The Fight Against Sin

In the world today there are temptations that attack, evil influences that distract, and spiritual plagues that grind away at our souls. They come from every angle and attempt to constantly scourge us. They appear in magazines, television soap operas, computer screens and other media, and even in those that we deem worthy to be called our friends. Who is the director of all this evil? The response is as clear as it is obvious: Satan. In his fight against his brothers he does all within his power to make us miserable like unto himself--utilizing a litany of methods that include pornography, jealousy, and pride. Reflecting on the vast and destructive effort undertaken by the adversary, I ask myself: How can we protect ourselves and remain clean in the eyes of the Lord?

Perhaps Paul's counsel shows us the way:

Put on the whole ^aarmour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil... Stand therefore, having your loins ^agirt about with ^btruth, and having on the ^cbreastplate of ^drighteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of ^apeace; Above all, taking the shield of ^afaith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery ^bdarts of the wicked. And take the helmet of ^asalvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God" (Ephesians 6:11-18).

Nephi's vision of the Church of Christ in the latter days also teaches us something of great importance:

"And it came to pass that I, Nephi, beheld the power of the Lamb of God, that it descended upon the saints of the church of the Lamb, and upon the covenant people of the Lord, who were scattered upon all the face of the earth; and they were ^aarmed with ^brighteousness and with the ^cpower of God in great glory" (1 Nefi 14:14).

My beloved brothers and sisters, the only way to protect ourselves against the great wickedness that surrounds us is to put on the armour of our God. The whole armour. If we excuse ourselves on the smallest of points, we will be discovered and attacked. Even in a perverse world as ours we have, as Nephi saw, the power of the Lord in great glory. If we make the effort to keep the commandments of God and seek to develop virtue, we will have peace and protection. Which part of your armour is the weakest right now? I invite you to make plans to strengthen it so that you can withstand the onslaught. Remember that the result of the war against evil is already determined. Jesus Christ and his followers will conquer. I pray that we will be suited sufficiently to stand at the last day and avoid the possibility of becoming a "Christian casualty."

For Joy Thereof

"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto ^atreasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field" (Matthew 13:44).

Recently a dear friend and fellow member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in the city of Santa Rosa sent me a message of considerable length via facebook. Therein she shared with great enthusiasm a powerful missionary experience she had had with one of her friends while reading the Book of Mormon. It was inspiring to read how much her friend related to the experience of Nephi, one of the principal writers, and how the Spirit had worked with him to leave an impression of truth on his soul. There was also found within her tale a sobering message. In her own words she states "[When] I gave him the Book of Mormon he held it close to his chest like it was the most precious thing anyone had ever given him and thanked me many times for it. I know it is a great gift, but I've always had one, to see his reaction to getting it really made me grateful for how I was raised." Later on she writes, "I totally understand Doctrine and Covenants 18:15 so much better now. How exciting it must be to be a missionary and have this kind of experience on a regular basis. I feel like my heart could just leap out of my chest and dance around."

The thought quickly came to my mind, "Do I have this experience daily? Perhaps weekly? At least monthly?" Too much time had elapsed that I had not considered the shear magnanimity of the experience it is to listen to someone's concerns and then to reach out lovingly by sharing one's testimony of the gospel. Doctrine and Covenants 18:15 teaches us that " if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one ^asoul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!" Indeed the gospel is joy. I know it is through personal experience. It is a treasure and we can be the treasure maps that will lead souls to uncover an unexpected but much-welcomed abundance of blessings. Thank you sister, whose identity I will protect, for reminding us of the eternal implications of missionary work and of the great joy that we should feel as we serve. We must never take for granted any of the beautiful gifts that we have recieved nor any of the beautiful people we serve. This is my prayer for all of us tonight.

