The Refiners Fire

      So this is most likely going to be my last blog post as a missionary, but just because its my last one doesn't mean ill end my spiritual journey. I will continue to share things that have tough me to grow closer to my savior Jesus Christ. To days topic comes from a scripture from the Old Testament.

Malachi 3:3 And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness. While I was thinking of how I've gone through my refiner fire some one shared this story with me.

The following story is a great example of how the Lord teaches and molds us through life's trials.

There was a group of women in a Bible study on the book of Malachi. As they were studying chapter three, they came across verse three which says: "He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver." (Malachi 3:3) This verse puzzled the women and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God.

One of the women offered to find out about the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible study. That week this woman called up a silver smith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn't mention anything about the reason for her interest in silver beyond her curiosity about the process of refining silver. As she watched the silver smith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities. The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot--then she thought again about the verse, that he sits as a refiner and purifier of silver.

She asked the silver smith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined. The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left even a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed. The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silver smith, "How do you know when the silver is fully refined?"

He smiled at her and answered, "Oh, that's easy--when I see my image in it."

If today you are feeling the heat of the fire, remember that God has His eye on you.

Author unknown

      What a powerful story! There has been times were I was always thinking of why do I have to go through this right now? I don’t want this... But the Savior was teaching me something that I needed to learn and to mold me into a better person. One story sticks out to me that has taught me how to be diligent and to continue on everyday no matter what life brings but to be grateful for what we have. So this story took place on North side Jacksonville around 3 in the afternoon me and my companion were out knocking on doors and we were walking up to a door and I heard the spirit say to me stay calm and everything will be OK... so we start talking with this man and he seemed way interested in the message that we have to share with all of our brothers and sisters and he asked if he could turn the stove off because he was cooking at the time... Sure we will be right here I said... I looked across the street to see if there was anyone else to talk to and then my life changed. I heard the man walking back to speak with us and all the sudden I had a gun put to my head. ( then I remembered be calm and everything will be ok.) the man said that he wasn't interested in what we had to share and said to leave... By now my companion is down half the street running. And as any Good missionary would do is ask if anyone in the area would be interested in the message. So I asked him this question. Do you know anyone in the area who has had a resent death in the family that needs a uplifting spirit in there home... the mad man replied NO BUT I CAN MAKE ONE FOR YOURS... I stood there with peace knowing that everything will be ok and I just walked away. I said to myself if hes going to kill me he would have done it by now so just walk away and do the lords work. From that day it has been really hard for me to go out and knock on doors no one likes a gun to the head but I had to get over it I was doing the lords work and I knew that everything will be ok.

       The Lord truly had me in the refiners fire at that moment. I learned from that to be more Christ like and if one day that man ever reads this I forgive you. There has been many more trails and story's from my mission that I could share but don’t have the time to but if I had to sum up all that I have learned from them would be to have more charity for my Brothers and Sister. Like in 1Corinthians 13 teaches in verse 2 says. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.

      I know that the Savior has seen a little more of him in my life and is starting to pull me out of the Fire. I am grateful for the last two years of my life to help prepare me to be the man and priesthood holder that I need to be. I know that this church is true and that God leads us through a living prophet in these latter days, I know that the Book of Mormon is true and to be the word of God. I say this in my savior and redeemers name Jesus Christ

Amen

The Importance of Church Attendants

 

      Today I wanted to talk about why it is important to go to church and how we benefit from going. First off why do we need to go to church? The first reason is because it a commandment. Exodus 20:8-11 says 8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. Heavenly father wants us to rest and think on how we can spiritually work and improve ourselves to continue to follow him. Another reason and one of the most important reasons of why I go to church is to remember my savior and what he did for me and to renew those promises that I have made . Our behavior shows our commitment to honor and worship God and keeping it Holy shows our willingness to keep our covenants. Moroni 6: 4-6 teaches us that it is important to go to church for this reason to partake of the Sacrament and that we need to go to renew or covenants . 4 And after they had been received unto baptism, and were wrought upon and cleansed by the power of the Holy Ghost, they were numbered among the people of the church of Christ; and their names were taken, that they might be remembered and nourished by the good word of God, to keep them in the right way, to keep them continually watchful unto prayer, relying alone upon the merits of Christ, who was the author and the finisher of their faith.

