An Easter Message From a Prophet

Happy Easter everyone!

Scripture Sunday- The Power of the Sacrament

Today was a special treat for me when I went to church. I got to bless the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper. Something that I haven't done since the start of my mission. as I did so, it really hit me what a sacred ordinance it was. During the Sacrament each Sunday we renew our covenants with God to stand as witnesses of Jesus Christ, and to always remember Him. As we do so we receive a continuing remission of our sins.

"O God, the Eternal Father, we ask thee in the name of thy Son, Jesus Christ, to bless and sanctify this bread to the souls of all those who partake of it; that they may eat in remembrance of the body of thy Son, and witness unto thee, O God, the Eternal Father, that they are willing to take upon them the name of thy Son, and always remember him, and keep his commandments which he hath given them, that they may always have his Spirit to be with them. Amen." Moroni 4: 3

"O God, the Eternal Father, we ask thee, in the name of thy Son, Jesus Christ, to bless and sanctify this water to the souls of all those who drink of it, that they may do it in remembrance of the blood of thy Son, which was shed for them; that they may witness unto thee, O God, the Eternal Father, that they do always remember him, that they may have his Spirit to be with them. Amen." Moroni 5: 2

Testimony Tuesday- Dallas' Story

To start out, like many testimonies do, I’d like to bare my testimony that I have faith that this church is the true church. Growing up, I was never really part of a church. My parents would take us to a Lutheran church on Christmas Eve and Easter, but that was really the extent of it. When I was in middle school I started going to one of the “come as you are” Christian churches with some friends from school and just started learning what I could. Then I started high school and things just went downhill I wasn’t part of the church really anymore and I had no motivation from my mom and step dad (who after my sophomore year got divorced, that was hard) to be moral and make decisions that would better myself in the afterlife.
 Everything was based off of “what will help you get your higher education and support yourself in the future?” It was extremely easy to fall under sin in my house, and so everyone did. I knew a lot of LDS kids from school, but just was never interested in learning about it.

Testimony Tuesday- Aly's a new member!

Aly got baptized on the 27th of February 2011. Here is her testimony only 2 days later!

Random Thursday post!

I was listening to a talk by an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, Bruce R. McConkie today, and it led me to finding this slideshow about our Savior. The talk I listened to is called "The Purifying Power of Gethsemane". It is a powerful witness by a SPECIAL witness of Christ. I would highly recommend it for anybody who wants to know just a little more about the story of Christ's last 24 hours in mortality. For now, here is the slideshow. Comment and give YOUR testimony of Jesus Christ!

Testimony Tuesday- Megan's Story

Here is a little background on my history: All of my life, I grew up in a fairly secular home. I had attended a few protestant churches here and there, but I was never affiliated with one in particular. As I entered into high school, my parents were both remarried to religious people. Through my dad and stepmother, I was learning Jewish tradition. My mother converted to Catholicism after marrying my stepfather, so I had a couple major religions in my life to learn from. Although there were true aspects in both religions, I did not feel like I could commit to one or the other. Neither of them seemed complete to me.

Scripture Sunday- Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord

Doctrine and Covenants 65: 3-6

3. Yea, a voice crying-- Prepare ye the way of the Lord, prepare ye the supper of the Lamb, make ready for the Bridegroom. 4. Pray unto the Lord, call upon his holy name, make known his wonderful works among the people. 5. Call upon the Lord, that his kingdom may go forth upon the earth, that the inhabitants thereof may receive it, and be prepared for the days to come, in the which the Son of Man shall come down in heaven, clothed in the brightness of his glory, to meet the kingdom of God which is set up on the earth. 6. Wherefore, may the kingdom of God go forth, that the kingdom of heaven may come, that though, O God, mayest be glorified in heaven so on earth, that thine enemies may be subdued; for thine is the honor, power and and glory, forever and ever. Amen.

This is a slightly hurried post. But I am loving the references that talk of our Savior's 2nd Coming more and more  as I find them. I hope you can enjoy them too!

Movie Monday- Continuing our Savior Jesus Christ

As I was making my blog post yesterday I thought of this short video that condenses a talk given by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland. It's one of my favorites about the Savior.

Scripture Sunday- Our Savior Jesus Christ

Doctrine and Covenants 133: 46-50, 52-53

46 And it shall be said: Who is this that cometh down from God in heaven with dyed garments; yea, from the regions which are not known, clothed in his glorious apparel, traveling in the greatness of his strength?
47 And he shall say: I am he who spake in righteousness, mighty to save.
48 And the Lord shall be red in his apparel, and his garments like him that treadeth in the wine-vat.
49 And so great shall be the glory of his presence that the sun shall hide his face in shame, and the moon shall withhold its light, and the stars shall be hurled from their places.
50 And his voice shall be heard: I have trodden the wine-press alone, and have brought judgment upon all people; and none were with me;
52 And now the year of my redeemed is come; and they shall mention the loving kindness of their Lord, and all that he has bestowed upon them according to his goodness, and according to his loving kindness, forever and ever.
53 In all their afflictions he was afflicted. And the angel of his presence saved them; and in his love, and in his pity, he redeemed them, and bore them, and carried them all the days of old;

Our Savior Jesus Christ will come again...

Merry Christmas from Charlie Brown!

I decided to post one of my favorite monologues of all-time about the Nativity story. :) I hope everyone enjoys their holidays!

