24 And see that ye have afaith, hope, and charity, and then ye will always abound in good works.
I read a great article in the paper the other day on a man who exemplifies this traits. What have you done with your time lately?
http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_12407428
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Monday, May 18, 2009
Are you a stumbling block?
In Alma 4:8-10 it reads:
8 For they saw and beheld with great sorrow that the people of the church began to be lifted up in the pride of their eyes, and to set their ahearts upon riches and upon the vain things of the world, that they began to be scornful, one towards another, and they began to persecute those that did bnot believe according to their own will and pleasure.
This was a short time after there was peace with the people of God. In Alma 1:30 it reads:
30 And thus, in their aprosperous circumstances, they did not send away any who were bnaked, or that were hungry, or that were athirst, or that were sick, or that had not been nourished; and they did not set their hearts upon criches; therefore they were dliberal to all, both old and young, both bond and free, both male and female, whether out of the church or in the church, having no erespect to persons as to those who stood in need.
How quick do we forget? The Lord blesses us in so many ways both spiritual and temporal when we are righteous. How can we sustain what it talks about in Alma 1:30? I believe as soon as we stop serving others and giving to others, the sooner we forget and get caught up in our own blessings both temporal and spiritual. We get stuck in our comfort zones, and we don't share temporally or spiritually with those around us. Then pride does its thing, and we end up like the same people in Alma 4. So, I ask this question. Am I a stumbling block for those around me? Have I got caught up in my own spiritual and temporal blessings? What am I giving back?
8 For they saw and beheld with great sorrow that the people of the church began to be lifted up in the pride of their eyes, and to set their ahearts upon riches and upon the vain things of the world, that they began to be scornful, one towards another, and they began to persecute those that did bnot believe according to their own will and pleasure.
9 And thus, in this eighth year of the reign of the judges, there began to be great acontentions among the people of the church; yea, there were benvyings, and cstrife, and malice, and persecutions, and pride, even to exceed the pride of those who did not belong to the church of God.
10 And thus ended the eighth year of the reign of the judges; and the wickedness of the church was a great astumbling-block to those who did not belong to the church; and thus the church began to fail in its progress.
This was a short time after there was peace with the people of God. In Alma 1:30 it reads:
30 And thus, in their aprosperous circumstances, they did not send away any who were bnaked, or that were hungry, or that were athirst, or that were sick, or that had not been nourished; and they did not set their hearts upon criches; therefore they were dliberal to all, both old and young, both bond and free, both male and female, whether out of the church or in the church, having no erespect to persons as to those who stood in need.
How quick do we forget? The Lord blesses us in so many ways both spiritual and temporal when we are righteous. How can we sustain what it talks about in Alma 1:30? I believe as soon as we stop serving others and giving to others, the sooner we forget and get caught up in our own blessings both temporal and spiritual. We get stuck in our comfort zones, and we don't share temporally or spiritually with those around us. Then pride does its thing, and we end up like the same people in Alma 4. So, I ask this question. Am I a stumbling block for those around me? Have I got caught up in my own spiritual and temporal blessings? What am I giving back?
Friday, May 15, 2009
Where do you receive your wages?
I read in Alma chapter 3 verses 26-27 this morning stating:
26 And in one year were thousands and tens of thousands of souls sent to the eternal world, that they might reap their arewards according to their works, whether they were good or whether they were bad, to reap eternal happiness or eternal misery, according to the spirit which they listed to obey, whether it be a good spirit or a bad one.
26 And in one year were thousands and tens of thousands of souls sent to the eternal world, that they might reap their arewards according to their works, whether they were good or whether they were bad, to reap eternal happiness or eternal misery, according to the spirit which they listed to obey, whether it be a good spirit or a bad one.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Service
In Mosiah chapter 2 in reads:
17 And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn awisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the bservice of your cfellow beings ye are only in the service of your God.
I had the opportunity to serve at the LDS humanitarian center yesterday assembling kits to send down to Mexico to help out with the Swine flu. Here are some pictures and video.
This is a really cool machine that shrink wraps the pallet of boxed items.
