glad that, instead of forcing us to act according to His will, He gives us the freedom to act for ourselves.

My Ideal Self's Traits

I would like to become a better person. I would like to grow and improve as a person until I become my ideal self. At first, I thought I could do this by imagining my ideal self and then acting like that person until I become that person. However, there's one problem with that: I can't do it. I can't imagine my ideal self. I don't know what an ideal version of me would look like. I don't know who I want to become.

Yet, I do know some things. I know some of the traits that my ideal self possesses that I do not. I know some traits that I have that my ideal self doesn't. For example, I may not know exactly how brave my ideal self is, but I know that he's braver than I am.

And, knowing that, I already know enough to start to become more like my ideal self. I know which traits to develop and which ones to diminish.I may not know the full list of traits I should develop or diminish, and it's possible that I've put a few traits on the wrong list, but it's a start. And right now, that's all I need.

I don't know exactly where I'll end up once I've become my ideal self, but I know where that is well enough to take steps in the right direction.

Seeking Happiness - Iniquity vs Righteousness

Helaman 13:38 But behold, your days of probation are past; ye have procrastinated the day of your salvation until it is everlastingly too late, and your destruction is made sure; yea, for ye have sought all the days of your lives for that which ye could not obtain; and ye have sought for happiness in doing iniquity, which thing is contrary to the nature of that righteousness which is in our great and Eternal Head.

This is something a lot of people struggle with. Lots of people seek for happiness in doing iniquity because certain iniquitous acts are a lot of fun, and it can be hard to remember the eternal consequences when our minds are stuck in the here and now. Yet, if we really want as much happiness as possible, being righteous is the way to go. It means sacrificing a certain type of happiness for now in exchange for an eternity of happiness hereafter. Making that choice requires patience, will-power, and faith, but it is worth it. There is infinitely more happiness to be found in being righteous than in doing iniquity.