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.