Skunked again!
Man, I should just give up fishing. After a week of leadership training, I decided to process all the information by going fishing with my father in law and brother in law up to Strawberry Reservoir. How Stacie let me go? Read my previous post on Miracles j/k. Stacie, has always been great this way! She basicly rocks and is the best wife in the world. I didn't get one byte! Below is a picture of Clint. He caught his only fish on his first cast. It was a nice 22 inch cutthroat. My father in law caught 3.
Miracles
In the Book of Mormon, chapter 9 it reads:
10 And now, if ye have imagined up unto yourselves a god who doth vary, and in whom there is shadow of changing, then have ye imagined up unto yourselves a god who is not a God of miracles.
11 But behold, I will show unto you a God of amiracles, even the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; and it is that same bGod who created the heavens and the earth, and all things that in them are.
11 But behold, I will show unto you a God of amiracles, even the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; and it is that same bGod who created the heavens and the earth, and all things that in them are.
17 Who shall say that it was not a miracle that by his aword the heaven and the earth should be; and by the power of his word man was bcreated of the cdust of the earth; and by the power of his word have miracles been wrought?
18 And who shall say that Jesus Christ did not do many mighty amiracles? And there were many bmighty miracles wrought by the hands of the apostles.
19 And if there were amiracles wrought then, why has God ceased to be a God of miracles and yet be an unchangeable Being? And behold, I say unto you he bchangeth not; if so he would cease to be God; and he ceaseth not to be God, and is a God of miracles.
18 And who shall say that Jesus Christ did not do many mighty amiracles? And there were many bmighty miracles wrought by the hands of the apostles.
19 And if there were amiracles wrought then, why has God ceased to be a God of miracles and yet be an unchangeable Being? And behold, I say unto you he bchangeth not; if so he would cease to be God; and he ceaseth not to be God, and is a God of miracles.
I had an experience while I was in Redondo Beach, CA with a friend of mine, (Van) that was reminder of the Lord's mercies applied to his children. Van tells the story in his words in a letter he wrote to a lady he baptized on his mission years ago.
"The next day (Wednesday) the conference was scheduled for 8am to 9pm with a two-hour break at 3pm. A friend (Bryan) and I left at 3:30pm on the beach cruisers to go get wet. We were pretty anxious and excited and our time was limited. We hustled down and jumped in. Beautiful swells coming in and we had a great time making attempts at body surfing and not getting pummeled. I love the water, but at 4:20 I got slammed into the sand hard, square on the head, exactly what I was trying to avoid, but it happened anyway. I felt the shooting pain in my neck and knew it wasn’t good. Fortunately, all my faculties still worked and I hurried out of the water knowing that it could be bad and I needed to assess the situation quickly. My throat hurt and realizing that the week before I had been terribly sick I thought it was just my glands again. A quick assessment and I realized I was okay, but should be careful. We biked back to the hotel in time to clean up and return to the conference at 5pm. At 7:45pm I stepped out in pain and was having a hard time breathing. A small calm thought, “reduce swelling” settled in. I made my way to the nearest convenience store and located the Ibuprofen (anti-inflammatory) and returned at 8:15pm till close of the workshop at 9:40pm. I settled in at the hotel room saying a prayer and determined that the Lord was watching over me.
The next morning I returned to the conference after breakfast with Bryan. At 11:30 I had very strong impressions to call Emily and have her begin her research on the necessary steps for what it would take to properly treat something like this immediately on my return. My statement on the phone to her was, “my neck is very likely broken and I need to see a doctor tonight.” As concerning a statement this is, she was as calm as could be and so was I. We both felt things would be well, but I was strongly impressed to see a doctor tonight and to not wait. At 3pm the conference ended. At 6pm I was in the air back to Salt Lake City. I walked into my house at 9:20pm in time to hugs the kids, tuck them in, and make my way to the ER with Emily. My neighbor, a doctor, had indicated that he would set things up for in the morning if I wanted to wait, but didn’t recommend it. My impressions to go immediately were very strong, so we did.
The first doctor into the room was from Southern California. Miracle #1 in the ER.
