Christmas time

It is a short one but I just wanted to say Merry Christmas. This Christmas season try to reflect on Jesus Christ and what He has done for you. Remember all the good times you have had this year. Christmas is a happy time. It is not about the gifts you get. It is about Christ. He did everything for us and He loves us. So this season return that love by remembering Him in all that you do this Chirstmas.

Ask the Missionaries

In the most recent General Confernce Elder Nelson gave a talk on missinoary work. In his talk he said just as the title says "ask the missinonries". He not only said that but he also said that they can help. Here is the link and video to his great talk.

http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2012/10/ask-the-missionaries-they-can-help-you?lang=eng&media=video

Hope you enjoy it.

A mustard seed

Jesus compares faith like a mustard seed.  The scripture is found in Matthew 17:20. If you have seen a mustard seed you know how small it is. It is amazing how something so small can be compared to faith. Faith is a wonderful thing. In that scripture Christ says that you can move a mountain. That is really cool. Just think about it. Can you imagine moving something like a mountain. They can be huge. Yet something so small can move one huge mountain. He also says that nothing will be impossible. I know that to be true. Faith is something so small yet so great. I know that if you do have the faith nothing will be impossible. Have that faith and you will do great.

It's possible

With Hurricane Sandy dying down it has me thinking on repentance. How you my ask. Well it's like this. I look at the world and it is full of bad things. Then it rains A LOT! The earth is washed clean again. I mean look at it, it looks a whole lot nicer right? Well our lives are full of sin. We are human it is natural to sin. Then we repent-the rain. We are forgiven and we look a whole lot nicer-we feel better. Now with Hurricane Sandy it rain a whole lot. I look at this and say us a people for example we have sinned a whole lot and finally decided to repent. Then comes the heavy rains for the last couple of days. We have repented and been forgiven. Repentance is possible we just have to ask and God will grant it to us and He will forgive. Don't be afraid to repent. It is possible.

I know it

In the most recent General Conference there was a great talk on being a member of the Church. Here it is. It is so great.

http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2012/10/i-know-it-i-live-it-i-love-it?lang=eng

The video

I know it! I live it! I love it! It is true!

It moves forward

In the most recent General Conference President Monson announced a really amazing change. Here is the link with the video and so you can read it.

http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2012/10/welcome-to-conference?lang=eng&media=video

I think this is one of the most amazing things ever. The Lord knows his people. It is time for the work to move forward. This is a spiritual call to arms. The call has been made. The Lord wants us out there to spread His word. All worthy 18 young men and 19 young women should consider this. The work is great. The experence is like no other. The memories are great. The time is now.

It happens and it's ok

With everything going on today, wars and violence there is a way to live in it. In the most recent Ensign there was a really good article on this subject. Please take the time to read it. It was very enlighting to me.

https://www.lds.org/liahona/2012/09/how-disciples-of-christ-live-in-times-of-war-and-violence?lang=eng

I know that even though it's not the best right now we can still live through all these things happening. God will help us and protect us. We must do as He ask though.

Importance of the Sacred Grove

What is so important about the Sacred Grove in Palymra, NY? Those who are members of the Church very well know the importace of it. It is not just a grove of trees, it is a Sacred Grove of trees. God the Father and Jesus Christ did appear to Joseph Smith. Here is an article found in the Feburary 2009 Ensign. It is about the Sacred Grove and hearing and heeding the message from it. It is entilted Hearing and Heeding the Message of the Grove.

https://www.lds.org/ensign/2009/02/hearing-and-heeding-the-message-from-the-grove?lang=eng&query=hearing

I hope you enjoyed the article. I know that what happened there is impotant. It did happen and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the true church. Chirst is the head of the Church. He knows each and everyone of us. I know He lives.

One strong testimony

I was reading in a past issue of the Ensign. I found this article in the December 2007 issue. It is from Elder Neal A. Maxwell. He was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles until he passed away. I hope you all enjoy the article

http://www.lds.org/ensign/2007/12/jesus-of-nazareth-savior-and-king?lang=eng

I want to add my testimony to Elder Maxwell's. I know that He lives. Every thing that Elder Maxwell said in this article I echo. I know that He did what He did for us because He loves us.