5 And the church did meet together oft, to fast and to pray, and to speak one with another concerning the welfare of their souls.
6 And they did meet together oft to partake of bread and wine, in remembrance of the Lord Jesus.

      Sunday is one of my favorite days  because after church I don't really have to worry about worldly things. Because we are to keep that spirit of worship with us all day and do those kind of activities that will invite it to stay with us. In Isaiah 58 the lord teaches us that if we keep this day holy and do as he ask he will bless us on high and our delight will be upon the lord. Isaiah 58:13-14. 13 If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words:
14 Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.
In preach my gospel it tells us what can and will happen if we neglect going to church or just ignore going. 
  When a community or nation grows careless in its Sabbath activities, its religious life decays and all aspects of life are negatively affected. The blessings associated with keeping the Sabbath day holy are lost. We should refrain from shopping on the Sabbath and participating in other commercial and sporting activities that now commonly desecrate the Sabbath.
 

      What are some of the blessing that we receive when we keep the sabbath day holy? So as I said earlier going to church is a commandment and the Lord has always blessed us if we keep his commandments, and there are many things that the Lord will bless us with and we can go on how he has blessed us from going to church every week. But to name some of them that we do know from the scriptures are one I mentioned earlier was from Isaiah and there are two more that I would like to share. The first one is found in Doctrine and Covenants 59:16 Verily I say, that inasmuch as ye do this, the fulness of the earth is yours, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, and that which climbeth upon the trees and walketh upon the earth;

the reason I like this blessing is because as we keep the Lords Holy day we are promised that the fulness of the earth is yours meaning that the lord will provide for us and make sure that our temporal well being will be taken care of. The other Blessing is my favorite one of them all and its found in the same section and its verse 23 and it says. But learn that he who doeth the works of righteousness shall receive his reward, even peace in this world, and eternal life in the world to come.

The reason why this is my favorite blessing is because it promises us peace in this life and I think that's what all of us are seeking for, but most importantly that we can have eternal life to come. And how do we receive all these blessings?... BY COMING TO CHURCH!!!! its that easy church may seem long and boring at sometime but its not when we have our priories straight.

      I know that these things are true church use to be boring to me when I was in my teens but when I realized that its not just a 3 hour of scripture reading it about learning what the savior needs us to do and learn so that we can have this gift of eternal life. I go to church to receive the personal revelation that I need that is why I go. What a good place to go to receive an answer to an issue or concern that we may have. Please come and join us where ever you may be there will be a place of worship and all are welcome to join us. 

Come and Worship With Us!

Gifts of the Spirit

     Spiritual Gifts are given to those who are worthy to receive them and of course the only way we receive them is by the Power of the Holy Ghost. These gifts are blessings from God and they benefit those who love the Lord and seek to Obey and keep his commandments. They are a blessing because its a chance we get to serve others we are given these Gifts not just to help us grow and learn how to become better people but its so God can help all of his children.

The scriptures teach us of many of the gifts of the spirit:

●Knowledge “that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and that he was crucified for the sins of the world” (D&C 46:13).
●The capacity to believe the words of those who testify of Jesus Christ (see D&C 46:14).
●Knowledge of “the differences of administration” (D&C 46:15; see also 1 Corinthians 12:5). This gift is used in administering and leading the Church.
●Knowledge of “the diversities of operations,” which helps individuals discern whether a teaching or influence comes from God or from some other source (D&C 46:16; see also 1 Corinthians 12:6-7).
●The gift of “the word of wisdom” (1 Corinthians 12:8; D&C 46:17). This does not refer to the law known as the Word of Wisdom (see D&C 89). Rather, it is the gift of wisdom—the ability to use knowledge in righteous ways.
●The gift of “the word of knowledge” (1 Corinthians 12:8; D&C 46:18).
●The ability to teach by the power of the Holy Ghost (see Moroni 10:9-10; see also D&C 46:18).
●The gift of faith (see 1 Corinthians 12:9; Moroni 10:11).
●The gift “to have faith to be healed” (D&C 46:19).
●The gift “to have faith to heal” (D&C 46:20; see also 1 Corinthians 12:9; Moroni 10:11).
●“The working of miracles” (1 Corinthians 12:10; D&C 46:21; see also Moroni 10:12).
●The gift of prophecy (see 1 Corinthians 12:10; Moroni 10:13; D&C 46:22). The Apostle John taught that “the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy” (Revelation 19:10).
●“The beholding of angels and ministering spirits” (Moroni 10:14).
●“Discerning of spirits” (1 Corinthians 12:10; D&C 46:23).
●The gift to speak in different languages, or tongues (see 1 Corinthians 12:10; Moroni 10:15; D&C 46:24).
●The gift of “the interpretation of tongues” (1 Corinthians 12:10; D&C 46:25; see also Moroni 10:16).
    These spiritual gifts and others listed in the scriptures are only some examples of the many gifts of the Spirit. The Lord blesses His children in many ways according to their faithfulness and their needs and the needs of those they serve.

