Repentance

When God through Jesus Christ made the earth, he conversed with Jesus about the purpose of this life and why he would send his spirit children to earth. It says in Abraham 3:24-25:

"And there stood one among them that was like unto God, and he said unto those who were with him: We will go down, for there is space there, and we will take of these materials, and we will make an earth whereon these may dwell;

And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them."

So, God sent our first parents, Adam and Eve to earth. I think we all know how the story goes. They were immortal, perfect beings who lived in a perfect world. They were tempted by the devil to eat the fruit of the tree god specifically told them not to eat, and became mortal, and cast out of God's presence.

In their minds at that point, they believed they could never again return to God's presence of repent because they had committed a terrible transgression. But God gave them the promise that he would send a savior to mankind, who would atone for all their sins and make it possible for them to be made clean ago. 

So what is repentance? The Bible dictionary defines it as this:

"Repentance comes to mean a turning of the heart and will to God, and a renunciation of sin to which we are naturally inclined. Without this there can be no progress in the things of the soul’s salvation, for all accountable persons are stained by sin and must be cleansed in order to enter the kingdom of heaven. Repentance is not optional for salvation; it is a commandment of God."

One of God's Greatest gifts to us is the opportunity to repent. We have a promise that no matter what we do wrong, no matter how many mistakes we have made, we can always ALWAYS turn our Father in Heaven and find forgiveness. No matter how stained our souls can become, through Christ's sacrifice they can be washed spotless.

The most offensive lie that satan tell us is that we cannot be forgiven. That we are too unworthy to repent and too dirty to approach the throne of God. When I think of this terrible lie that he twists our mind with, I am reminded of the mortality of our Savior. For him to understand all we would go through, he had to be part mortal, making it possible for him to feel pain, heartache and even the temptations of the devil. Unlike us, Christ never gave into Lucifers temptations, setting the perfect example. Elder Howard W. Hunt shed some light on this very topic:

"The question for us now is—will we succeed? Will we resist? Will we wear the victor’s crown? Satan may have lost Jesus, but he does not believe he has lost us. He continues to tempt, taunt, and plead for our loyalty. We should take strength for this battle from the fact that Christ was victorious not as a God but as a man."

I remember this quote every time I fall. Sure, Jesus was the only son of God. But, he was also a man, and he did the impossible. Consequently, I know I can do what I perceive to be the impossible. 

Many people fear the process of repentance. Some sins are so serious they require help from local leaders to overcome. It can be seriously scary. If you ever find yourself overcome with this fear or repentance, I hope you take courage in a promise from this servant of the Lord:

I know this is true. I have had sins I held onto because I was scared to find help. But, when I finally let go of them, it was like taking the world off of my shoulders. 

I am so thankful for our Savior, Jesus Christ. Without him, I would never feel good about myself because I would always be drowning in my mistakes, shortcomings, and sins. I sleep well knowing that when I do begin to drown, he is already there, ready to bring me up for air. 

Defending Religious Freedom and The Grinch

Merry Christmas!! I can say that without getting glared at now, since it is past Thanksgiving. I am so excited for the Holiday Season, it is my favorite time of year and I am very excited to see my family. I love the sense of giving and love that is in the air, it is just so great. In preparation for the Christmas season, I have been watching a lot of Christmas movies, particularly, How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Anyone who knows me, knows I love that movie. I have literally watched it more than 10 times in the past two weeks. I have been thinking a lot about the story and how it compares to the gospel lately, and I want to share a few thoughts with you.

The Grinch, hates Christmas, the whole season in fact, lives on the top of mount Krumpet, high above the town of Whoville. We don't know what he does the rest of the year, but our green friend spends the holly jolly season hating the Whos and their love of Christmas. In the Grinch's eyes, its an extremely superficial holiday, where people are only concerned about buying and receiving presents wrapped in paper and bows. Cindy Lou, a small who girl, makes it her goal at some point in the movie to include him in the community and help him love Christmas too, and invites him to the Holiday Whobilation. She climbs to the top of Mount Crumpet, and ultimately convinces him to go.

Unfortunately, the celebration turns for the worst when the Antagonist Mayor of Whoville gives him the insensitive gift of a razor. The town goes crazy, and The Grinch storms back to mount crumpet, more determined than ever to ruin Christmas. He then decides to build a sleigh of sorts, and steal Christmas. He steals the Presents, the tree, and the Roast Beast. He even convinces his trusty dog, Max, to pose as a reindeer.

Christmas Morning, after climbing to the top of Mount Krumpet, The Grinch sits, waiting for the cries of tiny who girls and who fellas, exclaiming that Christmas is ruined. Much to his surprise, this doesn't happen. In fact, he sees the community of Whos joined together in love and song, celebrating their love for each other and their safety during this time. We see the Grinch come to a realization: 

And his small heart, grew three sizes that day.

In the end, The Grinch joins the Whos and feels a love for Christmas he has never felt before.

How does this movie tie in with religious freedom, and defending our right to worship? 

I am pretty sure I have shared this quote by President Monson before, but I will share it again.

