Living the Gospel

Imagine you're on the ground and your kite is very high up, stuck in a tree.  You jump and you jump and you jump with all of your might, but you can't reach the kite.  Gravity keeps pulling you down.  You try to climb the tree, but it's prickly, sticky, and much too difficult for you to do it.  A man comes by, sees your plight, and brings a ladder that will reach all the way to the top of the tree.  He holds it steady so then you can climb it and get your kite back.

Step by step you climb up the rungs, it's a little high and a little scary, but you reach your kite!  With triumph you pull it out of the tree, go back down the ladder, thank the man, and run back to play with your kite.  You did it!  You got the kite!  Thanks to the man with the ladder you achieved your goal and can resume playing with your kite.

Did you get the kite all by yourself?  Not at all.  You tried doing it by yourself the first time and it didn't work out so well.  The man's ladder helped you get there.  Did the ladder get you to the top of the tree all by itself then?  Of course not.  It's a ladder, not an elevator.  You had to put forth your own effort to get up all of the rungs.  The man couldn't have done it for you, you had to do it yourself.

This is very similar to our lives.  Our goal is a lofty one: to reach heaven and live with our Father again.  It is so high up there, that there is no way we can get to it on our own!  We could get there by living perfectly, but since no one can do that, we're kind of stuck.  This is why Christ's atonement is so important.  Because of his suffering in Gethsemane and on the cross, he made it possible for us to reach heaven and make it home again.

Now, his atonement is a lot like a ladder.  It is a necessary tool that we need - without his sacrifice we'd never be able to make it back to heaven - but it isn't an effortless thing on our part.  It's not an elevator that will take everyone straight there, there are things that we must do to apply the atonement in our life.  To use the ladder, in effect.

Our part is summed up in "the Gospel of Jesus Christ".  What is it?  To put it simply, it is faith in Jesus Christ, repentance, baptism by immersion, receiving the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end.  Make sense?  It didn't make sense to me at first either.  In fact, there are still things I don't understand about it.  But that's okay, because you don't jump from the bottom of the ladder to the top.  You take it one rung at a time.  So let's brake it down.

The first step is faith in Jesus Christ; "Faith is to hope for things which are not seen, but which are true (Heb. 11:1; Alma 32:21), and must be centered in Jesus Christ in order to produce salvation.  To have faith is to have confidence in something or someone." (Bible Dictionary: faith)  We must believe that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world, and the only begotten of the Father.  We must trust in him, that he is, and that he knows us and loves us.

This can't be an idle feeling, but an active motivation.  When we have faith, we are willing to obey the commandments that we have been given.  We seek for more knowledge and understanding, and we continue to chose the right even when everything else is going wrong.  This is how we can apply faith in Christ in our lives - by doing what he has asked of us.

The second step is repentance; repentance put simply is change.  A change in our actions - a change in our hearts.  "It is much more than just acknowledging wrongdoings.  It is a change of mind and heart that gives us a fresh view about God, about ourselves, and about the world.  It includes turning away from sin and turning to God for forgiveness." (https://www.lds.org/topics/repentance?lang=eng)


When I was young, I thought repentance was saying "I'm sorry" to my sister and "please forgive me" to Heavenly Father.  I thought of it as a punishment, a negative consequence to my bad action.  Now I realize that it is so much more than saying "I'm sorry".  It's an opportunity for me to truly be cleaned from my mistake.  By asking for forgiveness daily, I can change and improve and go on living life without the guilt weighing me down at every step.  When we repent, we are really renewed.

The third step is baptism; the action itself seems simple: go into the water and be baptized.  That's it.  The end.  But there is so much more to this step than the moment you're baptized.  For when you are baptized by God's authority, you are making a covenant - a promise to live your life in a certain way for the rest of your life.  In Doctrine and Covenants 20:37 it says "...all those who humble themselves before God, and desire to be baptized...and are willing to take upon them the name of Jesus Christ, having a determination to serve him to the end...shall be received by baptism into his church."

We then take the step of baptism as we remember and act on the covenants we have made.  When we take the name of Christ upon us, we are promising to do as he would do.  To obey his commandments in all situations we are placed in.  How do we serve Him?  "when ye are in the service of your fellowbeings ye are only in the service of your God." (Mosiah 2:17) As we reach out and help the people around us, we are fulfilling our baptismal covenants, and we are living the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The fourth step is receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost;  like being baptized, there is only one moment where you are confirmed and "receive the Holy Ghost", but also like being baptized, there is more to it than just the one moment.  To fully receive the Holy Ghost, you must accept his guidance in your daily life and be open to his voice.

Now, the Holy Ghost doesn't usually speak verbally, he is more likely to be felt than to be heard.  He can warn us of danger, encourage us to do good, and help us understand things of a spiritual nature, like scriptures or gospel truths in church meetings.  To hear his voice we must live worthily for it by obeying the commandments.  Our hearts must be devoid of pride so that we can be open to his direction.

You can't really call the fifth step a "step", because it's not really a single step.  It is enduring to the end.  Meaning, we don't stop taking steps.  We keep living our lives as best as we can, building our faith in Christ, repenting of the things we have done wrong, keeping our baptismal covenants, and listening to the Holy Ghost.  On the one hand, this step sounds like drudgery, a never ending circle of effort.  But on the other hand, it is a wonderful process that will bring us never ending joy.