     Now we are blessed with some of these to help others so now the question is how do we develop them? Well its simple really and its what the Savior asks us to do everyday. Have faith, Read from the scriptures daily, Pray for opportunities, and work when that opportunities come, and last it has to be in the will of God. We cant just say Okay God I want to heal someone today lets make it happen and all you do that day is saying be healed... I don’t think that’s how it works we need to go about doing these things the way the Lord intends them to be and when we see and realize that God has given us a chance to help his children and do so we see the blessing come to that persons life. And also we shouldn’t be going around boastful with these gifts and say hey I have the gift to heal let me heal you! These gift to me are ways that God is trying to teach us humility and to help when the time is inline with Gods time. Doctrine and Covenants tells us about this its found in D&C84:73But a commandment I give unto them, that they shall not boast themselves of these things, neither speak them before the world; for these things are given unto you for your profit and for salvation.

    Now those of you that know what Gift that God has blessed you with this is my pray today that you go and develop that gift and help build up the kingdom of God and bless his children that are in need of help. Pray for opportunities so that you may get the chance to not only help others but to help build your testimony and know that God really does love you and all of his Children. I promise you that if you do this God will indeed give you that opportunity to exercise faith and also to fill of his love as you see his hand in your life so that he can help ALL of his children.

    If you would like yo know more here is a great talk by Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the quorum of the twelve Apostles on the topic.

http://www.lds.org/ensign/1986/09/spiritual-gifts?lang=eng

All scriptures references can be found at lds.org 

The Need of a Prophet

   

Truth is a knowledge of things as they really are, were, and will be. It never changes with the conditions of time of the world. God is the source of ALL TRUTH. We have this faith in God because we know he will teach us only truth and he wants us all to know of his truth. Therefore, he calls Prophets and Apostles to reveal the truth necessary for our Salvation. He reveals truth to us personally by personal revelation and by reading scriptures daily.

Amos 3:7 Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets. A Prophet is Called a God and this is how he reveals his truth his to his Prophet through the Holy Ghost. A Prophet is also a righteousness man and has great faith. The Prophet is commanded to teach the commandments and also the truth that he receives form God to all the world! Those who follow the revealed truth given to the prophet are blessed. 3 Nephi 12:2 And again, more blessed are they who shall believe in your words because that ye shall testify that ye have seen me, and that ye know that I am. Yea, blessed are they who shall believe in your words, and come down into the depths of humility and be baptized, for they shall be visited with fire and with the Holy Ghost, and shall receive a remission of their sins. 

 

Christ built his foundation of his church upon Apostles and Prophets. Ephesians 4:11-14 11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;

12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: 13Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: 14That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; Apostles and Prophets are called of God and they lead this church under the direction of our Savior Jesus Christ to bring to all men the joy and happiness that they have. This is why God called a Prophet in our day, He called Joesph smith to be his Prophet in these last days and all his successors are also called of God to Lead us and Guide us in these last days! Those who listen to and follow the Counsel of the living Prophets and Apostles will not go go astray these teachings provide an anchor of eternal truth in the world of shifting values and help us avoid misery and sorrow and the world will not overwhelm us. We will enjoy the assurance of being in harmony with God’s will!