Movie Monday- Christmas time is here again!

In honor of the holiday season I thought I would start off with one man's musical tribute to our Savior, Jesus Christ. Handel was a composer who lived in the 1700s. He was a talented musician who was able to master the violin and organ at a young age. He started writing operas in Italy and later moved to England where he enjoyed early success. However, as he grew older his audience became less and less interested in his works. For the majority of his life he spent his time fighting off creditors. It was only after he suffered, and recovered from, a stroke that left his right arm temporarily paralyzed that he wrote a piece that is world renowned today and one of the best pieces of music ever written. Handel's Messiah.



May we all remember this holiday season the wonderful gift of having Christ live on this earth, and may we also use Handel as an example of perseverance that we might also be able to glorify God in our own individual ways as we strive to follow Him.

Scripture Sunday- I believe in Christ 2.0

For anyone who didn't read my first Scripture Sunday post about my testimony of Jesus Christ you can look Here. In it I talk about a prophet named Nephi, from the Book of Mormon, who preaches and testifies of Christ. One of my other very favorite prophets from the Book of Mormon named Alma also talks about Jesus Christ and the sacrifice that He made for each of us.

Alma says, " And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people. And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities."- Alma 7: 11-12

I testify that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world. That through His sacrifice we all can be saved and return to live with our Heavenly Father again. That IS the central and most important message that any LDS missionary could share.

Here is one more video testimony from The Mormon Tabernacle Choir

Random Saturday Thoughts

When I was in elementary school my parents always used to have me walk to and from school. Of course it was always uphill and in 3 feet of snow. One fall morning in my first grade year it was particularly windy and cold. I was not excited to have to walk to school in that wind! I knew that walking out in the cold was necessary to make it to my destination, but it would be cold and hard and the wind was blowing hard enough that it could almost knock me over. I went to my dad and asked humbly for a ride to school since I was already late and it was so windy. He told me no, understanding that I needed to learn the valuable lesson of waking up for school on time, and bundling up for the cold weather. I cried and whined but couldn't convince him to take me to school. I started walking, wiping tears from my face, as the wind stung my exposed cheeks and nose.

The Bean Counters

I remember reading an essay in high school entitled "The Bean Counters" which chronicled three theories made by a very observant girl regarding the Bean Counters of life. Her conclusion was that she was not here merely to count beans; but to count them, organize them, and even make them in to bean soup should the mood strike her.

So often I find that to be the case in life, and especially in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We are welcome to become preoccupied with counting our beans, carefully cataloging and organizing, making sure that everything is just so-so. Or we can refuse to count beans all together, and miss out on the joy that is the bean! These two extremes rarely lead us to the place that we want to go. This place that I am referring to is, of course, safely back into the presence of God, our Heavenly Father.

Movie Monday- General Conference!

So of course all my posts today and yesterday are going to have something to do with General Conference which occurred this last weekend. However, I believe that there are prophets and apostles on the earth once more. They have very important things to share with us, and to teach us. In order to be able to learn many of the things they want us to know, we have to listen to General Conference. So hopefully a little exposure will help each of you to come to a similar appreciation of the special witnesses of Jesus Christ to the one I have.

Scripture Sunday- I Believe in Christ

One of my favorite prophets is from the Book of Mormon. His name is Nephi. He is one of my favorite prophets because of his powerful testimony and the wonderful language he uses to help us understand things that are important. The most important thing that he talks about is regarding our Savior, Jesus Christ...

2 Nephi 25:26
- And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.

I know that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world. That through Him we may receive a remission of our sins and be able to return to live with our Heavenly Father. Here is one of my favorite hymns sung by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

Running through the mud of life

Anyone who has talked with me before knows that I have a real love of any off-road vehicle, especially Jeeps! I love looking at pictures of modified vehicles and watching videos of those vehicles conquer seemingly impossible obstacles! One of my favorites to watch are called "mud-boggers". These are trucks specifically designed to go through thick, gooey mud. One of the keys to safely navigating through this mud is building up speed and momentum, and not letting the mud bog you down.

I've noticed that sometimes in life we are faced with challenges or temptations, that if we let them, can act like sticky, gooey mud for us spiritually. If we don't have the momentum of staying close to the Lord we can get caught in the "mud bog". I've come to know those momentum-builders are easy things to do; simply reading your scriptures, and praying daily. Attending church and searching for the opportunities to make correct choices in our lives. If we try and start when the temptation or challenge comes... It's often too late. We have a much better chance of getting stuck by starting late than we would if we had built up the speed in preparation for the difficult times.

Movie Monday- Our belief in Jesus Christ

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believes that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world. The only way by which men and women can return to live with God again. It is through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ that this is made possible.

So strong is our belief, and faith in Jesus Christ that the prophet Joseph Smith said, " The fundamental principles of our religion are the testimony of Apostles and Prophets, concerning Jesus Christ, that He died, was buried, and rose again the third day, and ascended into heaven; and all other things which pertain to our religion are only appendages to it" (History of the Church, 3:30).

This is a video produced by the LDS Church that chronicles part of the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior and Redeemer. That His Atonement makes it possible for me and everybody who has ever lived on this earth to return to live with their Heavenly Father once more. If you have any other questions or would like to speak with missionaries about more of our beliefs just message me.