General Conference

There are times that general conference is exactly what I need. I had a list of questions that I needed to be answered written down and I prayed to find answers. It is one of those things in life that has become less of an aspect of faith and more of a perfect knowledge. I know for a fact that if I ask questions during conference, they will get answered. 

It was so sad to see President Monson so weak and feeble, but it made the words that he did say that much more meaningful. The biggest takeaways I got from him were the importance of charity and being kind. When I think more about it, those were some of the most important qualities that the saviour exhibited during his ministry. To hear the prophet of the whole earth who could be passing onto the next life soon talk about those things, it makes me want to embody them even more. 

I have made a personal goal to be more kind to those around me. Every single person is a child of God full of eternal potential. Potential that could one day bring them to the level of our Heavenly Father. When I can remember that principle, I can be able to let my light shine to everyone around me.

There is Beauty all Around.

This past weekend, I had the opportunity to escape the clutches of Provo and take a trip down to Moab, Utah. While I was there, I marveled at the amazing rock formations and the vast landscape that spread as far as the eye could see. As my group was at the top of one the more impressive arches, an elderly woman started talking to us. She introduced herself as Sister Jensen and continued to tell stories from her life. As she was talking, she mentioned, "God must be a wonderful artist to have made all of these." The more I have thought about that, the more I see it as true.

I have had an opportunity to travel to a few different regions in this world. It is fascinating to see how divers and unique different places can be. It makes me think of the scripture in King Benjamin's speech, "Believe in God; believe that he is, and that he created all things, both in heaven and in earth; believe that he has all wisdom, and all power, both in heaven and in earth; believe that man doth not comprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend." It is amazing to think that each rock and each plant was made with thought and purpose. It makes me so much more grateful knowing that if God had so much love to make a rock, how much more love did he have while creating me, his son. He loves us so much that he made us each individual and lovely in our own way. 

I am so grateful for the knowledge we have that we are children of God. That he loves us enough to create this beautiful world for us to live in.

BE|HERE

Recently a friend and I were reading a book called "The Lean Startup." In it, it describes the idea of being able to start a business with just $100. After reading it, we decided, why not! We set out to start a company with just $100 and see where it could go. We had a friend who is an amazing artist and we asked him to make some designs so we could start a t-shirt company. Everything was falling into place!

The hardest part was what we wanted to call the company. We wanted to make it something meaningful that could send a message. We wanted to tell a story about people living in the now. How we always wish that we could be anywhere else than where we are right now, whether traveling the world, laying on a beach in Hawaii or volunteering in Africa, but are not always happy with the beautiful world directly around us. We are so blessed to be living in Utah where the mountains are so close with the "best snow on earth." Places to go rock climbing, mountain biking, snowshoeing and hang gliding are just around the corner! We wanted to convey the message told to Joseph Smith in Thompson, Ohio, "And the hour and the day is not given unto them, wherefore let them act upon this land as for years, and this shall turn unto them for their good." D&C 51:17.

We decided to go with be|here as the name of the company. Life is too short not to be here and living in the moment. The Lord gives us countless blessings along our path of life and if we are not focusing on them, we might miss them. We need to live "as for years," taking life a day at a time. 

The American Idle

For those of us living in a developed country with stable income and modern amenities, we have the blessing and the curse of having time. We can get paid by the hour and on average, have to work less hours. We have things like Netflix and cell phones and friends and everything that could possibly distract us from the important things. Even when we know about all the necessary things we must do, we can fall into the trap of idleness. When speaking to the saints the Lord said, "Thou shalt not be idle; for he that is idle shall not eat the bread nor wear the garments of the laborer." (D&C 88:69) The commandment is that we must be anxiously engaged at all times. This does not mean that we are never allowed to do things that are not productive, it just means that we must use our time wisely. 

This life we live in is a time to labor. Push to our greatest potential so that we can do the most good. When we are idle and fall short of our potential, it is a sin of omission. We are not giving our all so we are not shining our light as much as we can. It is our duty to not cover our lights with a bushel and let our light so shine before men.

D&C 75:29- Let every man be diligent in all things. And the idler shall not have place in the church, except he repent and mend his ways.

Sight through the storm.

