Remember, Remember

I had an interesting experience today.  My assignment from Preach My Gospel was a difficult one: “Find a Book of Mormon scripture that has changed your life.  Record your feelings about this scripture in your study journal.”

I’ve never really given this that much thought.  There are many experiences in the Book of Mormon that I could pull up immediately, but a scripture?  So I started walking through my Book of Mormon.  My time was gone before I had really zeroed in on a scripture.  I put it off for another time. 

I played the organ in the temple this morning, so afterward I sat in the Celestial Room and pondered and prayed.  I prayed I would know which scripture has really changed my life.  Helaman 5:12 came to mind.  I opened it up and read it.  I’ve memorized this scripture before and its reference, which is why it came to mind. 

“And now, my sons, remember.  Remember it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty wind, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fail.”

The interesting part of this exercise was my effort to re-memorize it as I sat in the temple.  I must confess as I typed it just now, I still needed to look.  This is too interesting.  I remembered writing something in the margin of my Book of Mormon somewhere that I wanted to quote just now.  Had I only gone to Helaman 5:12, I would have found it.  A teacher in a class I took put it like this:  “The main thing to remember is that the main thing is the main thing.”  Interesting that I turned every page in my book before I got to Helaman 5:12, which is where it was written.  Ugh!  We must remember that Jesus Christ is the main thing.  Nothing else really matters.  It is through his Atonement that everything we hope to achieve in this life or the next will come to pass.  We must build our foundation on Him – our Rock of Salvation.

I love my Savior, Jesus Christ.  I still marvel at my own rescue and the fruits of repentance.  I marvel at the joy in my life from keeping the commandments.  Even when things get a little difficult – and they do for all of us at one time or another – I know my Savior is there for me, that he has suffered for me and that in the end, it will be okay.  I have full confidence when I speak these words to my children.  I know things will work out.  I worry for those who have not discovered this for themselves, but find great joy and comfort in the fact that miracle is there for them when they are ready to reach out and ask for it.  It is that simple; that powerful.  I’m so grateful for this miracle in my own life and look forward to it happening in the lives of those I teach when we serve our mission(s).  I look forward to it for my own daughter as well.  

Some real gems are missing!

In comparing 3 Nephi 12 with Matthew 5, you discover there are some omissions from the Bible that are precious and important.  Let’s see if I can make a bullet list:

• Thinking lustful thoughts constitute adultery! (3 Nephi 12:28)
• If a man divorces for “cause of fornication”, he causes his wife to commit adultery. (v32)  I’m not so certain I want to tackle this one.
• Swearing – Swear not at all; neither by heaven, for it is God’s throne; Nor by the earth, for it is his footstool; . . . by thy head, etc.  (v34-37) 
• Gone are the days of “an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth”.  The Book of Mormon makes it clear we are to forgive those who offend us.  (v38-44)  Love your enemies.  Why?  “That ye may be the children of your Father who is in heaven; for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good.” (v45)  The Lord loves all His children and we need to do so as well.
• Old things were fulfilled in Christ.  This means instead of blood sacrifice, we sacrifice our old self - our sins and imperfections and become perfect, even as our Father in heaven is perfect. 

Controlling our thoughts, swearing, forgiving and making ourselves new have been omitted from the Bible.  This means we not only forgive those who ask for our forgiveness, but those who didn’t as well.  Christ set the perfect example for this as he hung on the cross.  Certainly none of the crucifiers were asking for forgiveness, though he gave it freely.  Why?  He knew more about them and therefore was able.  We must have the faith necessary to realize we are all God’s children and as that, we have the potential to become as He is.  It matters.

Sometimes I am the recipient of hurtful words.  Do I quickly exercise this commandment?  I try to.  I must admit it is not the easiest thing to do, however.  Forgiving is easy enough; forgetting is muh harder.  This is one I must continue to work on. 

The Godhead, The Fall of Man and the Bible

Yesterday I read in Doctrine and Covenants about the many things we know because of latter-day revelation.  Today my assignment was to select one of the doctrines and use the Topical Guide to compare my list to what the Bible teaches about this doctrine. 

This was an interesting exercise and didn’t take long at all to realize that the Godhead is clearly three members even as the Bible teaches.  Wherever did someone get the idea that there is only one God?  Who did they think God was speaking to in Genesis 1:26 when he said, “Let us make man in our image. . .”.  or in Genesis 3:22 “. . . man is become as one of us, to know good and evil”?  There is a lengthy list of such comments from the Bible.