Where did they all go

In the Book of Mormon we have what we call the pride cycle. What is it you may ask. Well it is a cycle where the people are good, they are blessed and they go wicked. It then starts off again over and over throughout the whole Book of Mormon.

Here is an example. Dinosaurs. How? Well over time the Dinosaurs evolved and got big. One that comes to mind is a T-Rex. They are pretty big. We then have the small ones. Over time they just stayed small and adapted to life. As they evolved the big ones and to look more for food. Over time the food ran out. There was also a climate change. This all effected everything. Eventually the Dinosaurs died out. The little ones are still around today. You can see them in Alligators, Frogs, these are only a few. There are not the same of course but mammals came from mammals. They adapted to their surroundings and became what we have today.

So you can see the cycle right? They started out then they evolved and eventually they die out. Pride cycle good (start out), blessed (evolved), and wicked (die out). Lets not let this happen to us. Keep obeying the commandments. Do all that is asked of us by God. As we do we will be blessed but we will have to recognize it and do all that we can to stay away from becoming wicked. I know that it is possible.

Follow that Prompting

Who has ever had bed bugs. From what I hear the U.S or maybe the country is getting hit with them pretty bad right now. Those of you who have gotten bed bug bites know they can be pretty annoying. Well we can also relate them to the Gospel. When you get bed bug bites they can itch and itch and itch. Imagine this is like the Spirit or Holy Ghost. The Spirit is there to help us and to warn us in times of need and trial. It will warn us with a prompting and it will help us the same way. So you does this relate you ask. Well the itch is like the prompting. The itching is almost always there, but unlike the spirit you can ignore the itching because the bite will get bigger. However the Spirit you shouldn't ignore. Always strive to follow the Spirit. As you do you will be protected.

Speak

I was reading the Book of Mormon this morning and this scripture really spoke to me. It is found in 2 Nephi 25:26 and it reads...

26 And we ^atalk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we ^bprophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our ^cchildren may know to what source they may look for a ^dremission of their sins.

This scripture says it all. This is what we as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints belive and do. Christ central to everything we do. His name is in our name of the Church. We belive that He did suffer for us. He came to save us from our sins. Jesus Christ is everything. I know that He lives. I know that He did all that He did because He loves us. There is no doubt in my mind about any of this.

Disasters

As we look around us we see all types of disasters. Some even are natural disasters. In the current issue of the Ensign the magazine printed by the Church there was an article about natural disasters and how we don't have to fear. It was a real good one. Please take the time to read it.

http://www.lds.org/ensign/2012/08/natural-disasters-we-dont-have-to-be-afraid?lang=eng

This was a real good one and helped me to relize even more that I don't have to be afriad when I hear about the disasters that are going around. I know that none of us have to be afraid and we can all be prepared.

Justice and Mercy

Justice and Mercy. Always with each other it seems. You have justice. You get what is right. Then when things don't go the way you planned or wanted you ask for mercy. President Boyd K. Packer president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles give a good analogy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VTMWVpzx4M

I love this video. It is a good portrayal of justice and mercy. It puts in to perspective how they both can be satisfied. At the end the mediator says "it won't be easy, but it will be possible". This is true why because the mediator is Jesus Christ. We came here so we could return to live with Him. This life is not easy. There are always hard things placed before us but He is always there to be that Mediator for us. I know that He will always be there for us. He loves us that much. He came and did what He did so He could become that Mediator for us all. There is always a way. There is the Word of God found in the holy scriptures. There is attending church. There is the Atonement. The Atonement was done for us like I said before so He can and could become the Mediator for us.

Conversion

So earlier today I was meeting with someone and they asked what is conversion. So we took them to the Bible Dictionary under conversion and the very first line says this.... Denotes changing one’s views, in a conscious acceptance of the will of God .

So you change your life. Good. The key here though is it is a conscious effort. In other words you have the free will to have that conversion. For example you want to buy something you have wanted for a while. Someone goes up to you and says here buy it now you have to, they then take you to the check outline and make you purchase it. So they have now taken away your free will. Now on the other hand. No one is there and you have come to the decision on your own to purchase this item you have been debating for a while now to buy. You have your free will to buy it. So it's not the greatest example but hopefully you get the idea.

You always have the choice to have that full conversion. No one will take it away from you. There are many ways to have this conversion. They are simple also. Read the scriptures, the Bible and the Book of Mormon, pray, attend church. There are many others. As you do this your conversion will come.

