be as the publican.

True merit, like a river, the deeper it is, the less noise it makes. 
- Edward Frederick Lindley Wood 1st Earl Of Halifax (<--- I had to copy and paste that... quite the name!)


Alright. I read some brilliant scriptures this morning that are inspiring this post. Let's start with those.

Luke 18
10 - Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.
11 - The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.
12 - I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.
13 - And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.
14 - I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.




I love these verses.

Because when asked what I've learned from my sins,
Well, yes I've learned to repent. I've learned to do things differently next time.
But what I've learned the most is to be humble.

I make mistakes.
I am not always obedient.
I rely on the Atonement so much.


And I wonder... what would I be without God? 



I would be nothing.


Yes - I make mistakes.
And I am grateful for sin. I am grateful for all the knowledge that I don't have. I am grateful for people who have less than I do and are more grateful than me and people who work harder than me.

Because all these are constant reminders that I need to be humble.



I am grateful for a merciful God who loves me regardless of my flaws.

And I am grateful for my flaws for making me a better person who tries to live with a better perspective.







P.S. How is my blog showing up on your computer? I am having a hard time deciding what width to make it... I have a widescreen computer and I don't know if it looks too wide on your computer?
And I kinda dig the three-column layout, but I changed it, thinking it was maybe kinda throwing things off...
Ugh. I don't know. I'm an amateur with these things.

give your all.

“A religion that does not require the sacrifice of all things never has power sufficient to produce the faith necessary unto life and salvation; for, from the first existence of man, the faith necessary unto the enjoyment of life and salvation never could be obtained without the sacrifice of all earthly things. It was through this sacrifice, and this only, that God has ordained that men should enjoy eternal life”
-Joseph Smith

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Mark 12

41 And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much.

42 And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing.

43 And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury:

44 For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living.

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A mite was the smallest coin in use among the Jews... kinda like our penny, although today a mite would be worth much, much less than a penny...

So two mites is practically nothing.


But the widow's mites were worth everything and more.


Yes, others put in more, but they could easily afford it, and they obviously did it for show... in the above video they are putting in sacks of money coin by coin... ha.


Well unlike them, the widow probably didn't know if she was going to eat the next day.

But she put her money in anyways. All that she had to give.

And because of her sacrifice, I would be willing to bet you just about anything she didn't go hungry the next day...

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So how does this story apply to you and me?


Sometimes giving your all is what it takes to gain a testimony, to keep your testimony strong, to receive personal revelation, etc, etc.

It is one of those things where you can't just halfheartedly put a little effort into it - or pray to get better at some really hard piano songs and then not practice enough... (I have experience with that one... ha.)

And I want to return to my Maker knowing that I gave Him everything I had to give.

He deserves no less, and I know that I will be returned everything I give.


So much more, actually, which is something I probably won't deserve, but I'll be given it anyways because my God spoils me. :)




And remember that in your own life, there will always be someone that seems to be doing better than you. Giving more.

It may seem that others are so much better at their callings - whatever they are - than you are at yours.

But God only demands of you what you have to give. 

And trying your hardest... giving your all... is enough for him.

So that's something to keep in mind.


And whom God calls God qualifies. Remember that too.

out with the bad...

We had an especially good lesson in seminary today that inspired this post... :)

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So you might remember when Jesus rode back into Jerusalem and then found the temple filled with moneychangers... people selling merchandise and obviously not using the temple the way it was meant to be used.

This clearly upset the Savior... And the main reasons should be obvious. This was His Father's house.  And it was supposed to be a place of prayer and worship.

But it went deeper than that, I think.

Does this picture look familiar? It is Jesus as a boy teaching in the temple in Jerusalem.

He grew up with this temple... but the people have made it "a den of thieves."


There are a lot of reasons why this upset the Savior... and I'm not positive, but I'm pretty sure this was the second time he had to cleanse the temple... you'd think they'd learn the first time.


Without further adieu...





Now... the Savior is not an easily angered person. He doesn't just get mad at people. He is loving and caring and sees everyone for what they can become.

So the fact that he was turning over tables should tell you something.


It reminds me of something that happened in our dear prophet Joseph Smith's life.

Click here to watch The Prophet of the Restoration movie... skip to 39:09 and watch until about 41:00.
(video also found in this post.)


Isn't that the coolest thing ever? That is one of my favorite parts of the Joseph Smith movie.

“On a sudden he arose to his feet, and spoke in a voice of thunder, or as the roaring lion, uttering, as near as I can recollect, the following words:

“‘SILENCE, ye fiends of the infernal pit. In the name of Jesus Christ I rebuke you, and command you to be still; I will not live another minute and hear such language. Cease such talk, or you or I die THIS INSTANT!’”