Let’s look at the Fall of Man which is clearly spoken of when God introduces Adam and Eve into the Garden of Eden.  Genesis 2:17 says “. . .thou shalt surely die” if they partake of the fruit from the tree of knowledge.  In 1 Corinthians 15:22 it says “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.”  Isn’t it clear also that the Fall of Man is spoken of in the Bible? 

It is extremely difficult for me to see this through a clouded lens.  When I read these scriptures from the Bible, it is clear to me. 

I’m so grateful for latter-day scriptures that only enhance my learning in the Bible.  Maybe had I not had the Book of Mormon to make it clear things might look differently.  Moses also brings crystal-clear clarity to the creation and Fall of Man.  How blessed I am and how obligated I feel to know these things so that I might be able to share them with others.  

By These things We Know

D&C 20:17 starts out with these words:  "By these things we know. . . ."  Preach My Gospel challenges me to write all the things we know because the Lord has spoken to us today.  This is a lengthy list:

• There is a God in heaven, infinite and eternal who created heaven and earth and all things
• God created Adam and Eve in His own image and likeness
• God commanded Adam and Eve to keep the commandments and worship him.
• Man (Adam and Eve) fell (broke the commandments)
• A Savior was provided
• Our Savior suffered temptations.
• Our Savior did not heed the temptations
• Our Savior was crucified, died and rose again the third day.
• Our Savior ascended into heaven where he reigns with our Heavenly Father.
• All who believe these things and are baptized and endure in faith to the end will be saved.
• Not only those who believe after he came in the meridian of time, but those who were born before he was born will be saved by the same thing, i.e. baptism.
• The Father, Son and Holy Ghost are one, meaning one in purpose; not one person.
• All men must repent and believe on Jesus Christ, worship the Father in his name and endure in faith on his name to the end or they cannot be saved in the kingdom of God.
• It is only through Jesus Christ’s grace that we can be saved.

My assignment next time is to compare one of these in the Topical Guide with what we know about it from reading the Bible.  

We are so blessed to have this knowledge.  

It's True

The Book of Mormon is True!

Preach My Gospel study idea says to write how I felt when I first gained a spiritual witness that the Book of Mormon is true.  I have to go back in time about 35 years ago.  I was in a miserable marriage that had no hope of improving.  I was employed in an office where there were many bishops, seventies, and returned missionaries who took a personal interest in my happiness.  They knew I was inactive in the church and they started right where they needed to.  They somehow piqued my interest in the Book of Mormon.  I started reading it and was fascinated that it was not like the Bible at all, but rather a very connected story written in language I could really understand.  Where had I been all these years?  I knew I had studied it in Seminary as a young girl.  I soaked it up like a hard, dry sponge.  My days were happier; I was happier.  I saw things surrounding me that I had never seen before.  I even saw beauty in things that were not necessarily beautiful such as the artificial grass (rocks sprayed green) by the government to impress expected visitors at the base where I was working.  It was an exciting time in my life.

When did I actually gain my spiritual conviction of the truthfulness of the gospel?  I don’t remember actually kneeling down and asking at the completion of reading the Book of Mormon.  I don’t even remember if I finished the Book of Mormon this time around.  It took me several tries, if I remember correctly.  However, as I was preparing to receive my endowments for my 30^th birthday, I had a Sunday School lesson where the teacher challenged us to gain that spiritual witness.  I happened to be fasting that day anyway, so I went home after my Sunday School meeting and proceeded to do as the teacher had suggested.  This is in the days when Sunday School was in the morning and we returned for Sacrament Meeting in the late afternoon.

I knelt down and prayed fervently for a witness of the truth of the things I had been learning.  Is the Gospel of Jesus Christ true?  Is the Book of Mormon true?  Is Joseph Smith a prophet?  I asked all these questions and waited for my answer.  It was a long afternoon.  I was alone and closed my eyes and fell asleep.  When I awoke, I was devastated because I hadn’t received my answer to any of these questions, although I knew in my heart they were true.  I was hoping for a “spiritual witness”. 

It was a Fast Sunday.  In our church, Fast Sunday is generally the first Sunday of the month and we fast from food and water for 24 hours and donate the money saved to provide for those who can’t provide for themselves.  It also allows us to draw closer to the Spirit, as we are not thinking about our physical needs but rather spiritual needs.  We have a Fast and Testimony meeting where we are given the opportunity to bear our testimonies to the truths we know.  I generally bear my testimony, but wondered if it would be appropriate.  I did not have my spiritual witness.  As soon as the meeting was opened up, I bounced out of my seat as fast as I could.  I took the microphone and said, “I know. . .”  As soon as I started bearing witness to those things I thought I knew to be true, it was as if someone had punctured a hole in my bosom and poured warm liquid inside.  It moved around and I was totally overcome with tears.  What was happening to me?  I had never experienced this in my entire life.  This was my spiritual witness that the Book of Mormon as well as the Gospel and all other facets of the Church are true.  I sat down much faster than I have ever done before.  It was an amazing experience and foundation for a testimony that has grown only stronger since that time. 

