Getting an answer

Recieving answers to questions we have on what direction our life should take is a hard thing to understand sometimes.  The answers to prayers can come from friends or aquaintances.  Sometimes it is through a warm feeling or a thought that comes to mind.  But sometimes it can feel like God is not answering our prayers.  That we can't get a "yes" or a "no" on a question.
God is hearing and listening to your prayers.  He hears everyone of them.  But in the course of our lives, he gives us oppurtunity to use our agency.  He wants us to develop our faith and to decide on an answer and then move forward with faith.  He would never allow us to do anything that would harm us or not allow us to return to him from a mistake we made without first warning us. 
"For behold, it is not meet
that I should command
in ALL things..."  D&C 58:2
When we are not getting an answer, God sometimes wants us to take a step of faith.  Decide what we want to do and see which is the best solution.  Then we step forward.  If we are getting a feeling of peace and joy with the decision, than it was right.  But if we get the feeling that something is wrong or discomfort with the choice, than we need to re-evaluate. 
Here is a clip of how some people feel they have gotten answers to their prayers.  Get out a piece of paper and listen to their answers.  Write down ideas that stand out to you and look for those feelings when you are seeking direction.




Move forward with faith.

Standing alone

Sometimes in life, we may feel a lot like this flower.  Being bright and cheery in a dark and bland world.  God has asked us that we let our light so shine, that we may be a beaken to the world.  That we can bring joy and light back into this world that is dark and grey.

"Behold, do men light a candle and put it under a bushel? Nay, but on a candlestick, and it giveth light to all that are in the house; Therefore let your light so shine before this people that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven."

3 Nephi 12:14-16

We show our faith by the way we live.  If we are willing to rise above our situations and strive to come closer to Christ, others are going to see that.  We can be a light to others through our examples.  We can show to them how the gospel makes us happy.

A prophet of God said,

"If the gospel of Jesus Christ does not make me a better man, then I have not developed as I should, and if our neighbors not in this Church can live among us from year to year and see no evidence of the benefits that come from keeping the commandments of God in our lives, then there is need for reform in Israel."

People should look at us and see the blessings of being an obedient son or daughter of God.  We can stand out like this flower.  Others will look at us and see that we are brighter, happier, and are standing a little taller than the rest of the world, and that is a GOOD thing. 

If you desire to have this joy and happiness, I STRONGLY ENCOURAGE you to read the Book of Mormon and pray, and that happiness will begin to fill your life, I promise!

Gaining a testimony

I was in the Mission Training Center and we, as missionaries, practice teaching one another.  So I was pretending to be an atheist for the other missionaries.  They were asking me a few questions and I was answering them.  Then I looked out our small window and said
"Look outside.  How can you look out there and think that there is a God?  There is NOTHING that proves there..."

I was going to finish that phrase, but was cut off by my emotions.  I couldn't say that God didn't exist.  I could not deny the testimony that I had received through my life. 

Joseph Smith said about receiving a vision from God "I knew it, and I knew that God knew it, and I could not deny it, NEITHER DARED I DO IT."

So how do we gain the testimony that it gets to the point that we cannot deny it?  Gaining a testimony takes work.  We have to desire to gain it and work to gain it. 

Alma 32:27 "But behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words." 

So first we have DESIRE.  We have to want a testimony.  We plant a seed.  We long to know the truth of something.  Then we go to work, or NOURISH the seed!  We nourish the seed by earnestly praying and reading more about it.  If it is the testimony, or knowledge that God exist, then we study out the scriptures and find where there is proof that God exist.  For example:
Alma 30:44 
"The scriptures are laid before thee, yea, and all things denote there is a God; yea, even the earth, and all things that are upon the face of it, yea, and its motion, yea, and also all the planets which move in their regular form do witness that there is a Supreme Creator." 

We continue to PONDER upon these teachings and PRAYING and asking if this is true.

Then, we know if it is true if it begins to grow, or gives us peace and sometimes warm feelings about the subject.  We know that if a seed is bad, that it will not grow and will not produce anything.  Or, we know that it won't make sense or feel right if it is wrong.  But if it grows, it will continue to grow as you strive to nourish it.  Then it can become a belief. 

Alma 32:34

"And now, behold, is your knowledge perfect? Yea, your knowledge is perfect in that thing, and your faith is dormant; and this because you know, for ye know that the word hath swelled your souls, and ye also know that it hath sprouted up, that your understanding doth begin to be enlightened, and you mind doth behind to expand."

I can promise you that you can gain a testimony of anything if you desire to find the truth.  Then you can say,

"I knew it, and I knew that God knew it, and I could not deny it."

In the Vineyard

Here in the vineyards of the Napa valley, they take great care and thought into their vineyards.  There is much to take into account.  They have the planting, the up keep, the tender care, the harvest, and then the preparation for the next springs growth.  Something that I find interesting is that how precise and straight each row is in the Vineyard.

I look at these rows and think of my life.  Where am I taking myself.  Am I putting thought into how I "prune" my vineyard each day by the little actions I am doing?  How am I keeping my life straight and in harmony with God's plan for me?

"Behold, verily, verily, I say unto you, ye must watch and pray always lest ye enter into temptation; for Satan desireth to have you, that he may sift you as wheat.  Therefore ye must always pray unto the Father in my name."  3 Nephi 18:18-19

Through prayer, God can help us see the areas that we need to work on and what we can do to have our lives more in harmony with His plan and purpose for us.  Those areas that we need to "prune."   God wants us to be happy and the things he teaches us to do and things that He asks us to do are to make us more happy in our life.  God knows it's hard, He understands our needs.  He wants us to return to Him.  When we turn to Him, He can show us the way to be with him again. 

Seeking for:

What are you seeking for in your life?  What are you trying to develop and strengthen.

Let's try a little scenario:

You are driving down the road and you are looking for an address.  There are many things to take into consideration.

1. What is their street number

2. What is their house number

3. Where on the house or curb is the number for their house

4. Do they look home

Now, once we have found the house, think of how excited you are that you found their home.  This is like searching for things that are of God.  We must look at what we searching for, where to find it, where to look, and then to go and see if it is worthy to be found.

  There are many things to search for and to seek after, but are they things that are worth while.  In the scriptures, it teaches us that we need to search for things of God.  Look at this picture below:

In the scriptures it teaches us, in Doctrine and Covenants 4, that we need to seek after the qualities that are around the edge of this paper, which are:

FAITH

VIRTUE

KNOWLEDGE

TEMPERANCE

PATIENCE

BROTHERLY KINDNESS

GODLINESS

DESIRE

LOVE

HOPE

DILIGENCE

HUMILITY

CHARITY

These are things that God has asked us to seek after.  They are things that He knows will bring us the most happiness.  I promise, if you sought them you would find the most joy that you can have in this life!