"Enduring to the end brings direction, peace, and happiness to life.  You will feel the joy of trying to become more like Jesus Christ as you serve and help those around you. You will better understand your relationship with your Father in Heaven and feel His perfect love for you. You will feel hope and a sense of purpose in an often unhappy and troubled world."  (The Gospel of Jesus Christ pamphlet)

"We need to study and learn the fundamental principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and then we must do our very best to live them. That is how we become disciples of Jesus Christ, and that is how we build an enduring testimony." (Richard J Maynes)  When we can take these 5 simple steps of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we will build for ourselves a foundation that will never fall.  We will gain the strength and the wisdom we need to conquer every challenge that we face in this life.

So if you feel like something is missing in your life, take a look at how you are living the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Continue to seek to understand it and apply it to your life, and your life will be filled.

Where Can I Turn for Peace?

"Where can I turn for peace?

Where is my solace

When other sources cease to make me whole?

When with a wounded heart, anger, or malice,

I draw myself apart,

Searching my soul?"

Sometimes, when I pray, these words come into my mind.  They come from the hymn "Where Can I Turn For Peace", and they mean so much to me.  They really describe the ache I feel in perfect words.  The desire to find peace, the realization that I can't find it on my own.  The drawing back away from others...it's a feeling I am well acquainted with.

"Where, when my aching grows,

Where, when I languish,

Where, in my need to know, where can I run?

Where is the quiet hand to calm my anguish?

Who, who can understand?"

Luckily, my prayer never ends there.  Immediately after my plea for help, the next verse in the song comes to my mind:

"He answers privately,

Reaches my reaching

In my Gethsemane, Savior and Friend.

Gentle the peace he finds for my beseeching.

Constant he is and kind,

Love without end."

With the words comes a feeling: a peace.  As I sing the song in my heart, I find reassurance that my ache is known, and that it can be healed.  I don't see a light, I don't hear a voice.  It's the quiet feeling that is found in my heart.  I know that Christ is my friend, my brother, and that he is right next to me cheering me on as I listen.  He never falters, he never fails.  His love is endless.

I know that he is your brother as well, and that he knows exactly what you're going though.  He wants to help because he loves you and he believes in you.  It takes a little faith to put your trust in someone you can't see, but when you do, that tiny seed of faith will grow into a great strength that will last you through every trial, every heartache, every moment for the rest of your life.  

Don't wait.  Go to Him today and partake of the peace and joy that he is offering to you.  :)  I promise that you will find it.

Line Upon Line, Ring Upon Ring

There is a missionary I know named Sister McBride (my current companion cough!) who had a ring given to her about 5 months ago.  It was pretty, and she loved it, but the moment she took it off it fell apart!!  *dramatic gasp*  But do not worry, my friends.  The ring was supposed to do that.  The ring she was given is a puzzle ring, one where you have to fit all the pieces together to make the ring.

A worthy challenge.

There was just one problem: she couldn't put it back together.  

For months and months she worked on it, slowly learning how each individual piece had notches that hooked together with other pieces.  It took time, and it took effort, but she still couldn't figure out!  She was able to put a few rings together, but the final pieces still wouldn't fit.  It was a little frustrating for her because she couldn't put the ring back on her finger until it was fully completed.

She asked for help, but no one around knew how to solve the puzzle.  She tried again, she persevered, until she one day held her hand up triumphantly, ring together in perfect order.  All it took was one ring at a time.

This is how we learn just about anything in this life, and especially things relating to the gospel.  We don't understand things all at once - rarely do we understand it even when someone has explained it to us.  We learn "line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little" until we have received the fullness.  

"Blessed are those who hearken unto my precepts, and lend an ear unto my counsel, for they shall learn wisdom; for unto him that receiveth I will give more;" (2 Nephi 28:30)  When we open our hearts and our minds to understanding, and apply the things we have learned, we will learn more.  Little by little we will receive until there won't be room enough to receive it.

Keep learning, my friends.  Study the scriptures with a prayer for the Holy Ghost to teach you.  Don't give up when things get tricky or confusing, keep trying.  In the end, it will all work out.  Heavenly Father desires to help you progress until you become like him, and he will help you every step of the way as you lean on him for guidance.  I know you can do this.  You will succeed. 

Life is one big puzzle, and Christ has given us all the pieces in the scriptures.  Let's find those pieces and put it all together.

What Are Your Sister Missionaries Doing Online?

The role of a missionary as viewed by the majority of people: a person who dresses up, wears a nametag, and knocks on doors all day, every day, talking to people about Jesus Christ.

Lately, you may have seen missionaries at the libraries, online.  Have you ever wondered what are they doing at the computers?

Our purpose online is the same as walking the streets: to invite others to come unto Christ.

When we are online, we are doing many of the same activities that we do offline: we share spiritual messages, contact a variety of people, and invite others to learn more about the gospel of Jesus Christ.  You've probably seen a lot of the messages that we've written.  Their purpose is to help strengthen you in your life and your testimony of Christ.

Some people live far away, or can't be eagerly waiting at their door for the missionaries to come by.  (We get it, you have lives that involve more dynamics than reading scriptures and talking to the missionaries.)  A way that we can still reach out to them is through online services, where we can answer questions about who God is, what do Mormons believe, and what is the Book of Mormon.

The messages we share online also make it easy for you to share the gospel with your friends and family.  Every time you like a post or share it with your friends, it gives you an opportunity to share your testimony with them.  It opens the door for them to ask questions about your beliefs and faith - where you can easily point them to the missionaries that are serving in your area.  After all, they're online!

Good has already come from this shift to online.  Many missionaries have been able to teach family members and friends back home, lives have been touched, and the gospel has been shared to those who might not have had an opportunity otherwise.

So the next time you see a post from the missionaries that you like, share it on your wall.  Share your testimony on the posts and share spiritual experiences.  :)  We are here to help you!  So whenever you have a question, feel free to ask us!