The CT-Scan tech was from Southern California. Miracle #2 in the ER.
The Nurse was from LA – “Good thing you didn’t go to the ER in LA – you would have waited 15 hours and probably had to take a number.” Miracle #3 in the ER.
The Neuro-Spine Surgeon just happened to be in that night (1 of 2 in the entire area) and walked by when the first set of X-rays were being viewed in the hallway. Miracle #4 in the ER.
The fracture was on the front of the vertebra instead of the rear where the spinal column resides. Miracle #5 in the ER.
Fracture is in such a way that surgery is not probable and it will heal. Miracle #6 in the ER.
The MRI technician had decided to work and extra shift this week and was staying late. Miracle #7 in the ER.
Swelling, bleeding etc. was all very minimal. Miracle #8 in the ER.
All of the resources and all of the correct individuals were all present at 1am on a Friday morning to make a diagnosis with the ‘best’ possible outcome. I was overcome again. The Lord truly blesses us all in different ways.
Whether the accident was my fault or the ‘smite’ of the devil himself slamming me down I have been preserved and blessed beyond measure in everything I do. I contribute so much of it to my faithful ‘mission’ days and I can’t help but think about when those blessings will “run out.” I know for a fact the devil himself did not want me in LA this week. He did not want me to experience Joy. He did not want me to experience Happiness. And yet these are the two things that he will never be able to take away from me."
The next morning I returned to the conference after breakfast with Bryan. At 11:30 I had very strong impressions to call Emily and have her begin her research on the necessary steps for what it would take to properly treat something like this immediately on my return. My statement on the phone to her was, “my neck is very likely broken and I need to see a doctor tonight.” As concerning a statement this is, she was as calm as could be and so was I. We both felt things would be well, but I was strongly impressed to see a doctor tonight and to not wait. At 3pm the conference ended. At 6pm I was in the air back to Salt Lake City. I walked into my house at 9:20pm in time to hugs the kids, tuck them in, and make my way to the ER with Emily. My neighbor, a doctor, had indicated that he would set things up for in the morning if I wanted to wait, but didn’t recommend it. My impressions to go immediately were very strong, so we did.
The first doctor into the room was from Southern California. Miracle #1 in the ER.
The CT-Scan tech was from Southern California. Miracle #2 in the ER.
The Nurse was from LA – “Good thing you didn’t go to the ER in LA – you would have waited 15 hours and probably had to take a number.” Miracle #3 in the ER.
The Neuro-Spine Surgeon just happened to be in that night (1 of 2 in the entire area) and walked by when the first set of X-rays were being viewed in the hallway. Miracle #4 in the ER.
The fracture was on the front of the vertebra instead of the rear where the spinal column resides. Miracle #5 in the ER.
Fracture is in such a way that surgery is not probable and it will heal. Miracle #6 in the ER.
The MRI technician had decided to work and extra shift this week and was staying late. Miracle #7 in the ER.
Swelling, bleeding etc. was all very minimal. Miracle #8 in the ER.
All of the resources and all of the correct individuals were all present at 1am on a Friday morning to make a diagnosis with the ‘best’ possible outcome. I was overcome again. The Lord truly blesses us all in different ways.
Whether the accident was my fault or the ‘smite’ of the devil himself slamming me down I have been preserved and blessed beyond measure in everything I do. I contribute so much of it to my faithful ‘mission’ days and I can’t help but think about when those blessings will “run out.” I know for a fact the devil himself did not want me in LA this week. He did not want me to experience Joy. He did not want me to experience Happiness. And yet these are the two things that he will never be able to take away from me."
God is a God of miracles. I know this to be true. I've posted the video of Van getting smashed by the wave.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Redondo Beach
I'm currently on a business trip in Redondo Beach, CA. The weather is amazing. I'm in a hotel right off of the beach. I love the ocean. I could live here. I'm in training classes that take up most of the time. I have been able to break loose for a little bit. The blueberry pancakes I had yesterday morning at Jitters were amazing. After breakfast, I headed over to the beach. I was so tempted to just jump in the water fully clothed.
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