When I was a young man, I worked at a scout camp. One day when all the boys had come for a campfire, a massive storm came. We had to evacuate them all through a field that had become a sand storm. We couldn't see the building aways off but I knew it was there. I believed the building was there but could not see it. This is an example of faith. Uchtdorf said that “there are times when we have to not see with our eyes but see with our hearts” Alma told us to Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good; yea, when thou liest down at night lie down unto the Lord, that he may watch over you in your sleep; and when thou risest in the morning let thy heart be full of thanks unto God; and if ye do these things, ye shall be lifted up at the last day. (Alma 37:37) notice that he said "direct'- "not drag". The lord will not force us to do his will. And also notice he said “for good”- not “what you want.”

The lord knows yesterday today and forever- he knows every decision that we have made and every path that lies ahead. Uchtdorf also said, “If faith is so powerful, why can’t I receive an answer to a heartfelt prayer? I don’t need a sea to part or a mountain to move. I just need pass this test or my parents to forgive each other or an eternal companion to appear on my doorstep with a bouquet of flowers in one hand and an engagement ring in the other. Why can’t my faith accomplish that?” An important thing to realize is that faith can never force another’s agency. We also cannot force our will to God. We are meant to walk down the path and we are meant to get bumped and scraped up along the way. As we are walking along waiting for direction, we have to fend for ourself. “The purpose of faith is not to change God’s will but to empower us to act on God’s will.”

Saint-Exupéry’s who wrote the Little Prince, who said: “One sees clearly only with the heart. Anything essential is invisible to the eyes.” Sometimes we can't see through the storm ahead of us, but we can see with our hearts with the Lord guiding us.

Repent ye, Repent ye or your lands will be destroyed!

My mother tells a story about me when I was a little kid about a time when a friend of mine came over to play. When my friend said he wanted to play cowboys and Indians, I told him that I wanted to play Nephites and Lamanites instead. He didn't know what that was, so I explained it to him. I got on a toy box and shouted, "repent ye, repent ye or your lands will be destroyed!" Not your typical children game but from what I recall it was quite enjoyable.

This is a great example how sometimes, we as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, have heard our whole lives that we should "repent" but sometimes don't know exactly what that means. I remember a question posed in my mission prep class a few years ago about whether we could repent for one sin at a time or had to be all at once. I remember I scoffed at the teacher when he said that it was thoroughly impossible to repent for one sin, it had to be all at once. In my mind, I thought repentance meant to get better at not doing something. As I learned that day and with many many other experiences, repentance is not so simple and trivial. Repentance is a complete sacrifice of personal will, giving all to God's will and going through complete change from bad to good. Repentance is not halfway. Not 90 degrees. But full 180. I think of it as when we are walking the wrong way down a road. We have to turn around all the way or else we will be completely lost. 

The word "repent" is found in the scriptures nearly 1,500 times. We, as children of God, must make it a priority. In D&C section 19, Christ clearly tells us that it even a commandment for us to repent. We are blessed that we have been provided a path to follow to repent, though this path will have to be passed through many many times. It is up to us to always have a repentant heart and continually strive to walk the path to Christ.

Joyfully, Joyfully Marching Towards our Home.

We all know where it is where we are going, maybe not all the details like what it looks like, where exactly it is or what it will be like there, but we know that we can return and live with God again. Of course, we aren't the one's who issue the final judgement of whether or not we can really be let into the gates, but if we follow the gospel of Jesus Christ, having faith and repentance and baptism and Holy Ghost and endurance, we are pretty sure God being perfectly just will let us in. It's the endurance that I hope he will look at the most. In some ways, having faith and repentance and baptism is kind of easy. Believe and don't do bad things and get baptised at 8. Seems simple. And they are! But is not as much of the WHAT we do but the HOW we do it. We cannot go our entire life keeping the commandments and serving and going to church but do it begrudgingly and complaining about it. We have to, as Joseph Smith said, "cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed." (D&C 123:17) 

As trials come, we have to understand that they are devices that Heavenly Father uses to show that He loves us. It's like a boss at work. It is only with those he trusts that he gives the most important jobs. The more he trusts you, the hard the job. Maybe that's why Job got his name, God knew he could trust him. ;)