Lessons I Learn from War

I love the war chapters in the Book of Mormon. There are so many things in them that can be applied to our lives today. A few weeks ago one of those life lessons came to me while I was reading in Alma 43. In this chapter the Lamanites are angry at the Nephites go to fight against them. The Lamanites fight stronger than they have ever fought before and the Nephites become very scared and start to flee but their captain, Moroni, reminds them that "they [are] doing that which they [feel] [is]their duty which they owe to their God for ... the Lord has said that: Ye shall defend your families even unto bloodshed therefore for this cause were the Nephites contending with the Lamanites, to defend themselves, and their families and their lands their country and their rights, and their religion."  When they hear this the Nephites, "[cry] with one voice unto the Lord their God, for their liberty and their freedom from bondage. And they began to stand against the Lamanites with power; and in that selfsame hour that they cried unto the Lord for their freedom, the Lamanites began to flee before them." 

As I read this chapter I felt like this story was in the scriptures for me. The Nephites are righteous, they are doing what they believe is their duty to God. But they still fear and begin to lose the battle. Their righteousness and obedience alone cannot protect them. It's not until they cry unto the Lord- or pray- that they recieve the power to defeat their enemies. I think this part really hit me because this is something that I do so often in my life. I work hard and do what I should but I forget to call upon the Lord in my specific times of need. In the Bible Dictionary under prayer it says "The object of prayer is not to change the will of God, but to secure for ourselves and for others blessings that God is already willing to grant, but that are made conditional on our asking for them." Sometimes we have to ask God for help before He is able to grant it. I know that God loves us and wants to help us in our lives so that we can accomplish our righteous desires. I know that in my quest to achieve those things I should not forget to pray to my Heavenly Father and ask for help. I'm grateful for a loving Heavenly Father, for the ability to pray to Him at any time. I'm grateful for the scriptures and that I can read from them and find answers and direction that I need for my life.

Great Things Ahead (and behind)

Last Friday night I found out that I'll be serving in Eureka for at least a few more weeks. I'm happy I'll be here for a while more. I love the wonderful people I've been able to meet. They will be my friends forever. I've also had some interesting experience here. I think one of my favorites was when Sister Nestman and I were walking in Old Town on our preparation day and we saw a sign for a "Glass Blowing" shop, we thought, "Cool glass blown stuff, lets check it out"...bad idea. I was a different kind of "blowing" shop. We quickly left. These past weeks in Eureka I have learned so much about myself and about Heavenly Father. This is the place where, in mission lingo, I was born. I think I'll always have a tender spot in my heart for Eureka.

On the first day in Santa Rosa before I knew, really anything, about the mission, let alone where I was going to serve first, we were shown a sideshow with pictures from around the mission. I remember seeing the pictures of Eureka and thinking, "That would be a good place to go." In all truthfulness, pretty much from the night before (when I couldn't fall asleep), to arriving from the training center at the airport (where I realized that I would have to talk to and teach real people not just my peers and teachers), and then coming to Santa Rosa (and discovering I had not idea what I was doing), I'd felt pretty scared, and sad, and alone, and unsure about, well, everything. When we watched that video, and I saw Eureka I had a strong feeling of peace come over me.

I still don't know why I've come here to Eureka. Maybe I'll figure it out in the next 5 weeks, or possibly in 10 years, or maybe I'll never know the exact reason. But today I do know, and I've known on some level since I saw a picture of Eureka almost 3 months ago, that this is the place for me right now.

I know that just like Heavenly Father knows this is the place for me at this time, He know each one of us. Perfectly. He knows our strengths, our weaknesses, our needs and our desires. He has a plan for us and as we turn our will to His, He is going to be there for us and help us in ways we may not understand but which are ultimately for our greatest good. I know that sometimes we may feel like God isn't here because things are not going the way we want, but we have to remember what Nephi said in Nephi 1:1 "I Nephi... having seen many afflictions in the course of my days, nevertheless, having been highly favored of the Lord in all my days."1 This life is a time of trial and experiences, but as we are obedient and faithful the Lord will support and strengthens us through all things.

He knows you, He loves you, He is here for you. Turn to Him, for His arms are extended.2

2. Mosiah 29:20

Child of a King

I love Disney movies. The end.... No not really. But I truely do. They're the movies of my childhood. I know all the song, I used to imagine myself as Belle, and I remember watching Mulan every day, for what felt like a month, to see if I could out-watch my best friend (I'm pretty sure she won). Anyway, I have fond Disney memories, and one of my favorites is The Lion King. When I watched it as a kid I always liked the songs, and the love story, and, of course, Timon and Pumbaa, but its amazing what I've gotten from it as I've gotten older. As you may know, it's the story of a young lion, named Simba, who's the son of the King, Mufasa. Simba looks up to his father and learns a lot from Mufasa about his future kingdom and responsibilities. Mufasa is killed and Simba is driven away from his family by his deceptive uncle who wants to take over. Simba runs away and ends up living an un-fulfilling life with no purpose. But he's not allowed to continue in that life for long. He's found by someone, Nala, who reminds him that he's not acting the way he should be. Nala brings Simba to a wise leader who shows him that he has great un-achieved potential as the son of the King and he is told to "remember who you are". Simba goes back home to live the life that is his birthright and save his family from a life of sadness.

