My Favorite Three Hours of the Week

Sunday is my favorite day of the week. I get to take a break from my usually hectic schedule of running around all day, preaching the Gospel, and doing service for others. On this sacred day, for 3 hours I can sit in the peace and comfort of the church walls and feel the Holy Spirit all around me. In church this week we had some wonderful speakers. Members from the congregation are selected each week to speak and share insight on specific topics, chosen through prayer. They spoke to us about revelation and how to acquire spiritual guidance. I would like to share the thoughts that I had about these talks and how I felt.

First, I will speak of the latter topic of how to acquire spiritual guidance. The woman speaking gave a scripture on the matter. It was in the book of Hebrews in the New Testament, chapter 11:1, which says, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." We must have faith in something and that something must give us some amount of hope. That “something” that we must have faith in is actually a “someone”; Jesus Christ. He is the Way of the Truth and the Life. As we follow Him we find solace and hope for a brighter tomorrow.

Now onto the other topic. This one really struck me. I am in need of change for this. It is about revelation from God. Along the same lines as the above, this speaker took it to another level for me. He first off stated a pattern by which revelation comes. Which goes as follows: pray, read, ponder, and pray. In other words, “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.” (Matthew 7:7-8). The Lord is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He wants to answer us, but so much of the world today isn't asking. It is that simple “ask and ye shall receive”! Another point that this man hit on was the fact that a good sense of humor can help clear your mind and ease stress to help you in receiving revelation, but someone who is sarcastic and ….. dulls the influence of the Spirit for themselves and afflicts others with snide remarks. I want to use one quote that he shared as well, “Being rejected from His kingdom because of a warped sense of humor would not be funny.”
I felt the Spirit teach me that these things are true. I have a lot of improvement to do. What things do you need to change? Have you received an answer to your prayers lately? Have you asked any questions to your Heavenly Father? That is where it begins,"line upon line, precept upon precept". I bear this witness to you all.
BE BLESSED

HEY! Who Put This Wall Here?

     Have you ever thought that as you were going about your day? You had your plans set then all of the sudden your scrambling, and everything falls through and you find yourself stuck with no idea what to do. Well from many experiences over the last 6 months I can tell you, it happens! 

     As a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, I get to go and teach people about Jesus Christ. It is very rewarding in every way, but like I said before over the last 6 months I have wondered why, if I am doing this work for the Lord would so many things get in the way of slowing me down. For example, we ride bikes every other day and the past week we have seen more flat tires then miles we traveled... o.k. maybe not that many, but quite a few. Each time this happens we have to stop and fix it and it  ends up changing the whole day. Just yesterday we walked down to the bikes and mine was flat so I carried it up and patched it pumped it back up put it back on and we were out of there within about 15 minutes or so, so it wasn't that much of a set back. We biked hard and made it on time to our appointment, and after we finished came out and the same tire was flat! I thought it was just the patch leaking so I decided I would pump it with my little hand pump, but literally as fast as it went in it was going out! I was frustrated! This has been a reoccurring nightmare for us each week and I couldn't understand why. I took my frustrations to the scriptures and found that, HEY! Opposition is necessary!? What? Yeah that's what it says, "For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so, my first-born in the wilderness, righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad. Wherefore, all things must needs be a compound in one; wherefore, if it should be one body it must needs remain as dead, having no life neither death, nor corruption nor incorruption, happiness nor misery, neither sense nor insensibility." (2 Nephi 2:11) So your telling me that these things that slow us down test our patience are essential for us to be happy? 

      This may be hard to grasp at first, but I can testify that these things that come in our life that slow us down, maybe even stop us for a time, will all be for our good and that if we endure it well, God will bless us and help us! I know these things are true and as we trust in him we find joy in the journey.