MT Stories: Go to Church, Clean Out Unwanted Ash From Your Soul

Like ashes in your pellet stove, your soul needs a weekly cleaning, too.  Another good idea is to change out of your white shirt and tie before you clean that stove!

Give the 44¢ Gift this Holiday Season

Write a friend, help the US Postal Service

Mail mail mail...  its a thing I love to see at the end of each day out here in Montana.  Waking up at 6:30 am, reading scriptures and studying, and heading out the door by 10 am to teach the Gospel until 9 pm makes for a long day.  There's a lot that runs through your mind as you give your all to help people find their faith in Jesus Christ.  To ease the stress, there's nothing like opening up a letter from a family member or friend encouraging you in the work and showing interest in what your doing.  Those letters do mean a lot to me, especially since you can hold them in your hand and read the personal handwritten messages over and over again.  While email's are great and I send one every week to my family back home, nothing can beat that of a letter received in the mail.

History Lessons: The Lesson from Pearl Harbor?

Don't ever let your guard down.

Today, December 7, 2011, marks 70 years since the attack on Pearl Harbor.  As we look back on it, the main reason it was so devastating was because all the warning signs had been ignored.  There was no lacking in the military's ability or firepower to face the impending threat, they simply did not have enough eyes and ears on the lookout to heed the warnings.  And the warnings were there, alright.  Its just that no one paid any attention paid to them.

Applying the Prophet Joseph Smith to Our Lives

What I discovered from Joseph's life is a model, a basic outline if you will, to find and follow Jesus Christ in any circumstance, trial, or situation.

On my first Sunday here in Helena, I was assigned to speak to one of the congregations.  The topic given to me was this, "How can we use (apply) Joseph Smith in our lives".  There is a lot to be said about this man's life and prophetic calling.  For some, many might say,  "I admire your church very much. I think I could accept everything about it—except Joseph Smith." Gordon B. Hinckley, 15th  President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, gave a response saying that "that statement is a contradiction. If you accept the revelation, you must accept the revelator."  Joseph Smith's claim to have seen God and Jesus Christ was the beginning of what created the Church as it stands today and was, from the onset, a matter of harsh persecution for its members.  As for Joseph, the opposition never ceased up until his martyrdom by an armed mob on June 27th, 1844.

Doing Missionary Work in Montana's Capital - Hello Helena!

After spending ten months over in Eastern Montana, covering the towns of Glasgow and Sidney, I have now made my way back West, to where the mountains are.  I had been in Helena twice before, once when I was serving in Missoula and the other when I was making my way to Glasgow from Great Falls.  I remember during that drive from Missoula to Helena saying to myself, "You know, I could serve here.  I'd be alright with that".  And so it is.  Just over a year since that day and now I'm serving the people of Helena.  I didn't need much persuasion to accept the call to come here, I had always thought it would be a neat place to teach the Restoration of the Gospel. 

Helena - the capitol of Montana and a city of about 30,000 people - a big leap from where I have just come from but not as big as Missoula nor even close to Sacramento.  It has most of your modern day needs - the Walmart, the Costco, Safeway, etc.  It also has a lot more traffic and stop lights.  I seemingly had grown accustomed to Sidney's 10 or so traffic lights.  For most towns along Hwy 2 and in Eastern Montana, you might only find one or two traffic lights.  I don't think it will take long though for me to remember my California roots though, so bring it on Helena!

Seeing Helena's mountains gave me great excitement and hope.  I didn't grow up with them too close but I have found them to be a great comfort and place of resort.  They gradually became bigger and bigger as we approached them from Billings and it feels invigorating to have them now so close to my view.  Mountains to me carry a sense of power and majesty, something also that the Lord has always been very keen to point out to have us remember.

The Lord, speaking to the Prophet Joseph Smith a month before the organization of the Church in March of 1830, gives these words to his servants:

"I am Alpha and Omega, Christ the Lord ...

Learn of me, and listen to my words; walk in the meekness of my Spirit, and you shall have peace in me.

Thou shalt declare glad tidings, yea, publish it upon the mountains, and upon every high place, and among every people that thou shalt be permitted to see.

And of tenets thou shalt not talk, but thou shalt declare repentance and faith on the Savior, and remission of sins by baptism, and by fire, yea, even the Holy Ghost. (D&C 19:1, 23, 29, 31)

For any who have read the Book of the Mormon will find that its nothing too different from the Bible.  That conclusion would make sense because we believe the God is the same yesterday, today, and forever and that His eternal teachings never change. 

The Book of Mormon's message, from cover to cover, consists entirely of placing your faith in the Lord, Jesus Christ, repenting, being baptized, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end.  That is the Gospel, always has, is, and always will be. 

The Book of Mormon declares glad tidings unto all and gives the reader a promise of hope and peace that none can take away.  I'm glad to be able to be publishing it from the mountains here in Helena!