My Life and My Joy

A few days ago we missionaries had an opportunous visitation from Elder Patrick Kearon of the first quorum of the Seventy. It was a splendid event in which there was felt a generous outpouring of the Spirit, to the degree of touching and edifying all that were present. One of the central themes of the conference was initialized by the question of one sister missionary who said that it was easy for her to preach and then watch the marvelous effects of the atonement of Christ operate in the lives of others but it was exceedingly difficult for herself to accept forgiveness of her own sins and mistakes. This is a doubt that I too have experienced in my life; how could the Lord forgive and change a being as impure as I? Elder Kearon taught that many times we do not understand the atonement of Christ. It is an infinite act full of grace and radiating with mercy. Sincere repentance is like placing our sins and afflictions in a hole we've dug, covering it, and forgetting about it. The earth, or the atonement, receives these things and swallows them in their entirety.

"O the ^awisdom of God, his ^bmercy and ^cgrace! For behold, if the ^dflesh should rise no more our spirits must become subject to that angel who ^efell from before the presence of the Eternal God, and became the ^fdevil, to rise no more.

O how great the ^agoodness of our God, who prepareth a way for our ^bescape from the grasp of this awful monster; yea, that monster, ^cdeath and ^dhell, which I call the death of the body, and also the death of the spirit." (2 Nephi 9:8, 10)

How great is the love of God that he would prepare a means whereby our garments may be made white. We should not feel as though the atonement of Christ applies to everyone except ourselves. He suffered for every man and woman and that includes you. I know that Jesus Christ lives and that he has all power given him in Earth and Heaven to change us and heal us continually. I am grateful for the merciful atonement and know that we can put our whole trust in it because Christ completed it for each of us. In him is my life and my joy.

Because He First Loved Us

We ^alove him, because he first loved us. (1 John 4:19)

Fuente

Why do we love Jesus Christ? At first glance, this question may seem like a no-brainer but upon further consideration one may unlatch an internal treasure chest full of love and respect for Him. As humans we are innately filled with weaknesses, which many times cause us to commit mistakes accompanied by feelings of guilt or shame. We then seek solutions that will liberate us from our crushing burdens but it is nigh impossible to delete an action that has already taken place. Those feelings can be aliviated only through the great atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the act in which he walked in our shoes and drank the dregs of our bitter cups--the price of our sins and afflictions, even the most costly among them. The scriptures teach that charity is the "pure love of Christ" and that it "endureth forever." It is the greatest of all virtues and we are counseled that if we are not in possession of it then "[we] [are] nothing." In what action is found greater charity than in the eternal and infinite atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ? I know that my Savior lives and that through him I have found forgiveness and comfort that the world in all its pleasures cannot give. I thank him. I worship him. And I love him--because he first loved me.

Welcome to Life

There are no events; only processes, and faster processes.  Things take time.  Like learning Spanish, for instance.  Or English, for that matter.  Like so, but more importantly, are things of the Gospel; they are learned, and applied, progressively, rather than instantaneously.

One of the most splendid blessings we have as children of God is to become like Him.  And even though at times we may think it would be nice to just be awarded improvement, it is something only achievable, and only worth receiving, by earning it through experience.  And though it is daunting at times to consider all the things we must experience, and effort we must demonstrate, before progressing even a little bit, it is also comforting to consider that we will never have to face the prospect of being eternally bored, or not having anything to do, in this life or the next.  There is always something more to do, to learn, to improve about ourselves, or someone else to help.  And it seems like whenever I come to this realization, there is always someone right next to me to say "welcome to life."

And indeed, that is what this life is all about; becoming like God, through experiences and learning we can only attain outside of His divine presence (Doctrine and Covenants 67:12).  As we press forward in the process of life, through this medium we know as time, the Lord will bless us equal to our challenges and efforts.  May we keep our process of becoming celestial beings moving forward, day by day, at an ever-increasing rate, until we are one day admitted into His presence.