I know that these things are true! A short story i would like to share. When i was in my younger days about 13 or 14 the Prophet at the time always told us to get a food storage ready and to get out of debt. Well i didn't have any debt and well i wasn’t the boss of getting a food storage ready either but I'm grateful for my parents and doing that they had a food storage ready but they improved it and when the economy dropped we has some food when money got tight and we didn't have much to eat but i never went to bed hungry. I know that God loves all of us so he reveals truth and things that we need to do to prepare ourselves of danger in the future i know that today President Thomas S. Monson is the Prophet today and he leads us and guides us under the direction of Our savior so that we may enjoy peace and to also make sure we have ALL the TRUTH that we need for salvation.

To The Rescue!

    This weeks blog is going to be different! It was inspired my a talk given in our ward this last Sunday and the subject hit home to me and I had some of my own thoughts that I would like to share! It was about a hymn out of our hymn book hymn number 221 Dear to the hearts of the Shepard which is one of my personal favorites!

Verse 1. Dear to the heart of the Shepherd,
Dear are the sheep of his fold;
Dear is the love that he gives them,
Dearer than silver or gold.
Dear to the heart of the Shepherd,
Dear are his “other” lost sheep;
Over the mountains he follows,
Over the waters so deep.

In this verse I see that the Savior is looking for his lost sheep who is all of his children who hasn’t been living the right way or who is just not happy in life, but we learn that the Savior is right there with love ready to save us because we are worth more then silver or gold in his eyes and he will be willing to go over our mountains and to the deeps waters to save us all!

2.Dear to the heart of the Shepherd,
Dear are the lambs of his fold;
Some from the pastures are straying,
Hungry and helpless and cold.
See, the Good Shepherd is seeking,
Seeking the lambs that are lost,
Bringing them in with rejoicing,
Saved at such infinite cost.

Our brothers and sisters are straying at this point and most of the time it is because they are not getting the gospel nourishment that they need in there life. And we can feed them all we have to do is to comfort them because they are cold they may not fill like they fit in life or that they have friends at all so we need to go and simply give a smile or a hug and be there friends and welcome them back to his fold. And rejoice when they do come back because they were saved with much cost witch is the cost of the blood of the Savior who was willing to die for us so that we may live with him once more!

3.Dear to the heart of the Shepherd,
Dear are the “ninety and nine”;
Dear are the sheep that have wandered
Out in the desert to pine.
Hark! he is earnestly calling,
Tenderly pleading today:
“Will you not seek for my lost ones,
Off from my shelter astray?”

When I hear this verse it makes me think of a couple of things one that if I was that one who left the fold he would leave the ninety and nine to come and find just me! Another thing is that the savior is calling and pleading with us to come back and have the joy that he has and to find peace in this life and in the life to come. And last I see that the savior is ASKING US TO HELP HIM! Which that makes me think of John 21:15-1715 So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs.
 16 He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep.
 17 He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep. Let us put our name in for peters and this invitation apply’s to us today to go and help others come unto Christ!
4. Green are the pastures inviting;
Sweet are the waters and still.
Lord, we will answer thee gladly,
“Yes, blessed Master, we will!
Make us thy true under-shepherds;
Give us a love that is deep.
Send us out into the desert,
Seeking thy wandering sheep.”

Now if you didn't notice the first 3 verses is the Savior doing his works and

how to do it. The 3^rd verse he commits us all to follow him and to help him bring others to his fold! And the last verse is our reply “YES, blessed Master, we will!” and I will do my best at it with his help!

[Chorus]
Out in the desert they wander,
Hungry and helpless and cold;
Off to the rescue he hastens, (4th verse) we’ll hasten,
Bringing them back to the fold.
The chorus helps us find them and how urgent we should be in the work. Its not something we can just put off for tomorrow!
I know that this is true and that as we help the Savior and go to the Rescue we will have the most Joy, Peace and happiness in our life.

Where Did I Come from, Why Am I Here, And Where Am I Going?

               Where did I come from? Why am I here? Where am I going? These are the Three biggest questions everyone has had or thought of in their life. Well what would you do if I told you that I have found the answers? well I did and I will share them with you!