When Lives Seem Cut Short

At a missionary conference in Billings, MT, we were visited by Elder Craig Zwick of the Seventy.  Having already hosted one other missionary conference for the other half of the mission in Helena on Tuesday, Elder Zwick finished his tour of the mission by addressing us on a very somber note.

We were told that two missionaries, an Elder Strong from Utah and an Elder Walker from Idaho, had been killed in a head on collision while riding their bikes in Donna, Texas the night before.  He also added that one of the Elders had already completed his twenty-four months of service yet had chosen to extend his time.

Mormon Bishop Shares His Belief Of The Book of Mormon

 

The Book of Mormon is a book that is very important to me and is what sets the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints apart from mainstream Christianity.  We believe it to be more scripture that God has given to us through the calling of a modern day prophet.  A major purpose that the Book fulfills is that it shows how God is constant and never changing; that He is the "same yesterday, today, and forever" (Heb. 13:8).

Aladdin's Genie & God, Difference #2-4

Question: Who is God? What is He like and what are some of His characteristics?

• How is God different then Genie?

2) He Knows What Is Best For Us And, Despite Our Wishes, Can Say "No"

There's a talk that I listen to quite frequently by a man named Larry Chesley. He's a Latter-Day Saint who grew up in Idaho and fought in the Vietnam War. During that time, he was captured by the Vietnamese and spent seven years as a POW. He speaks a lot on how prayer got him through the whole ordeal but he also jokingly makes reference to a saying he had heard some years back.

"If God really wanted to punish His people, all He would have to do is answer their prayers" (unknown).

I find a lot of truth in that statement. By no means am I saying that God does not answer our prayers, but sometimes He doesn't always give us what we ask for. God loves us enough that despite our wishes, he can say "No".

As long as Aladdin kept his wishes within the guidelines of the rules given to him by Genie, Genie was obligated to grant them. Whether it would ultimately benefit him in the long run mattered not - Genie was bound to grant whatever his master wished for, again, so long as they remained within the set guidelines.

We know that God sets guidelines also that we must follow - you can see that similarity here in a previous post. Although, we also know that God does not restrict how many wishes we can make. There is no "3-Wish Limit Rule" when it comes to asking God for anything. With that said, that does not mean He will grant us everything we ask for.

One might respond, saying this,

"Even if I am keeping the commandments, or the guidlines that God has set down, He can still say 'No'?"

Yes, He can. We must remember why we are here. We are here to grow and learn about God. We are to follow the example that His Son, Jesus Christ, set for us. Within this scope of life, we make mistakes and though our prayers might be well intended, whatever if may be for, God knows what is best for us in the long run. This life is not the end is very short compared to what's ahead of us in the eternities.
Ever seen this symbol before? ∞ That symbol means "infinity" and most of you have probably seen it in math class some where through the years. Infitity is the best thing I can relate "eternity" to for you - its a very long time and never ending. This life is very short in regards to that time that we are meant to spend with God. God realizes this and wants us to return to Him. 

He will not do anything that would harm us or detract us from this long-term goal. Because we are not perfect, we sometimes ask for the wrong things. How terrible would that be to receive something from God that would actually injure out long-term progression!

However, that is not how God operates.  The following scripture illuminates that concept.

"All things which are good cometh of God ... that which is of God inviteth and enticeth to do good continually; wherefore, every thing which inviteth and enticeth to do good, and to love God, and to serve him, is inspired of God"(Moroni 7:12-13)

Thus God can say "No" to our prayers if it hurts our eternal salvation.  As we have read, God will only do that which will bring us closer to Him.  That course, one that I am doing my best to follow, will lead us to never-ending happiness with our Heavenly Father. 

To finish it up, the last two differences are summed up into single phrases:


3) God's Work Does Not Begin When The Lamp Is Rubbed, Its Only Manifested.


4) There Are None Greater Then God. He Is Not In Chains, We Are.



Aladdin's Genie & God, Difference #1

Question: Who is God? What is He like and what are some of His characteristics?

• How is God different then Genie?

1) God Is In The Form of Man.


"Say, you're a lot smaller than my last master. Either that, or I'm getting bigger. Look at me from the side. Do I look different to you?" - Genie

When Genie emerged from the lamp after a long time of waiting, Aladdin found something completely new.  It may seem that we discover something new when we find God but actually we really are just becoming reacquainted with Him and His plan.  A part of God's plan for us is to know who He is and what He looks like.

Aladdin's Genie & God, Similarities #2-3

Question: Who is God? What is He like and what are some of His characteristics?

• What similarities do Genie and God have?

2) They Abide By Rules And Laws

After Genie displayed his power and showed off everything he could do, Aladdin then asks him, "You're gonna grant me any 3 wishes I want, right?" to which then Genie responds, in a more hesitant voice, "Uh, ah, almost. There are a few, uh, provisos. Ah, a couple of quid pro quo."  Genie then gives Aladdin three rules that he must abide by when it comes to granting wishes.