The Book of Mormon is TRUE!!!

I find it very interesting that Moroni tries to end the Book of Mormon multiple times. Three obvious ones are at the end of the account of Mormon, one at the end of Ether and then finally after he has written his portion. I noticed times when he was seemed to end within those books as well. I don't know his reasoning of wanting to end, but I can assume it is because he is alone and wants to die so he can return to live with God again. I have been thinking a lot about timing lately. As I read this part of the Book of Mormon, I compared myself to Moroni. I bet that it was just as hard for Moroni to learn and accept the Lord's timing of things in his life as it is for each of us. In his mind, he had finished his duty when he had copied his dad's words. The Lord had another plan in mind for him. Then he thought, ok, I'll copy part of this other record. He did, but still the Lord had more for him to do. He wrote some of his personal revelations and the last chapter of the Book of Mormon, including Moroni's promise, has changed the world. Heavenly Father knew that those short phrases needed to be written for His own purposes, which we don't understand. I believe that it applies directly to us in our lives. We need to do some things that will bless our lives or the lives of others for reasons that we don't fully understand, and may never even know. I wonder if Mormon or Moroni, or any of the other prophets really understood the magnitude that their works would have on the people of this generation. I feel so blessed that these great men would dedicate so much of their life to bring forth this book that has power to help anyone in need of guidance. I know it has come to the world by the Power of God and we can come closer to Jesus Christ by reading it! The examples of the prophets and others have blessed me in my life and I am so grateful for them. The church is true!

In the Grand Scheme of LIfe, Who's Opinion Really Matters?

As we go through life, I think it is natural for us to try to figure out who we are. Some people take a very introverted approach, while others may base who they are on the people they associate with. Some may even create a fantasy of who they believe they are when in actuality they are someone totally different. So this past week, I have been reviewing my daily activities, my goals or ultimate desires, and pondering about who I really am.
I'm going to start from last Saturday. I had a few invitations to hang out with different people after I arrived home from work. I wasn't in the mood to really do anything so I just chilled for a while til something appealing was introduced to me. One of my friends invited me to go to the hot pots and hang out. I haven't done anything like that in a while so I took him up on his offer. It sounded relaxing and fun so I went. A little background information about him, he is a punk kid. I always seem to get along with that type really well. He doesn't really get along well with his family. He isn't very active in the church. He has long hair, ballroom dances and love to ride his low rider motorcycle. In my opinion, he is a really cool kid and he has a great heart although he may not be making the decisions his parents want him to make.
On Sunday night, I was invited to two separate parties and had to plan my evening so I could attend both. The first party was filled with lots of attractive boys (very few girls). It was fun, we ate crepes, it was good. The second party was for a good friend. She is a super snowboarder chic. After most of the guests had left I sat and chatted with her and another girl about snowboarding for a long time. I didn't realize this til then, but snowboarders have their own lingo. They would say things and I didn't know what they were talking about. They invited me to learn to snowboard and I'm sure I'll chill with them again. It was fun to see a different side of people that I hadn't seen before.
Monday I went to a ward party and hung out with a bunch of Mormons. It was fun. We dressed up like we were from the 70's and danced old school style. The bishopric was there and we all had a fun time. It was a very comfortable environment.
One of my old friends from Bon Losee has been living in Lehi for the past year and I finally made it over to visit her this week. She is a model in Vegas. She has lived a life that I don't understand. She was working at a night club, doing modeling assignments, and now knows a lot of people at all the cool clubs in Vegas. She is beautiful and still very down to earth. She has done a great job to maintain her standards while living in the "city of sin".
I also went on a date this Thursday with a cute English Teacher from the high school I work at. The cheerleaders have been working to set me up with him multiple times. He is super sweet and he does challenge me in some ways. He is a soccer coach and he works with special ed students. Very different from what I am used to but I am letting things play out without a lot of stress.
On Saturday I went to a house warming party that was put on by some of the girls in my ward. They are super cute. It was great fun, great food and I met a lot of different people. This scene was a bit more indie. The people were much more liberal and had serious opinions about some controversies in life. It was good to be around people that accepted others for who they are and were fun to associate with. I found myself being very intrigued with who they are and the opinions they expressed.
Yesterday, Sunday, I went to the farewell of one of my good friends younger brother. He will be leaving soon to serve his mission in Spain. Anyways, I hadn't seen this friend in forever either. We have experienced a lot together and it was good to make ammends with her. She isn't living the gospel at all and you can tell that she allows herself to struggle much more than necessary because of that. I also was able to see her family and they are doing so good. I am very happy for them. It was great to see my friend and catch up a little bit.
So, maybe my weeks adventures don't seem to have anything to do with the religion, but I was talking to my brother last night and correlated some things and found out a lot about myself. I am a person that loves diversity. I long for it and living here, in Provo, Utah, there is a definite lack of diversity. I love the influence of living with so many members of the church but I need to be around people that are different from me. I realized that I seek diversity where it is not openly present. I love to meet people that have different ideas than me and that live a different lifestyle. I am intrigued by them and want to learn more. I want to see if the life they live brings them happiness, and if it makes them happy, I wonder if it would make me happy as well.
So, I was talking with my brother and he often comments about how some people are really trendy and they want to be thought of as cool. It made me think that what my motorcycle friend thinks is cool is going to be totally different from what my Vegas model friend thinks is cool. And the church friends are going to think that one thing is really cool while my childhood friend that isn't active in the church would think it is very uncool. I came to conclude that all these people have a different definition of what they view to be "cool" or acceptable or desirable. Because I have a tendency to surround myself with so many different groups of people, I feel I have a greater opportunity to define myself and decide what I deem to be cool. I realized that I think all these people are cool and that because they are all God's children, He thinks they are cool too. When it could be easy to try to impress all these different people and want them to like me, I have found that the most important person to impress in our Heavenly Father. He loves everyone. He thinks that we are all fantastic and that we have great potential to do anything. He loves us if we love to ride motorcycles, or if we love to get dressed up and look fancy. He loves us if we dress in the latest fashions and He loves us if we don't dress much at all. It is important that we develop relationships with other humans, but we have no need to try to influence their opinion of us because the only lasting opinion that really matters is how our Heavenly Father views us and I know that is true!