(Submitted by Elder Rollins of San Rafael)

The Lord's Hands

"Dan Jones, a Welsh convert, joined the Prophet in the Carthage Jail. On 26 June 1844, the last night of his life, Joseph heard a gun fire, left the bed, and lay on the floor near Jones. The Prophet whispered, “Are you afraid to die?” “Engaged in such a cause I do not think that death would have many terrors,” Jones replied. “You will yet see Wales and fulfill the mission appointed you before you die,” Joseph prophesied. Thousands of faithful Latterday Saints enjoy the blessings of the Church today because Dan Jones later served an honorable and successful mission to Wales." (Our Heritage p.63).

It is fascinating to think of the great missionaries of the past: Ammon (Alma 18), Aaron (Alma 22), and Dan Jones among many others. What bravery they possessed in placing their personal lives, their people, and every comfortable thing in their lives on the altar so that they may preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. Reflecting on my mission up to this point, it is easy to compare myself with these legendary missionaries and feel that my efforts and results are but a miniscule fraction of their marvelous accomplishments. Nevertheless, having helped only a few people has brought me an immense, eternal joy because I have been the instrument in the Lord's hands to touch the heart of someone. That is the source of my strength for pressing forward and the source of my love for others and my mission. I give thanks to all of you who have given me encouragement and strength to carry on even through days and weeks of great trial. It is a great privilege to work in the vineyard of the Lord and to be His hands, which are extended in a loving invitation towards everyone. I apologize if there are any that have been offended by my hand. I want you to know that I love each of you and that my desire is to change and become more Christ-like. It is Him that showed the perfect love when he placed himself in our shoes in Gethsemane and on the cross. Whether by his voice, or by the voice of missionaries like Dan Jones, his gospel will grow to cover the entire face of the earth. How blessed we are to be a small part of that great work!

It's Williams Again!

Hello again everyone!  Elder Manciati has once more kindly allowed me to share his blog-space for a day.  I hope you all won’t mind.
  Way back in the day, I considered myself something of a “hippie”.  I come from a family of intellectuals and teachers, and my own personality and interests sometimes felt several decades out of date.  I used to long for a time where free love was the war cry and music was undergoing a revolution, becoming something wild and fierce and new.  How unfair, I would think, that a soul as old as mine should be forced to live in such a conforming world, where the individual was suppressed under the weight of society; where greed and corruption rule rather than peace and love. I considered myself among the “dreamers” in John Lennon’s “Imagine”.  I wasn’t sure how such a world could be, but for a time, I was quite sure Mr. Lennon was correct in his opinion that possessions, politics, and piety were the source of mankind’s trials. For those who are not quite as familiar with the music of your parent’s generation, let me share with you the lyrics of Lennon’s “Imagine”:

 Imagine there’s no heaven, it’s easy if you try.
 No hell below us, above us, only sky.
Imagine there’s no country; it isn’t hard to do.
Nothing to kill or die for, and no religion too.
Imagine no possessions, I wonder if you can;
no need for greed or hunger, a brotherhood of man.
Imagine all the people living life in peace.
You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one. Perhaps someday you’ll join us, and the world will live as one.

 I’ve learned a lot since those days.  I’ve grown and matured, I’ve seen more of the world and I’ve learned much more of the gospel.  I can still understand the underlying hope in those lyrics; it’s a message of peace and unity.
 But what I didn’t understand, and neither did Mr. Lennon, is that we aren’t capable of such a utopian society.  Man will always fall short of perfection alone, which is what such a dream would require.  It necessitates a world of selfless, hopeful, virtuous, kind, charitable people.
  A world our Savior died to create.
 Nobody is perfect, and unless I’m much mistaken, nobody will be, either. We seem, as a species, incapable of going any amount of time without strife or contention. Christ knew that, and He provides the answer. He left us a handbook for world peace; we don’t have to dream of it! If there is anyone who was, or is, an advocate for world peace, it is Jesus Christ.
 So let us continue to respect the great men of the past, like Ghandi, who sought that we “be the change we want to see in the world.” Let us not lose hope of the dream that “the world can live as one.” And my prayer is that we will all remember the very Prince of Peace, who is the only way such a dream can be achieved.