Reflection on Fort Hood tragedy

Do you ever feel like we are part of something greater than ourselves?  Life is so precious and fleeting.  My heart and prayers go out to the families and colleagues of the great service men and women who were killed at Fort Hood Texas.  We often hear of such tragedy and wonder why something could happen to people who are trying simply to serve their country.  While many reasons come forth we do learn in the book of Mormon that
      "For behold the Lord receiveth them up unto himself, in glory; and he doth suffer that they may do this thing, or that the people may do this thing unto them, according to the hardness of their hearts, that the judgments which he shall exercise upon them in his wrath may be just; and the blood of the innocent shall stand as a witness against them, yea, and cry mightily against them at the last day."  Alma 14:11. (for more on the Book of Mormon a book I believe to be true and I beg you to read and learn more.  Click here for more)  
People are given agency to choose what they may but they can not choose the reward of those actions.  I am also eternally grateful for the knowledge that through temple sealing families are united and connected in an eternal link from generation to generation.  That is one of the reasons family history is so important.  To begin your family history you can try either Family Search or ancestry.com.

I know that God loves his children and many times we don't understand exactly why things happen but we must realize that this life is only a blink of an eye and that in the grand scheme of of your life which never ends or is eternal in nature this mere short life is nothing and we should look more closely at our life and what choices we have made.

In conclusion again my hearts and prayers go out to the families and friends of those who died or were injured in this horrible shooting.  I hope that we continue to appreciate the service that those who fight for our freedom give us.

The Miracle of life

God truly blesses us here on earth with the ability to create and bring forth life.  Life is so precious and beautiful.  I am so happy to be a part of this process to be able to raise our little daughter in righteousness.
Psalms 127 reads.

3 Lo, achildren are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.

4 As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth.

5 Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.

I believe it is true and am grateful for those that choose to bring forth children and do so in the righteous bonds of marriage.  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints published a The Family: A Proclamation to the World Please read it teaches the true nature of the family and the roles and goals that should be set for the family.  

Life is amazing and should be protected and cherished as the miracle it is.  

Thanks for reading.

Choose This Day

Choose This Day

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Geneology Work

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has some amazing resources for researching your family history and genelogical lines.  The first site to check out would be at Family Search.  Part of the teachings of the church believes that we can be married for not just till dealth do we part but for eternity.  Part of this belief is also that we can be sealed or linked eternally to our ancestors.  These ordinaces take place in our holy temples.  I love family history and learning more about where I come from and who lived before me to make my existance possible.  I hope you would utilize the many resources like Ancestry.com or Geneology.com.

In Salt Lake City, Utah you can find the enormous Family History Library.   Take a tour of the Family History Library.  There are millions of records and data that can be sorted through here.
Families are forever and I am grateful for this wonderful knowledge.  I know this is true doctrine and am grateful for it.  The church will even give you a free video about eternal families.

Alma 3 and 4

Today I studied Alma 3 and 4 and these were the things I was taught from those chapters.
Alma 3:  By having faith in the Lord we can gain physical strength even to overcome our enemies (usually more inward than outward).  Many times we see that the Lord strenthens the group as a whole to win the battle but many people are lost in the overall victory.  The church has a promise that it will not fail and the Lord will lead the group onward and upward but that is a collective not an individual promise.  We must do our part to partake of the Lord's victories. 

Alma 4: We are accountable for our own sins and if we fall we, become seperated from the Lord and it can even lead to a physical change that comes over us a loss of light as has been said. Our reward comes from he whom we enlist to obey.  Do we want the reward Christ will give us or what Satan will give us?  We are servants also and must be worthy of our hire.  Do we labor in the Lord's kingdom to be worthy of the reward promised?

I love the Church and hope you will read the Book of Mormon too.  Read it online here.  Read The Book of Mormon..

