- Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, “Lord, I Believe”
- Rosemary M. Wixom, "Returning to Faith"
- Elder Neil L. Andersen, "Trial of Your Faith"
- President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, "Be Not Afraid, Only Believe"
- Elder Jairo Mazzagardi, "The Sacred Place of Restoration" - shows that even those in stake presidencies still have questions. We may seek our answers for years before we receive them.
Friday, April 29, 2016
For When Doubts and Questions Arise
Here are some great talks to read for when doubts and questions arise concerning our faith:
Tuesday, March 29, 2016
Swallowed Up in the Joy of Christ
And the Lord provided for them that they should hunger not, neither should they thirst; yea, and he also gave them strength, that they should suffer no manner of afflictions, save it were swallowed up in the joy of Christ. Now this was according to the prayer of Alma; and this because he prayed in faith.
...
Friday, March 4, 2016
Seeking Great Truth
You seek truth, do you? The greatest truths cannot be spoken by the tongue of man; they are communicated by the Spirit of God to the spirit of man in a language not of this world. The preachers can only try to point at them with their words and their stories. The more they try to pin down Truth with words, the more likely it is that man will wrest them, misunderstand them, or be confused. To know the great truths, prepare yourself as a man builds a house for a bluebird. Find out the right height, the right size; keep predators away as much as possible. Then wait in faith that the bluebird will come.
Monday, February 29, 2016
Wednesday, February 24, 2016
Faithsight
I'm thinking of coining a new term:
- Faithsight
- The ability and confidence to make sustained effort and consistent choices with the aim of realizing a long-term and distant goal or reward.
Monday, February 22, 2016
Receiving Gifts From God
For what doth it profit a man if a gift is bestowed upon him, and he receive not the gift? Behold, he rejoices not in that which is given unto him, neither rejoices in him who is the giver of the gift.
Many of the blessings we receive from God require care, nurturing, and patience before we can fully realize their worth and enjoy them.Sister Hansen, ...recently returned from serving a full-time mission, ...told this story.
Following a zone conference, her mission president had presented each of the missionaries with a fresh red rose. He gave no explanation for his gift, and this young sister took the rose home to her modest apartment. It had been a long train ride home for her and her companion, and in her exhaustion and eagerness to get some sleep, Sister Hansen had laid the rose on the table, where it lay withering for a week. By the time she noticed it again, there was nothing to do but throw it away.
As she looked at the stiff and blackened rose, she felt a little guilty for neglecting it. Several months flew by, and she didn’t give the rose another thought until it was time for another zone conference. Just as before, the mission president gave each missionary a red rose. This time, however, Sister Hansen carefully wrapped the stem in damp paper and held it gently on her lap during the long train ride.
When she arrived at her apartment, she recut the stem and placed the rose in a glass of water. To her surprise and delight, the rose bloomed the following day. Under her care, it thrived and perfumed the small apartment for several weeks.
Sister Hansen told the campers that blessings from Heavenly Father are like roses. We can ignore them, thereby receiving no joy or pleasure from them, or we can recognize and enjoy the blessings the Lord has lovingly given us.
Sunday, February 14, 2016
Learning Your Family History - FHE Idea
Living prophets and apostles have promised magnificent blessings upon those who get involved in family history work and research.
Here's something we did for Family Home Evening. We printed out a copy of the template below for each person (they write their own name at the base of the trunk). We also printed out copies of pictures of our ancestors for each person (it's neat if you can find pictures of when they were in their 20s), that they could cut out and then paste onto the appropriate position on the family tree template. Then they write the names below the pictures.
Saturday, February 6, 2016
We Believe in Being Positive
I knew the importance of being positive, but was pleasantly surprised to find it documented in the official magazine of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The spirit of the gospel is optimistic; it trusts in God and looks on the bright side of things. The opposite or pessimistic spirit drags men down and away from God, looks on the dark side, murmurs, complains, and is slow to yield obedience.
How we respond in any situation has to make things better, not worse.
Remember, our Savior, Jesus Christ, always builds us up and never tears us down.Of course, this does not mean that God does not call us to pass through some heart wrenching trials to chasten and purify us. If God does tear us down, it is with the careful design to build us back up again, much greater than before. There is a balancing truth:
I heard the Prophet Joseph say, in speaking to the Twelve on one occasion: ‘You will have all kinds of trials to pass through. And it is quite as necessary for you to be tried as it was for Abraham and other men of God, and (said he) God will feel after you, and He will take hold of you and wrench your very heart strings, and if you cannot stand it you will not be fit for an inheritance in the Celestial Kingdom of God.’and,
Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of - throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.