Small to great

I was reading and this scripture really spoke to me. It is in 1 Nephi chapter 16 verce 29 and it reads

 29 And there was also written upon them a new writing, which was plain to be read, which did give us ^aunderstanding concerning the ways of the Lord; and it was written and changed from time to time, according to the faith and diligence which we gave unto it. And thus we see that by ^bsmall means the Lord can bring about great things.

It was the last part that really stuck out. We all do small things right? As we do these "small means" the Lord is waiting and having us do these things. When He sees fit He says ok now it's time here are the "great things". Take the time to think about it.

I know that the Lord gives us things and after we have done all that we can the great things come. So when you think you can't go anymore just go a little bit more and the great things come.

Mormon.org

So there is this amazing website called Mormon.org. It is an official website of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. You can go there if you have any questions of about the Church. It has all our beliefs on it. There is even a part where you can go and watch profiles of members of the Church. They tell you about themselves and why the belong to the Church. It is an amazing website. I highly recomend it.

The link for Mormon.org

Please take the time to check it out.

Priesthood Service

President Uchdorf gave a really good talk on The Why of Priesthood Service. He gave this excellent talk and he put it way better than I ever could.

http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2012/04/the-why-of-priesthood-service?lang=eng

Enjoy!!!

Single Parents

In the recent Genearl Conference a member of the Seventy gave a talk to the single parents of the Church.

http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2012/04/faith-fortitude-fulfillment-a-message-to-single-parents?lang=eng

For those who love to watch here is the video.

Enjoy!!

Sacrifice

Why sacrifice or why is it so important or any questions on sacrifice. Well Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quoram of the Twelve Apostles gave a great talk on Sacrifice.

http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2012/04/sacrifice?lang=eng

The video

Enjoy everyone.

Obtain Mercy

President Uchtdorf gave a great talk on mercy. Please read and learn what you can.
http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2012/04/the-merciful-obtain-mercy?lang=eng

For those who don't like to read please watch it and learn what you can.

Enjoy and learn what you can.

Climb a Mountain

In the most recent General Confernece President Henry B. Eyring gave a talk about trials. It is really good. Here is the link to his talk.

http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2012/04/mountains-to-climb?lang=eng

The video.

Everyone enjoy! Remember there is never any trial we can't overcome.

And a Little Child Shall Lead Them

It's been sometime after General Confernece. I usally post these sooner. Here is a talk from President Boyd K. Packer President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2012/04/and-a-little-child-shall-lead-them?lang=eng

The video

Everyone enjoy!

Be yourself

As people we always look at others and try to see what we can do to be accepted. Sure this can work but the question I propose is this. Is that being yourself? You see this group and you act this way then you see this other group and you act this way. I admit I was that way for a while. As I have been on my mission I have learned who I am and am still learning who I am. So take the time and find out who you really are. When you do, be yourself. It will be great. Being yourself is what people like and when you are yourself you will do great.

It's great

 So one way you can tell of how long you have been on your mission is by looking at your shoes. A couple of months ago I went to tie my shoes and this is what I noticed.

I said to my self oh man. Now I have to be extremely carefull in tieing my shoes. It so cool to think that the 15 months I have been out I have worn out shoes. It has been an amazing experience. I have met so many people. I have taught the gospel to many people. I have come to love the Book of Mormon.

As a missionry you get worn out many times. You want to come in and just go to bed a night. But you can't you have to plan for the next day. If you don't the day won't go well. So it's kinda like this shoelace. If I was to come in and say ahh I am just going to go to bed. Well then the shoelace would break. So I come in and plan and the shoelace stays together for as long as it can.

The Church is true. It is amazing being a missionary. When things get tough just keep going and you can make it. You will be able to hang in there until you can get new shoelace and buy a new one.

It's serious

One of the things we see a lot in the world today is having sex outside of marriage. As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints we believe this is wrong. It is for a man and a wife who are bound in marriage. The Church put a video and I would love for you to watch it.
http://www.lds.org/pages/mormon-messages?lang=eng#chastity-what-are-the-limits

So please just as the title says it's serious. It is sad to see so many kids with a mom and a dad who have separated who never were married. Use the gift of procreation for good. Wait till you are married.