Being a Light in Perilous Times

As I was reading the story of Mormon, I was very impressed with his amazing example. I feel that I was able to relate with it more closely this time for two reasons. The first is that Mormon was 24 years old when he began his record and I am also 24. The second reason is because of the economic crisis we are experiencing and the repercussions we assume we'll face in the upcoming years.
When describing his life, Mormon says that "a continual scene of wickedness and abominations has been before mine eyes ever since I have been sufficient to behold the of man." From this statement, I understand that Mormon has had a tough life. He grew up in a world of chaos and contention. I believe that many of the people in the world today are living in a lifestyle that is not ideal. Many people are suffering or experiencing catastrophe, famine, or hard situations at this time. We too may be living in a less privileged society sooner than we know. I look to Mormon as an example because despite his tough childhood, he became a great leader church. He didn't follow the trend but was hopeful that others would learn of God and find happiness in life. He says, "wo is me because of their wickedness; for my heart has been filled with sorrow because of their wickedness, all my days; nevertheless, I know that I shall be lifted up at the last day."
I think we can learn so much from Mormon's example of optimism and diligence. He was a mighty leader at the young age of 24. He didn't allow the calamities of the world around him to influence him to be filled with depression and feelings of hopelessness. He rose above the world and believed that God would provide for him despite the challenges he may face. I pray that we can all learn from his example and be a light to the world while we are experiencing potential hardships. God has given us the key to happiness and eternal life. It is up to us to make the decision to follow His plan and receive the blessings He want's to give us.

Perfection!

3 Nephi 23 is the chapter when Christ lovingly speaks to Nephi about his mistake to not record the coming about of the prophecies of .  I think it is interesting that Nephi was told earlier that his faith was so strong that Heavenly Father would allow him to perform many miracles.  So, I think it is interesting that although God gave Nephi the power to command miracles because of his exceeding faith, he wasn't perfect.  He still made mistakes and Jesus Christ still rebuked him (lovingly) to repent and improve.  I learned that we are all imperfect.  We all need to do our best in all that we do.  We may have great gifts of faith, testimony, positive attitude, leadership, etc but we still make mistakes and need to rely on the Lord to redeem us from our sins and help us to make right choices.  Jesus Christ is our friend!  He loves us and will help us to be the best we can be in life.

Fiery Darts of Destruction

I was reviewing the story of Samuel the Lamanite and considered a few parallels of his story that relate to us in our everyday lives. Samuel is a prophet that stops by a neighboring town to preach the Doctrine of Christ to the wicked people. The people respond by rejecting his message and throwing him out of their city. As Samuel heads home, he is visited by an angel who tells him to go back and try to preach to the people again. Being obedient, Samuel again enters the city and when no one will listen to him, he climbs upon a wall and exclaims truths to the multitude. Some believe his words, repent and become converted to the truth.
Helaman 16:2 says,

"But as many as there were who did not believe in the words of Samuel were angry with him; and they cast stones at him upon the wall, and also many shot arrows at him as he stood upon the wall; but the spirit of the Lord was with him, insomuch that they could not hit him with their stones neither with arrows."

I related this to myself by asking the questions, What stones and arrows do people throw at me today? How was Samuel protected from the stones and darts of the adversary? What do we need to do to have the same protection? I think that sometimes as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we may be persecuted for our beliefs by some who don't understand, or even in a daily circumstance we may be exposed to things that hurt or affect us in a negative way. By following Samuel's example, we too can be protected when we have the spirit of the Lord with us. I believe that the spirit is more powerful than we know and that as we have that power with us continually, we will be blessed in ways we cannot even imagine. Miracles are happening in our day and we can witness them for ourselves as long as we are faithful!