The Book of Mormon

I just want to give a brief explanation of the Book of Mormon and why I believe it to be a canon of scripture to be used hand-in-hand with the Bible.  The book begins around 600 BC in Jerusalem with a prophet named Lehi.  He prophesied to the Jews that Jerusalem would be destroyed and because of his prophecies, the people were looking to kill him.  He, being warned in a dream, fled and eventually, with the help of his righteous son Nephi, built a boat and came to the American continent.  The book follows his descendants and their dealings with God, similar to the Bible, but on the American continent; thus proving that God loves all people and gives revelation to any who believe on him.  The book comes to an end around 400 AD with Mormon and his son Moroni.  The book is named after Mormon because he was the prophet that compiled the writings of all the prophets for a 1,000-year period.  The high point of the book comes when Jesus Christ fulfills the command given in John 10:16 and visits some of his "other sheep" which were the descendants of Lehi.  The main group, called Nephites, were destroyed at the time of the prophet Mormon. 

I have read the book many times and every time I feel the truthfulness and the blessing of the Holy Spirit coming into my heart.  I know it to be true words of ancient prophets. 

The Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ because it works with the Bible to clarify points that were vague before.   I like to use the analogy that the Gospel of Christ is like a picture on a wall and the Bible is the first nail holding it in place.  This nail holds up the gospel for display, but it is only one witness. With only one nail, the picture can be moved and interpreted in many different ways.  The Book of Mormon is a second nail or witness of Christ's gospel and it takes the second nail to hold the picture in place, allowing a proper viewing and interpretation of this picture.

To obtain a free copy, click on the words Book of Mormon

LDS General Conference!!

Twice a year in April and October The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints holds a General Conference.  This is where we have the opportunity to hear from leaders of the church and the men pictured to the left are three of them.  The one sitting down is a Prophet of God living today.  His name is Thomas Monson.  He has 2 councilors who are are also pictured here.  Henry Eyring and Dieter Uchtdorf.  The messages that are given over this two day conference that is broadcast to the entire world was inspired and profound and I would like to share a couple of things I learned from the conference.

Richard Scott who is a member of the churches' Quorum of the twelve apostles spoke on obtaining spiritual guidance.  We must learn how to receive personal revelation.  We must teach from revelation but the greatest thing we can do as a teacher is to help others recognize and follow personal revelation. After we receive this revelation we must pray for confirmation, give thanks for the revelation and confirmation and ask is there more you would have me learn.   In order to receive this revelation we must avoid temptation especially the temptation of pornography which corrupts all that it touches and is like a disease.   Viewing of pornography is selfish and puts your personal gratification before that of your spouse or other loved ones.

   
David Bednar is also a member of the quorum of the twelve apostles just like the church Christ himself established when he walked the earth.  David Bednar has a special place in my heart because he was president of my college BYU-Idaho before be called to the twelve apostles.  He spoke of three things we can do to become more diligent and concerned at home:  They are.
1. Express love and show it.  Not just once and a while but often and consitant.
2.  Bear Testimony and live it.  Teach your children through word and deed that you love the gospel.
3. Be consistent.  This is what I need to work on most.  Every day day in and day out feasting on the words of Christ individually and as a family, Praying with full purpose of heart as a family and individually, as well as all the other great things I start and never do every day.

Dieter Uchtdorf who is pictured above spoke of disiple like love.  This church should seek to be defined as a people that follow Christ and love those around them.  We seek to feel the arms of love and to be lead by the compass of love in our lives.

Kent Watson spoke of the virtue of temperance and being tempered in all things.   We must seek to use moderation in all things.

Boyd Packer spoke on obtaining faith through spiritual communication.  We have a way to constantly have open communication with our father.  Through prayer and listening we can come to know our father.  We must keep our thoughts clean by inventing a delete key.  This come by having a song or scripture to ponder on whenver a slightest inappropriate thought enters our mind.  Remeber to always end prayers with they will be done, because we are all subject to the Lord and are here to seek his will not our own.

Dieter Uchtdorf spoke again and this time about 2 ways to help us get through these tough times.  He has seen his fair share of tough times having grown up in Germany during WWII.  Number 1 was work, be steady and consitant in your labor.  Number 2 was learn, constant learning is key and as he stated one of the only things you can bring with you into the next life is the knowledge you have gained.

Henry Eyring spoke of being prepared spiritualy to offer blessings when summoned.

The Prophet Thomas Monson spoke about being slow to anger.  And in his next talk the following day he spoke of service.  He is an incredible example of putting other needs first and true love and caring.

These are a few things I learned this past weekend and anyone interested in seeing these talks for themselves click on the link below.

http://www.lds.org/move/index.html?type=conference&event=Oct179&lang=english