He is Risen

Many people have testified of Jesus Christ. One such man is President Thomas S. Monson. He is the Prophet of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Here is the link to what he has to say.

http://www.lds.org/liahona/2012/04/he-is-risen-a-prophets-testimony?lang=eng

This is from the most current Ensign magazine. It is published every month for members of the church. In it it has the testimonies of people of what the Church has done for them. With them I share my testimony of the Church. I know Jesus Christ lives. He suffered for all of us. He loves everyone. I know what He did for us He did because He loves us. He did live here the Bible is testimony of that. The Book of  Mormon also testifies of Jesus Christ and is another testament of Jesus Christ.

The Bible

There are people who say that members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints don't believe in the Bible and Jesus Christ. Come and listen to an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ. This video tells that we as members of the LDS church do believe in the Bible. Listen with your heart and your ears.

http://www.lds.org/pages/mormon-messages?lang=eng#the-miracle-of-the-holy-bible

The video clips from the video are from the movie Finding Faith in Christ. If you would like a copy contact the local LDS missionaries in your area. It is a great movie and it truly can help you increase your faith in Christ. It shows the miracles Christ performed and it shows in mortal ministry.

I know that the Bible is the word of God. It truly does talk about our Savior Jesus Christ. It holds His teaching that I hold so dear to my heart. I love Jesus Christ. I know He was resurrected and that He still lives today. He did everything because He loves us.

Give Him some time

All of us have talents. They are all given to us by God. So when He asks us to serve why should we second guess if we should. One such example is Sid Going. He is a rugby player. I can't describe it well enough so here is a video about Sid Going.

As you serve God you will be blessed for your service. Sid Going was and I know you will to.

The Book of Mormon

Yesterday marks the 182 anniversary of the printing of the Book of Mormon. It is a book that has changed many peoples lives. It has changed mine. I grew up in the church. It wasn't until I really read it that I really understood what it can do. I know it is a true book. I know that it was inspired by God to be written by prophets on the American Continent. It was translated by the power and gift of God by the Prophet Joesph Smith. It is a miraculous book. I can sit here and keep typing and telling everyone who reads this how great a book it is, but you will have to find out for yourself. Please take the time to read it but keep this in mind. It is found in Moroni Chapter 10 Verses 3-5. Remember what verse 4 says 3 things 1) you must ask with a sincere heart, 2) you must have real intent, and 3) have faith. If you do this then you can come to know for yourself of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. I know its all true.

Why do we need Prophets

So why do we need prophets? Well because they speak for God and let the world know what God wants us to do. Here is Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the Fist Presidency and he does an excellent job of explaining why we need prophets. Please take the time to read.

http://www.lds.org/liahona/2012/03/why-do-we-need-prophets?lang=eng

I know that there is a modern day prophet here on the earth. He gets direction from God and he does let us know God's will for us.

It's almost that time agian

General Conference is right around the corner. So start preparing yourself. Take a question going in and as you listen your question will be answered. We are asked to follow the prophet and what better way to follow him than to listen to him talk to us. It doesn't matter where you are at in the world he talks to everyone. General Conference is a great time and I encourage everyone to watch and listen because when a prophet speaks he speaks for Jesus Christ.

Don't worry have patience

One of the greatest things Jesus Christ had was patience. You can see it throughout his earthly ministry. For example, in John chapter 8 there is a women taken in adultery. Jesus after the people have asked him writes on the ground. Here is in being patient. After a while with the people asking him He finally responds. This is just one of the many times Christ being patient. In the manual we have as missionaries there is a chapter in in called Christlike attributes. One of them is about being patience. I encourage you to read it. Here is the link.

http://www.lds.org/languages/additionalmanuals/preachgospel/PreachMyGospel___00_00_Complete__36617_eng_.pdf

It is on page 120. Please read and enjoy.

Clean your window

Sticking with the theme of judging here is a good little video.

Hope you all like the video. Remember get to know the person before you judge them. Also make sure your window is clean.

DON'T JUDGE ME!!

Ok so hopefully you will understand this. In the movie Shrek we have Shrek an ogre. Well Ogres have this stereotype about them that they are nasty and mean. Everyone wants to "KILL THE OGRE" So Shrek was judged wrong. Those of you who have seen the movie know that Shrek is not this mean nasty ogre. He is kind friendly and quite the adventurer. We can see Shrek change throughout the movie into what we have come to love as Shrek. 