The Whos, I believe, are a lot like us and our love for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We rejoice in it, we live it, and we do our best to share it with others. But, of course, we are not perfect. We mess up, we don't include others, and sometimes we get too defensive in our religious opinions. Cindy Lou is the perfect example in this movie of this love. Though the Grinch was notorious for hating Christmas, and even the Whos in General, she did not let this fact keep her from inviting him to partake in the joy she felt. When the Grinch stole Christmas from the Whos, and he apologized, they welcomed him with open arms into their family. So it should be with us. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints has many enemies, and we face people in our day to day lives who do not believe as we do. But it is always, ALWAYS our job to reach out in love to these people, despite what they believe. Regardless of how a person may treat you for what you believe, we must react in love.

In Alma 30:7-9, we receive a better understanding on what God's rule on religious freedom is:

7 Now there was no law against a man’s belief; for it was strictly contrary to the commands of God that there should be a law which should bring men on to unequal grounds.

8 For thus saith the scripture: Choose ye this day, whom ye will serve.

9. Now if a man desired to serve God, it was his privilege; or rather, if he believed in God it was his privilege to serve him; but if he did not believe in him there was no law to punish him.

Now the Grinch hated Christmas, and lived on a mountain by his own choice, but he was never banished or put in prison or anything for his belief. He simply didn't agree with the Whos and left the community. The Whos didn't try to put him to death for having a different opinion. So why should we? God has given us all the right to worship the way we please, even if we choose to not believe in Him. This is something we must remember in light of religious conflict.

I love what Joseph Smith says about defending our rights, and the rights of others to worship how we may:

I think that speaks for itself.

Finally, President Oaks makes a wonderful statement about religious freedom:

It is beautiful how in the end of How the Grinch Stole Christmas, the Grinch realizes he was wrong all along and began to feel that love for Christmas that the Whos have been feeling all along. Unfortunately, thats not always how the real world works. People will hardly ever agree with you on your religious opinions or preferences. One of the greatest lessons we can learn is to accept everyone is different. In the end, our goals are the same. It preserve our rights, and like Elder Oaks said, live in happiness, harmony, and peace. We may have to compromise some things to achieve that goal, but it is well worth it in the end.

I love this beloved Christmas movie. I hope that this interesting take on religious freedom and a loved green creatures makes sense. I love you all and Happy Holidays!

Why Missionary Work?

Today marks 2 years since I opened my mission call to serve as a Missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. This week I have been doing a lot of reflecting on the things that I learned and the experiences I had. I am so thankful to know we have men on the earth that are inspired of God to where the young adults of our church go to serve His children. I know they were inspired when they called my to Pittsburgh, because I met people and had experiences I can't imagine my life not having.

My sister, Cambrea, recently reported to the Provo Missionary Training Center to prepare for her service in the Arizona Mesa Mission. A few days before she reported, she asked me why I chose to serve a mission. Now I have always known I would serve a mission, and tried to live my life accordingly. But when she asked me, two scriptures came to mind that impacted me greatly before and during my mission. The first one is found in Doctrine and Covenants, section 4.

This scripture answers the question future missionaries ask themselves frequently, in a very simple way. If you feel that desire to serve God, you are called to the work. It is that easy. Whenever I felt overwhelmed or like I couldn't go on anymore, this scripture would be brought to mind. I would remember that I loved God, and I wanted to serve him, and that would always trump my negative feelings or experiences.

What some members forget though, is this Scripture isn't necessarily saying if you want to serve god, you have to serve a full time mission. Elder Anderson put it best when he said:

The greatest missionary work we can do is within the walls of our own homes and with the people and friends we associate ourselves with. We do not need to go across the world to find people who need the redeeming power of Christ's Gospel. We pass people on the street, in the store, in school, that are longing to have the truth. It is our responsibility as members and as missionaries to lead people to light of the gospel. This is best done by being an example. President Oaks, who came and spoke at BYUI this past week gave a perfect example of why we must be good examples.

Those who seek to keep all the commandments of God are almost always a minority among those who don’t. That is the reality that caused Jesus to teach that the kingdom of God is like a leaven (see Matthew 13:33). A leaven—yeast—is hidden away in the larger mass until the whole is leavened, which means raised by its influence. That is our role, and to accomplish this duty, we must not only keep the commandments but also be examples of civility in our own circles of love and beyond. As followers of Christ, we should seek to live peaceably and lovingly with other children of God who do not share our values and do not have the covenant obligations we have assumed. In a democratic government we should seek “fairness for all.” That is how we follow the teaching to be in the world but not of the world. So it was that, at the conclusion of His ministry, Jesus prayed to the Father, “Not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil” (John 17:15).

The final scripture I shared with my sister that day about why I served a mission is found in Alma.

I had felt before my mission, and since after, so much joy in the gospel of Jesus Christ and by repenting. My spirit longed to share that with my brothers and sisters that I didn't yet know. I knew that if only one person heard my message in Pennsylvania, that I had fulfilled my purpose as a missionary and would've been changed for good. I didn't see a lot of success as far as numbers go on my mission, but I was successful in the way I tried my very best and received the same blessings of those who may have had dozens of missionaries. I feel the exact same way Alma feels about his call as a missionary.

I can't believe its been that long and I have been home for almost 5 months. When I opened my call, it was the best day of my life. And then I went to Pennsylvania. I miss Pennsylvania and the people there with a power I have never felt before. Not a day goes by that I don't think of my experiences and the people I left in that beautiful state. If I could go back and do it all over again, I would a million times. I left my heart and soul there and can't wait to go back soon and see the people who I can now call family. My mission was the best thing of my life, and the best thing for my life, and I wouldn't trade my time there for all of the riches in the world.