Saturday, January 30, 2016
Our Relationship With God
Though I have many questions and have yet to understand many things about my faith, there is a fundamental belief or testimony that I have, that is the foundation for my entire spiritual life: that God is my Heavenly Father; that He is keenly aware of my life, my worries, my struggles, and my desires; and that He loves me.
Here are some quotes:
If you are reverent and prayerful and obedient, the day will come when there will be revealed to you why the God of heaven has commanded us to address him as Father, and the Lord of the Universe as Son.
Ask, and it shall be given 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.
What man among you, having a son, and he shall be standing out, and shall say, Father, open thy house that I may come in and sup with thee, will not say, Come in, my son; for mine is thine, and thine is mine?
Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he 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 which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?
He who rules the universe is our individual Father to whom we may speak as a son speaks to his father.I believe my faith in God as my Heavenly Father comes from an experience I had while I was in the Missionary Training Center in Provo in 1991, while preparing to go to Japan as a missionary. The moment we accept the idea that God lives, that He is real, that He has all power, and that He loves us; we start to pray to Him, and acknowledge His hand in our lives. When things go "right" (according to our view and understanding), we are grateful to God. But when things go "wrong," God can seem absent, and there is a temptation to blame and accuse God of not caring, or to feel like He cares about others but not about us. Enter the hard doctrine:
For, behold, I have refined thee, I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.
Friday, January 29, 2016
Righteousness, Charity, or Both?
As I study the scriptures, I find passages that are hard to reconcile with each other - and sometimes even directly contradict each other. I conclude that the word of God is not designed to be understood solely by the mind; words alone are utterly inadequate to pin down spiritual truth; and that precious truth is often hidden in the balance, tension, or paradox between two seemingly opposite, contradictory concepts.
The one I'm pondering now is the tension between love and righteousness.
Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.To be continued...
Saturday, January 23, 2016
We Are Hungry and Our Bows Are Broken
17 And after we had traveled for the space of many days, we did pitch our tents for the space of a time, that we might again rest ourselves and obtain food for our families.
18 And it came to pass that as I, Nephi, went forth to slay food, behold, I did break my bow, which was made of fine steel; and after I did break my bow, behold, my brethren were angry with me because of the loss of my bow, for we did obtain no food.
19 And it came to pass that we did return without food to our families, and being much fatigued, because of their journeying, they did suffer much for the want of food.
At this point, this is what I wish would have happened. I wish they had all knelt in prayer (united in heart, knit together in love), and prayed, "Heavenly Father, we are tired and hungry, and so are our families. Our best hunting tool is now broken. The temptation to murmur against Thee and become discouraged is strong.
"We know that Thou seest fit to chasten Thy children, to try their patience and faith (see Mosiah 23:21). We have left Jerusalem, and having been following Thy commands as best we can. Sometimes, to our limited understanding, our best just doesn't seem good enough. After all our effort, the blessings/protection/providence we expected have not been realized in the time frame we anticipated (now).
"We are now faced with a choice: hungry and tired as we are, the easy choice would be to doubt and to murmur against Thee, squabble with each other, and to become discouraged and upset. But there is a better choice. We can 'submit cheerfully and with patience' to Thy will (Mosiah 24:15) and trust that in Thy good time, as we continue to do what we can, Thou wilt deliver us and provide for us. Until that time comes, help us not to murmur. Help us exercise and strengthen our patience and trust in Thee. Though we suffer, may our sufferings be swallowed up in the joy of Christ. Help us to wait upon thee (Isaiah 40:31), with utmost assurance (D&C 123:17) that as we continue faithful, we shall see Thy arm be revealed. May our afflictions be consecrated for our gain (2 Nephi 2:2).
"Surely, Thou hast not brought us this far only to let us perish in the wilderness, save it be that we lack even the faith of a grain of mustard seed" (Matthew 17:20).
Friday, January 22, 2016
Proceeding Without Guarantees
Being able to proceed when the specific outcome is not assured is one of the great tests of life.
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