How did I feel?  Happy!  Happy all the time as I went about my work, my play, mothering, even dealing with the trials of being a new divorcee.  My life looked so hopeful.  I remember driving home one night and looking at the mountains to the east.  The sun was at my back and I was so filled with joy I had to stop and just look at the beauty that was before me.  My life has never been the same and I’ve never looked back and questioned that experience.  It was real.  I’ve experienced it since, but never to the same degree.  Yes, the Book of Mormon is true.  That said, Joseph Smith was a prophet of God who was raised up to usher in the restoration of the Gospel.  Each prophet who has served since Joseph Smith has been a prophet of the Lord, including Thomas S. Monson who is currently our prophet.  I love the Gospel and find joy in anything I can do to further the work before us until the Savior returns.

Doctrine of Christ, Testimony and Conversion

Today I read Elder Bednar’s Conference Talk (October 2012) on Testimony and Conversion and Being Converted Unto the Lord.  Then I turned to Preach My Gospel where it suggested several passages we could read with investigators wanting to gain testimony of the truth of the Gospel.  These two went very well together.

Elder Bednar talked about gaining a testimony, the steps necessary in that process and the obligation to endure to the end once that testimony is gained.  He then compared it to conversion, which is a lengthier process.  Conversion (as I understand it) is more of a process of endurance, a line-upon-line process.  As we experience or study a principle, we gain testimony of that principle, and begin to live it.  There is no shortcut to conversion - no last-minute flurry of preparation.  It is our life and what we make of it.  I like this quote that boils this down into two sentences:  “Knowing the gospel is true is the essence of a testimony  Consistently being true to the gospel is the essence of conversion.” 

2 Nephi 31 is the Doctrine of Christ.  I wrote in my margin from a class I took at Education Week in 2004, “This chapter is the Doctrine of Christ; everything else are appendages”, David A. Christensen.  So what exactly is the Doctrine of Christ?  To follow his example, i.e. repent, be baptized (a sign of humility and commitment), keep the commandments, receive the Holy Ghost, and do the things we have seen the Savior do.  That would require us to study the Savior’s life to know exactly what He did.  There is one more thing:  witnessing unto the Father that we are willing to take upon us His name.  That is done by baptism and by partaking of the sacrament each week.  This was such a fun chapter to study with Brother Christensen.   Verse 14 says that after we have done these things, then we will be able to “. . . speak with a new tongue . . . the tongue of angels. . .”.  Then he asked this question:  How do angels speak?  The answer is found in the next chapter, 2 Nephi 32:3 “Angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, they speak the words of Christ.  Wherefore, I said unto you, feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do.”  His answer to “how do angels speak” is:  They are nice!  Why would that be?  Because they speak the words they have studied in the scriptures.  Elder Bednar’s talk is indicative of this statement.  His references to scripture were many and covered varied times and incidences in the scriptures.  I wonder how he did that?  Did he search the scriptures and then plug them into his talk?  Or did he speak the thoughts that were put into his heart by the Spirit and then go back and reference them in the scriptures?  I tend to believe it is the later choice. 

And of course, the final component of the Doctrine of Christ is enduring to the end.  What does this look like?  To endure to the end we must “. . . press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men.  Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life.” 2 Nephi 31:20

Conversion is a component of testimony plus pressing forward in faith, line upon line learning the doctrine of the gospel and putting it into practice in our daily lives, repenting when we do things wrong and continuing to press forward.

I’m so grateful for the scriptures and the knowledge I gain from reading them.  Today I will ponder the events of my testimony and conversion.  To me it is such a miracle, yet a real process that continues even today.  I’m grateful for this time in my life that allows me the luxury of more diligent study and pondering in preparation for what I hope will be an opportunity to share my testimony with others by serving a mission.

Jesus Christ, the Savior of the World

Today I studied the Gospel Doctrine Lesson 2.  “Behold, I am Jesus Christ, the Savior of the World.”

