Got FHE?

When you think of the place that you have learned the most lessons in life, where would that be?

For me, it would be in this home.

I was born and raised in this home.  I took my first steps, rode my first bike, cried my first tears, laughed my first laugh all in this home surrounded in a loving family.  The church has given us a program to help us grow closer together and more united.  This is Family Home Evening (FHE).  It is were you take one night out of the week and spend it with family. What do you do?  ---->

 "Families were to take time to

 pray and sing together,

read the scriptures,

teach the gospel to one another,

 and participate in other activites

that would build family unity." 

Joseph F. Smith

The scriptures even emphasize how important it is that the parents are teaching their children how to follow God!

Dueteronomy 6:7

"And thou shalt teach them

 diligently unto thy children,

and shalt talk of them when

thou sittest in thine house,

and when thou walkest by the way,

and when thou liest down,

and when thou risest up."

It is the duty of parents to teach their children what is right and what is wrong. 

"The home is the most important

place for gospel learning. 

No other organization can

take the place of the family."

We need to make our homes a safe haven from the world and strenthen the families within.  I know that I am the person I am today because of the home I had the privelage to live in. 



Mother's day

I just wanted to give a shout out to my mother.  I wanted to thank her for all the love and support she has given me in my life.  THANK YOU!  She is a beacon and a strength to me.  I know that families are eternal and I feel extremely blessed to be able to call her mom for eternity.  She is a great example of someone who "stands immovable and steadfast and always abounding in good works."  

I LOVE YOU MOM!

What think YE of Christ?

I was reading one of our church magazines the other day and read a talk by Elder Dallin H. Oaks. The talk was based on that question, "what think ye of Chirst?"  I have since asked this question and have pondered what do I think of Jesus Christ? 

I know he is more than a teacher.  I know he is the son of God.  But I want to talk about some other things that he did for each of us.  I am basing it out of the talk and if you want to read it you can click on this link.

1. Jesus Christ is the ONLY begotten son of God. 

John 3:16-17 "For God so loved the world, that he gave his ONLY begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.  For God sent not his Son into the world to comdemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved."

2. Under the direction of Heavenly Father, Christ was the creator of this world. 

John, 1:3 "All things were made by him; and whithout him was not any thing made that was made."

3. Through Him we can ALL recieve Eternal life. 

John 10:28 "And I give unto them eternal life..."

4. Does the will of the Father. In Matthew 7:21 it says only those who do 'the WILL of my Father which is in heaven' can enter the kingdom of Heaven.'

5.  He returned the Priesthood to the earth so we could all partake of those sacred promises we need to make with Heavenly Father to return to God. 

6. The last one that I want to say is the most important one.  He died for each one of us.  That through this atonement he provided an opportunity that every person will be resurrected.  Also, that everyone can repent of our sins and return to our Father in Heaven.

Elder Oaks said,

"Where is our ultimate loyalty?... Ther is no middle ground.  W are followers of CHrist... We should honor His name, keep His commandments, and 'seek not the things of this world but seek first to build up the kingdom of God."

I challenge each of you to ask yourself, "What think ye of Christ?"  If you feel comfortable, I would love you to write down your feelings in the comment box to share with others your testimony of Jesus Christ.

steps of faith + big decisions!

Sometimes we see the future and it looks scary!  Change is hard.  We can't comprehend how things will work out the way they are suppose to or how they were promised by God to turn out.  Being forced, or prompted, to make a change can be nerve wracking. 

Let's look at a bible story to help us trust in God.  Let's look at Moses.  He is a strong man and leader.  The Children of Israel where slaves to the Egyptians and were freed from their grasp after God allowed 10 plagues to come.  These plagues soften the Pharaoh's heart and Pharaoh let the Children of Israel go.  After Pharaoh allowed them to leave, Pharaoh questioned why he allowed them to leave!  So he sent 600 Chariots to go after them and destroy them or force them to come back and be their slave. 

When the people got to the Red Sea they turned and looked and saw the chariots coming after them and began to be afraid.  Because all they could see what the sea in front of them and the chariots coming behind them.  They begin to plea with Moses and ask him why he would bring them out here if they were only going to die?!

Moses says:
"Fear ye not, stand still,
and see the salvation of the Lord,
which he will shew to you to day:
for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day,
ye shall see them again no more for ever. 
The Lord shall fight for you,
and ye shall hold your peace." 
Exodus 14:13-14

Then Moses, in his great faith asks God what to do and God tells him to lift up his arms and part the Red Sea.  Then the Children of Israel walked through on dry land, and all the chariots were destroyed.

In life we sometimes feel like the Children of Israel.  We are not sure of the future and the past is trying to drag us back down into misery.  It is HARD to change.  But as we come closer to God and strive to change for the better, we have the promise that Moses gave that the Lord will fight for you, so stand still.  Know that you are making a great choice, and even though we may not see the outcome, God knows it and will provide for it to come to pass if we rely on him with full faith. 

A couple of scriptures that I repeat in my head to help me through big trials or facing big decissions. 

"If God be for us,
who can be against us?"  Romans 8:31

"I can do all things through
Christ which strengtheneth me."  Philippians 4:13

If we have the Bible, why do we need the Book of Mormon?

I have heard this question a lot of times!  Why would we need more if God has already given us this much?  Well, first off, this life is ALL about progression.  God wants us to continue to learn, grow, develop, and become more than we are today.  So, He teaches little by little.

Isaiah 28:10
"For precept must be upon precept, line upon line, Here a little, and there a little." 

So God wanted us to learn step by step.  He feels that we have learned what we have needed to learn from the Bible and is ready to give more.

Another struggle is that people have changed those important things in the Bible and now the Bible is not complete.  The Bible has even predicted this. 

Isaiah 24:5
"The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant."

Well, God is a God of order and great knowledge and understanding.  So he knew that this would happen and so he had people in the Ancient America's keeping record so that He could bring it forth when it was time to bring the fulness of the gospel back.

Christ said,
"Wherefore, I the Lord, knowing the calamity which should come upon the inhabitants of the earth, called upon my servant Joseph Smith, Jun., and spake unto him from heaven, and gave him commandments."
"And also those to whom these commandments were given, might have power to lay the foundation of this church, and to bring it forth out of obscurity and out of darkness, the only true and living church upon the face of the whole earth, with which I, the Lord, am well pleased..."  (D&C 1:17, 30)

God has prepared the way for the gospel to come back to the earth and to have those sacred things restored to the earth.  The time for this to happen is now.  The time is called the "fulness of time."

Ephesians 1:10
"That in the dispensation of the
fulness of times
he might gather together
 in one all things in Christ,
 both which are in heaven,
 and which are on earth; even in him." 

We live in the fulness of time, and God has brought the gospel of Jesus Christ through the man who was called as a prophet of God, Joseph Smith.  The Book of Mormon clarifies and refines the doctrine of God and what we have to do in order to return to God.

I know that this is true.  The Book of Mormon does not take away anything from the Bible, it only clarifies and helps us understand who Jesus Christ is, what we need to do, who we need to become, and how we gain peace and happiness in this life.