Prophets, What Good Are They?

There is a great thing that is happening this weekend.  The whole world will be able to sit down and listen to a Prophet of God give us guidance, direction, and support for all of us!  But, there is just one problem, not everyone in the world will be listening with open ears and open hearts.  Many will be going about their lives as usual.  This is sad, because there is a story in the old testament of people who didn't listen to a Prophets voice.

Anybody remember anything about Noah?  Yes, that is right.  He was the one with the big boat.  Well, lets get the whole story.  Prophets told the people that they needed to follow God's commandments and live like they should or they would get punished.  Well, they didn't listen so well, so God decided to punish them.  And what did they win?  Destruction by a giant flood.

Ok, so that one didn't pan out very well.  Lets look at another story to see how it turned out.  In The Book of Mormon a man by the name of Samuel was told by God to tell a wicked people that "nothing can save this people save it be repentance and faith on the Lord Jesus Christ," and that "four hundred years shall not pass away before I will cause that they shall be smitten: yea, I will visit them with the sword and with famine and with pestilence." (Helaman 13:6, 9)  Wow, doesn't sound too pretty does it?  Samuel also prophesied of many other signs and wonders, all of which came to pass.

Now fast forward 400 years.  We now look at the account written by Mormon, who was the chief captain over the armies of the people that Samuel visited.  And wouldn't you know it, the people were not following what God wanted them to do.  Mormon says that "the Nephites repented not of the evil they had done, but persisted in their wickedness continually." (Mormon 4:10)  What a shame.  They also gained a reward.  A giant battle where their whole nation was destroyed.  "And when they had gone through and hewn down all my people save it were twenty and four of us, (among whom was my son Moroni) and we having survived the dead of our people." (Mormon 6:11)

In conclusion, the people in both accounts did not follow the heeding of the prophets and did not follow the commandments of God.  "If ye love me, keep my commandments." (John 14:15)  Let us all keep the commandments of God and listen to what counsel His prophets have to give us.

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I Would Exhort You

When one first picks up the Book of Mormon, one of the first things that you read is "Another Testament of Jesus Christ," and it is truly so.  Nephi explains that "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."  (see 2 Nephi 25:26)  As we search and as we ponder the words of the prophets, both prophets of old and our latter-day prophets, we are led and directed to our Savior Jesus Christ. 

Easy for me to say though right?  I was raised in the faith and have had almost 19 years of study and guidance to the truth, but I had to come  know for myself that what I'm saying now is true.  He has laid a plan for us, and he has given us to tools whereby we can find the truth.  Ask Him who is the source of all truth!  Take the challenge that Moroni gave all of us in Moroni 10:3-5 and "ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true."  Even if you have already asked, try it again!!  It will only strengthen your testimony and your knowledge.  I know that the Book of Mormon is a true testament of Jesus Christ.  If you have any questions at all, PLEASE, visit http://www.mormon.org/ invite the missionaries into your home, and feel of the witness that comes only through the Holy Ghost!

Who We Truly Are

Over the last six months I have come to know who we truly are.  I was staring at my name tag the other day right before I put it on and thought long and hard about the names on the tag.  The top one is my name, but just below in just as big of letters is the name of our savior Jesus Christ.  I then remembered a scripture in 3 Nephi 27:27.  Christ tells his disciples that they are to be even as he is.  This seems like a pretty steep proposition!  But when we understand who we truly are and that we are truly "joint-heirs with Christ" (see Romans 8:17) then we will be able to see ourselves in a new light.  We will be able to see us as God sees us.  President Uchtdorf gives new light on the classic tale of "The Ugly Duckling."

Our Heavenly Father loves us!  All of us!  Don't turn away from Him.  His arms are always stretched out towards you.  No matter what pain you have or what you have done in your past, let his unfailing love and comfort surround you and give you peace!

Things are Becoming Green!!

One of my favorite scriptures that I absolutely love is found in Alma 30:44.  In this scripture, Alma is talking to a man named Korihor about the existence of God.  Korihor states that he does not believe that there is a God and unless Alma shows him a sign he will not believe otherwise.  Then Alma states that "all things denote there is a God."  I echo what Alma says.  All things are a witness that God lives and that he loves us!

One of the greatest witnesses that we have is the seasons.  Since a lot of us are experiencing the start of the change of seasons, I thought that this would be a good topic. 

The seasons can be mirrored to Christ's life.  At the spring, all things begin to grow and seeds are planted and then sprout into plants.  During the summer the plants grow into full maturity.  This is similar to Christ's birth, and life.  Christ came into the world not in great garb or royal majesty, but in the lowliness of a manger.