Where Did I Come From?

               Before we came to earth we lived in the presents of our Heavenly Father as his spirit children where we learned from him and where we felt his love and care. he cares so much for us that he created a plan for us all to receive ALL the Blessing, happiness and Joy that he Enjoys this is his purpose for creating this plan the plan of happiness. God gave us are agency or the right to choose good from evil. so after we those who accepted this plan and those that didn't and were casted out of heaven God created the earth so that we may gain a body. While on earth we are physically out of Gods presents to see if we will really follow him because we walk by faith not by sight.    

Why Am I Here?

               Well it all starts with the story of Adam and Eve they were created in the Image of God flesh and bones and had two choices multiply and replenish the earth and to not eat from the tree of good and evil. they had to choose they had agency. Satan came around and tempted them and Adam and Eve choose to eat of the fruit and was casted out of the garden they did so that we might have joy. 2 Nephi 2: 22-25 22 And now, behold, if Adam had not transgressed he would not have fallen, but he would have remained in the garden of Eden. And all things which were created must have remained in the same state in which they were after they were created; and they must have remained forever, and had no end. 23 And they would have had no children; wherefore they would have remained in a state of innocence, having no joy, for they knew no misery; doing no good, for they knew no sin. 24 But behold, all things have been done in the wisdom of him who knoweth all things.25 Adam fell that men might be; and men care, that they might have joy. We are on this earth to be tested and to see where are faith stands to either follow Christ or Satan. So life really is what we make it we have to choose what we are going to to Obey God and do his will or to sin and follow Satan which brings unhappiness and sorrow. The only way that we are able to overcome sin is through Jesus Christ and his Atonement and this helps us to repent and follow him more fully 2 Nephi 2: 26 And the Messiah cometh in the fullness of time, that he may redeem the children of men from the fall. And because that they are redeemed from the fall they have become free forever, knowing good from evil; to act for themselves and not to be acted upon, save it be by the punishment of the law at the great and last day, according to the commandments which God hath given.

Where Am I Going?

               Death is the process of transforming from mortality to immortality. After death we go to the Spirit world where we wait for the second coming of Christ. death however doesn't change are desire to do good or evil or are personality. those who will obey gods will, will be in a state of happiness, and joy and those who don't and rebel against god will be in pain and sorrow and fill  unhappy. Alma 40:11-14 11 Now, concerning the state of the soul between death and the resurrection—Behold, it has been made known unto me by an angel, that the spirits of all men, as soon as they are departed from this mortal body, yea, the spirits of all men, whether they be good or evil, are taken home to that God who gave them life. 12 And then shall it come to pass, that the spirits of those who are righteous are received into a state of happiness, which is called paradise, a state of rest, a state of peace, where they shall rest from all their troubles and from all care, and sorrow.13 And then shall it come to pass, that the spirits of the wicked, yea, who are evil—for behold, they have no part nor portion of the Spirit of the Lord; for behold, they chose evil works rather than good; therefore the spirit of the devil did enter into them, and take possession of their house—and these shall be cast out into outer darkness; there shall be weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth, and this because of their own iniquity, being led captive by the will of the devil.14 Now this is the state of the souls of the wicked, yea, in darkness, and a state of awful, fearful looking for the fiery indignation of the wrath of God upon them; thus they remain in this estate, as well as the righteous in paradise, until the time of their resurrection. After Christ coming we will all be resurrected and have are spirits and body be joined together again just like Christ did we will be judged to enter to the kingdom of glory that we worked for. there are Three kingdoms and we find them in the Bible 1 Cor 15:40-42  40 There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another.41 There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory.42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:  The Celestial kingdom is where people that will obey god and do all the things that God has commanded us to do! The terrestrial is where those that Obey but don't do everything that they can do or they just didn't repent and do what was right always. And those who go to stars or the telestial Kingdom is where those that knew of Christ and accepted him but never followed him or what he asked us to do.

               I know that this is true this is the plan that God has for all of us and as well flow this plan and do all that we can to live with him again in the Celestial Kingdom we will have the most joy that we can be looking for! and if you want to learn more visit Mormon.org

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