So how does this relate. Well sometimes when you see someone or hear about them you tend to judge them. It's human nature. You say oh well he does this and that so they must be like this. This is kinda how the people of the movie Shrek were. They didn't know Shrek so they judged him as mean and nasty. As you take the time to get to know the person you will come to know who the person truly is. Just as Princess Fiona and Donkey got to know Shrek and found the real Shrek take the time to get to know those who you have judged. It works trust me. 

The Good Samaritan

Those of you who know about the Parable of the Good Samaritan could probably tell other people. How would you like it if you could actually see the parable of the good samaritan. Well you can here it is

http://www.lds.org/bible-videos/videos/parable-of-the-good-samaritan?lang=eng

Go ahead and check out the other videos avaiable to you also.

The Watchmen

Be on the watch. The Lord has set up watchmen for us. Who are the watchmen you ask well. Here is a video to help answer the question.

Hope you enjoy it and remember to listen for the watchmen's call.

Let it grow

One of the best ways faith is described is by a Book of Mormon prophet by the name of Alma. He compares faith to a seed. Here are his words. They are found in verses 27 and 28. If you take a look at it your faith really is like a seed. It starts off small and as you have experiences, for example you struggle with something or you read your scriptures, these help you faith become stronger. As you work and help your faith grow it will become stronger. So keep working and growing that seed.

Prayer Time

Prayer is good and it can bring many things. In the recent Ensign President Henry B. Eyring has an article about prayer. It is called Exhort Them to Pray. Please take the time to read it. Prayer is really important. When you think you don't need it that is the time you need to pray. There is always time to pray. So now I am just babbling read the article I promise you will enjoy it.

Temples. Yes they are that important

Temples I know I have already done one on Temples before but they are extremely important to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. This video by President Thomas S. Monson tells why. Also why many make the sacrifice to go and how to get to the temple. Hope everyone enjoys it.

http://www.lds.org/pages/mormon-messages?lang=eng

The Good and the Bad

When really good times come there is always bad times to follow. God will give you a really powerful spiritual experience and then Satan will come in to deceive you or try to dissuade you. This is shown in the scriptures with the prophet Moses. Elder Holland of the 12 Apostles does a great job narrating the story. Here is the video.

http://lds.org/media-library/video/old-testament-visual-resources?lang=eng&query=moses#2010-06-50-moses

Enjoy and know God will always help you and be with you.

Wearing out but looking good

I was looking at the bottom of my shoes this morning and noticed that they were starting to crack. This was interesting to me because it made me realize that I have really been out in Western New York for 12 months. It brought back a lot of memories. It also made me think that I can relate life to these shoes. We go around as missionaries and get yelled at sworn at and all kinds of things. We may crack just like the bottom of my shoes but we keep going. I put my shoes on every morning and walk out the door. I keep going every time something or someone yells or may do something offensive. It is a cool to think that my shoes are wearing out because I know that the last 12 months have been good.

Service

As member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints we offer service. For me it is one of the things that I enjoy. As we go and help those in need and then when we are done to see the joy on their faces it is priceless. For more on what the Church offers and what our values our of it here is a link to mormon.org

http://mormon.org/service/

Service is great and it is a wonderful opportunity to get to people and help them. When I was younger I never wanted to go and do service but as I have gotten older and seen what service can do I jump at every opportunity to help. I know that as you finds the opportunity to serve it will be great.

A new perspective

There is always perspectives in life. Someone has this one someone has that one. There is also perspectives about life. Here is a story of how the Book of Mormon changes a mans perspective on life.

http://lds.org/pages/mormon-messages?lang=eng#a-book-of-mormon-story

The Book of Mormon can do this. I have seen people in the worst spot possible in their life and we ask them to read and pray about the Book of Mormon and their life changes. It is an amazing thing to watch happen. I know it can happen with any one. So if you are not reading the Book of Mormon read it and pray about it and receive your answer for yourself. If you have read the Book of Mormon great, hopefully you have prayed and received your answer. The key though is to pray sincerely and with real intent. I know that the Book of Mormon is true and it has helped me greatly in my life. I know it can do the same thing for you. So please read the Book of Mormon and come to know for yourself that it is true.