Before I get to my "notes" as I studied this lesson, I want to bear my testimony that I know Jesus Christ suffered for my sins.  I know we can be forgiven for our sins and allowed to move on with our lives.  The Lord will forgive us and forget these sins.  What a blessing that has been in my own life.  I have been allowed a "redo" so to speak.  Yes, there are reminders of my sins, but those reminders keep me grounded to the gratitude I have for my Savior for a second chance.  There is rarely a day go by that something doesn't remind me of how grateful I am.  

What do I know about Jesus’ suffering?  It was very personal – for me!  It was so excruciating that Christ bled from every pore of his body.  Can I even comprehend such pain?  Not even!  Would I want to?  Not on your life!  How can I avoid suffering exactly as the Savior suffered?  By repenting and keeping the commandments of God I can avoid this suffering for myself.  If I serve Him (aka help build the kingdom of God on earth) and endure to the end, I can avoid this same suffering.

Why would Jesus suffer like this?  There is only one explanation and that would be His love for “all mankind” which includes me.  (I don't make reference to all the scriptures that bring me to this conclusion.  If you're interested, they are in the Gospel Doctrine Lesson 2.)

Jesus was resurrected after he hung on the cross and died.  Prior to this time, people died and remained so.  Do I totally understand this?  I don’t think I do.  For one, their spirits are somewhere – just not with their bodies that have decomposed into the earth.  What of the Spirits?  D&C 93:33 says the spirit cannot have a fullness of joy without the body, so it is the resurrection that makes it so the body and spirit can reunite.  Alma 11:42-44 makes it quite clear what we can expect from this resurrection:  our bodies will be brought to their perfect frame and we will be judged according to our works whether they are good or bad.  Will everyone enjoy this resurrection?  Well, we will all be reunited with our bodies and that will make us happy.  We are told the judgment might not be the happiest experience for those who did not repent.

What are some of the blessings of the Atonement? 

• We won’t have to suffer like Jesus if we repent of our sins.  If we accept this gift from the Savior, His joy is great!  D&C 18:11-12, 20  That’s a neat thought to think I add to the Savior’s joy by repenting. 
• Repentance is a commandment and if we don’t repent, we will be humbled by the Savior’s “almighty power”.  This next sentence in D&C 19:20 is most compelling to me.  If we choose not to repent, we will instead be humbled by the Savior’s power.  This punishment is the withdrawal of the Savior’s Spirit from our lives.  I don’t know if I can verbalize why this intrigues me – possibly because of watching the torment my daughter has suffered since she has declared she doesn’t believe these things.  The sad thing is she doesn’t realize it is the withdrawal of the Spirit from her life that is causing her the suffering. 
• D&C 58:42-43 gives us a way out of this suffering.  If we repent, the Lord will forgive them and remember them no more.  This is such a blessing in our lives.  It is because of this gift from our Savior – the Atonement – that we are able to move on with our lives and make something of them, and not be burdened with the weight associated with having lost the Spirit.  The hardest part of this equation is forgiving ourselves because our sins sometimes leave us with daily reminders that things could have been better or different somehow.  However, there are even more reminders that we have been so very blessed because of the Atonement and the blessing to move forward.
• D&C 76:62-70 makes it quite clear the blessings of the Atonement can bring us eternal joy and happiness.  
• We will have all that the Father has.  
• We will dwell with the most righteous who lived on the earth.  Amazing!

How can I show my gratitude?  

• For starters, I must repent and confess my sins.  
• After doing so, I continue to help build the kingdom by bearing witness to the truth of the gospel wherever I’m called to serve as well as in my stewardship as mom, grandma, wife, etc.  My very life will be dedicated to furthering the kingdom on earth.  
• I must become like my Savior, Jesus Christ.  

What does "becoming like the Savior" look like?

• Treasure up the words of Christ (aka scriptures), 
• Be diligent and faithful in keeping the commandments. (D&C 6:20-21)
• Attend my meetings where I’m taught about the Lord.  
• Do good, for what I sow I will reap.   Don’t sin any more.  Look unto the Savior in all I do.  
• Doubt not.  What does that mean?  I think it means don’t have any doubts that these promises are sure.  Believe them and have faith they are true.  By so doing, we will see our lives improve and bear witness to us of these truths. 
• I must learn to truly listen to all the words of the Savior.  Where do I find His words?  They can be found in the scriptures and out of the words of our modern-day prophets.
• Be in awe of the great accomplishments of the Savior.  He created the earth and all its expanses.  He deserves our reverence.
• He is my advocate with the Father and pleads my cause.  He deserves my gratitude and reverence.
• The Savior has received all that the Father has.  We too can have this same inheritance.  
• We must worship our Savior because it is only through his Atonement that this can happen.