Ok, so this story is packed full of great things. I actually can't believe how much good stuff is in there. There was even more than I realized until I stated typing it up. Pretty much it's an amazing analogy of our lives. Before this life we lived with our Father, the King of Creation. He loved us, and taught us, and told us what to expect of the future. But we were separated from Him and often we are deceived by Satan to do things that are not befitting our royal heritage. But the Holy Ghost is there to remind us that we are worth more than making bad decisions. Like Simba, we too, need to realize our divine heritage. "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God."1

We are. Each one of us is a child of God. That's amazing! We are filled with potential and possibilities. No one can tells us we are worthless, or unloved, or not amazing, because we are. We have a loving Heavenly Father who is here for us and whose greatest purpose is to help us to reach our highest potential 2. We just have to remember this and live a life worthy of that heritage and blessing. We're fantastic, we have a great future ahead of us, we are children of God!

1. Romans 8:16
2. Moses 1:39

President Uchtdorf just gave an amazing talk related to this at General Conference this weekend and the Apostles always say it better then me :). You can watch it here.
http://lds.org/general-conference/watch/2011/10?lang=eng&vid=1194756909001&cid=12

Missionary Stories

This video is amazing, it's two missioanries sharing an experience they've had on thier missions that helped them learn of God's love for them (the missionaries are actually from my mission :) ).

Heavenly Father knows us and He watches over us. I know this is true for every one of God's children.

Birthday Musings

I had my birthday on Tuesday, so I"m now one year older and (I hope) wiser too. Maybe because I just had my birthday, and I've now lived on earth for 22 years, I've been thinking a lot about earth-life. Why do we come to here? What is our purpose? I do know that we lived with God before and that we came to earth to become like Him; to get a physical body and to be tested 1.

To be tested? How does that work? God knows us perfectly, He knows what decisions we are going to make, and how we are going to turn out. Why do we need to be tested if God already knows what is going to happen?

I have thought about this a lot. And I think that it comes down to two things. First, we are tested so we can know for ourselves, and second, without the experiences of earth-life we would never become the people that we can be.

So- for the first part, yes, God knows what choices we will make but we are not all-knowing, so we don't. I think it is like when we were little kids and our parents would dish up our plate with food and sometimes they wouldn't put something on it and we would say "Hey, what about that raspberry pie?".  They would say "I know you, you don't like raspberries, so you are not going to like raspberry pie. You are just going to leave it on your plate and not eat it." They may have been perfectly correct but when they said that I always wanted it even more. Unless I had the pie on my plate and actually had the opportunity to eat it or not, I was never really sure if I would have. Our Heavenly Father knows, but we don't. We wont be able to stand before the judgment bar of God knowing that our Heavenly Father is sending us to the right place unless we are tested. We come to earth so we can know for ourselves and be able to "acknowledge... that all His judgements are just"2.

The second reason, I think, is the most important. Life is sometimes, even often, hard, difficult, and painful. It seems so unfair. Why would a loving God send us to such a place? Our Heavenly Father knows our potential, but we cannot reach that potential without the trails and growth that come from life. I will admit it, a mission is hard. You are away from friends, family, and the familiar, doing things that are not easy or natural, and working harder than you probably ever have before. But because it is so hard I think I have learned more and grown more in these last two-and-a-half months than I did in the previous two-and-a-half years. There is no way I could have not gone on my mission and had someone come to me and say, "So, if you would have gone on a mission you would have learned this, and gained that attribute, and you would know how to do such and such. Those things are all now a part of your character." I can't learn those lessons, get those attributes, or know how to do those things without having experiences where I learn, gain, or do something new. Before we came to earth we had grown as much as we could. We couldn't reach our potential and become the people our loving Heavenly Father knows we could become without the opportunity of coming to earth.

I guess what I am trying to say, is that I'm a little older today than I was last week and I might be a little bit wiser than I was too: but I've come to the conclusion that that is what life is. A time to get older, grow, learn, experience, and to prepare ourselves to once again meet God; with both Him, and now us, knowing who we are, who we have become, and who we can continue to become into the eternities.       

1. Preach My Gospel "Agency and the Fall of Adam and Eve p.49
2. Alma 12:15

Cobbler Chaos

Today, my companion Sister Nestman and I visited a lovely Sister in our ward and helped her pick berries from her backyard. Two hours after we left she called to tell us she had a cobbler for us to take home. We went to pick it up and she handed us a cobbler, fresh from the oven.

We soon realized that getting it safely home might not be an easy process. The sister lives in the furthest reaches of our area down some very windy and bumpy roads. The cobbler was still very hot and had yet to settle, so each movement of the car created dangerous possibilities for spilling. As the designated co-pilot, it was my responsibility to keep the berries in place. In other words, not all over me or the car. I intently watched the dish, and everything in it, tilting it up, down, and side to side to compensate for the movement of the car. Sister Nestman, who had a view of the road and the approaching conditions, would warn me, "now we are going to make a slight turn to the right," "next we will be slowing down for a stop sign," "this next area is very bumpy." Sister Nestman's instructions prepared me for the actions I had to take to keep everything under control.

As I sat in the car staring intently at the beautiful, but precarious, cobbler, and listening to the careful instructions of a diligent companion, I thought how this situation can be just like life. We live our lives trying to keep everything in order and going well.  During our time on earth we can only see the here and now. But we don't have to just rely on our limited view, we have someone who can look out the front windshield and warn us of upcoming dangers. That person is Thomas S. Monson. He is the Prophet of God on the earth today. He, like my wonderful companion, can warn us of dangers in our lives that we cannot see. I am so grateful for a modern-day prophet and the knowledge and guidance that we can receive for our lives and the time we live in now. I know that God loves all of His children, no matter what day and age that they live in. Just like He sent a prophet in Noah's day to warn of the flood, or Moses' to lead the people out of bondage, Heavenly Father has given us a prophet for the needs of our day.

And just like at the end of our drive, Sister Nestman and I had a delicious treat. If we can navigate successfully through life,we will receive a wonderful reward in the life to come.

Here is an amazing video of President Monson testifying of Christ, as every prophets of God has.1

1. Jacob 4:4