Then comes the Fall.  The time when all things begin to die and to prepare for the winter.  This is similar to Christ's death.  "He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him." (see Isaiah 53:5)  Christ paid the ultimate price for us.  He lived a perfect life, and thus was able to pay the price for our sins.

The deathly winds of winter mirror the grief and pain the disciples of Christ had during the three days after His death.  I wonder what was going through their minds at this time?  Were they looking forward to the day that He would come again as He had prophesied?  Or were they dumbfounded because their Lord and King had just been killed?  Whatever may have been going through their minds, they still would not be able to erase all of the pain.  But just as a tiny bud on a tree or the blossom of a flower fights its way into existence at the start of spring, Christ came back and ministered unto his disciples!  He had overcome the barriers of death!  "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive."  (1 Corinthians 15:22)

I know that Christ lives.  And because He lives, we too will live one day!!  This is not all that there is!  There is more than just this mortal existance!  I solmely declare in the name of Jesus Christ!!!

How in the World did a Farm Boy End Up in the Middle of Western New York?

One question that I get a lot while I am talking to people here in New York is, "How in the world did you end up here?"  Well, there can be a couple of answers to this question, one is very simple and precise.  "I have been called to serve as a representative of Jesus Christ by a Prophet of God."  Straight forward, to the point, and easy to understand.  I like it!!  Yet there is a little more to this simple phrase than meets the eye.  Let's break it down, shall we?

"I have been called."  Was this over the phone?  No, not exactly, but it works in the same kind of way.  When someone calls you, you have to make the effort to answer the phone, and then you have the choice of when to hang up and cut off the communication.  In John 15:16, Christ tells his Apostles "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you."  Christ chose his Apostles, but they still had the freedom to choose whether to accept or reject Christ.  The same thing happened to me.  Christ chose me to come to Western New York.  And because of my love for Christ and for our Heavenly Father, and all of my brothers and sisters, I accepted the call.  I am here in New York serving as a representative of Jesus Christ.

"To serve as a representative of Jesus Christ."  This is a pretty east one to explain.  "A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you," (John 13:35)  that is why I am doing what I am doing every day, I love everyone.  I know the joy that the Gospel of Jesus Christ has given me and I want that same joy for everyone!!

"By a Prophet of God."  Since God is the same yesterday, today, and forever (see Mormon 9:9 in the Book of Mormon) it would make sense that He would have a Prophet on the Earth if the fulness of His gospel was on the Earth.  Well, He does have a Prophet on the Earth.  He first called Joseph Smith to be His Prophet in the latter days, and He still has a Prophet on Earth.  President Thomas S. Monson leads and guides the Church today under the direction of Jesus Christ.  Since God will do nothing until he reveals it unto his servant the Prophet (see Amos 3:7), thus by the distributive property (meaning if A=B and B=C then A=C) when the Prophet asks us to do something, then it is Jesus Christ who is asking us.

I know that Thomas S. Monson is a Prophet of God.  I know that I have been called to be here in New York by one having the authority from God.  If you have any questions, please go to mormon.org and find out for yourself if these things are true!

The "Fence"

Now I can imagine that some of you are scratching your heads at the title of my blog.  Well, now is the time that I get to explain.  I grew up on a family farm with cattle.  So I got to spend a lot of time with these animals.  One thing that always struck me was how stubborn these animals became when they wanted to get out of a pen.  Now matter many times you would chase them away from the open gate while you were trying to pull the tractor in to feed them, they would run right back so they could get out.  Or, they would stretch their necks way out across the fence line, they always thought that the grass was greener on the other side.

Now, look at our lives.  We see our shabby car, our house that is too small, and the pair of shoes that have been worn way too many times.  Then we look at our neighbor down the street who just bought a brand new truck, their big spacious house, and we may say to ourselves, "Wow, what would it be like to be able to afford that."  But what we don't see, usually, is the struggles that they are going through as well.  We may get that, "Greener on the other side of the fence" mentality.  We just need to remember the promise that the Lord made to Moroni in Ether 12:27 in the Book of Mormon, "And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them." 

The Lord knows each one of us.  He has given us those things that will make us stronger.  We may only be able to see the weakness of ourselves right now, but if we put our trust in Jesus Christ and come before him in sincere prayer and scripture study, then we will be able to see those "weak things become strong."

Greener on the Other Side

  So this blog is focused on Jesus Christ.  How he can heal us, and how we can let him into our lives.  I am excited to be on this journey as a disciple of Jesus Christ serving in New York.  I hope you will enjoy the journey also.  I know that together we can grow and become better followers of Jesus Christ!!