 “...Dignity and majesty have I seen but once, as it stood in chains, at midnight, in a dungeon in an obscure village of Missouri."

-Parley P. Pratt


Ah. So good.

There came a point where Joseph Smith was simply unwilling to listen further.

Similarly, with the cleansing of the temple, the people were disgracing their Father... there was a point where the Savior was unwilling to let it go further.


(Someone in my seminary class mentioned that the Savior always knows how we feel, which is pretty common knowledge, but he added that maybe this experience is how the Savior knows what it feels like to be angry. Hmmm... an interesting thought...)



Okay. So how does this apply to YOU??

Our seminary teacher told us to do the following:





Take the original verses:

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Mark 11
15 - And they come to Jerusalem: and Jesus went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves;

16 - And would not suffer that any man should carry any vessel through the temple.

17 - And he taught, saying unto them, Is it not written, My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer? but ye have made it a den of thieves.

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...and replace temple or house with my heart.

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Mark 11

15 - And they come to Jerusalem: and Jesus went into the my heart, and began to cast out them that sold and bought in the my heart, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves;

16 - And would not suffer that any man should carry any vessel through the my heart.

17 - And he taught, saying unto them, Is it not written, My my heart shall be called of all nations the heart of prayer? but ye have made it a den of thieves.

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Note that in the above video the Savior didn't have to touch or push anyone out. They left as soon as he was present and told them to get out of there.



Now take a look at the verses we edited. If you find that your heart is filled with bad thoughts or desires, maybe instead of focusing all your time on trying to push them out, try inviting the Savior in.

The bad things will have to leave.

The same is true with your schedule and your actions. Replace the bad/unimportant things and habits with the good.




Because no unclean thing can dwell with God.


So draw nearer to Him and be perfected.



And never forget that He sees you for who you can become.


I think I will continue in the next post... maybe talk about the widow's mites?

I don't know. For now, happy Thursday. :)





P.S. I'm like 1 1/2 weeks short of ONE YEAR with this blog! yay!

love others.

Have you seen this commercial? This is perhaps one of the most beautiful videos I have ever seen. Enjoy. And then share. :)

There are so many things I take for granted.

I feel so selfish sometimes. 

I am so lucky to be living where I am living.

I am so lucky to have the family I have, and the gospel in my life.

I am so lucky to have the freedoms I have.

The past while I have been been really sad about the condition of our country. 

I fear for it.

But you know what? It is still great. It is still good.

I am probably living in better conditions than 99% of the world.

And I'm grateful for Sundays.

I'm grateful for my ward family.

I am grateful for my friends. 

I am grateful for my sight.

When I take a little step back, I can see the world from a different perspective. We are all just plugging along, trying to do what we think is best.

And life is hard. Not just for me or you, but for everyone. 

We weren't meant to be self-sufficient. We need God in our lives.

And I want to help people.

I want to make them grateful for me. 

I want to change someone. 

Maybe even change a few someones. 

Little teeny tiny actions on our part really can have a profound effect on someone's life.

Or someone's eternity.

What better way to show gratitude to your Savior than to love and serve your fellow men?

Matthew 25

34 - Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

35 - For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:

36 - Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.

37 - Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? Or thirsty, and gave thee drink?

38 - When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?

39 - Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?

40 - And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

How amazing, right?

The scriptures say that in the last days, love of many shall wax cold.

We see this everywhere... divorce, violence, nasty words...

One place I always notice it is on the internet. I will click on the article of a tragic death, and all I read is, "how could you be so foolish" or "you shouldn't have left your child alone..."

I read nasty words everywhere on the internet. 

I just think, "Would you say these things to someone's face?"

"Do you think that because you can anonymously write unkind words that they will be forgotten or dismissed?"

"Do you think this isn't bullying??"

I mean sheesh, hasn't anyone ever heard of netiquette?

The internet isn't the only evidence of love waxing cold... just the one that came to mind at the moment. 

Keep in mind that no one - not even the angels in heaven - not even the prophet - knows when Christ will come again.

People have been making predictions for thousands of years. Click here to see a list. It's actually very interesting.

But no one knows. 

We have knowledge of signs that will proceed the coming of Christ, but I think people sometimes suppose that it will take a long while for them to be fulfilled. 

I wonder if some people think, "when we have missions in China, then it will be time."

Well the gospel is already being preached to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people. I'm pretty sure we don't have to have a China mission for that to be fulfilled.

And don't forget Hong Kong.

Don't take this as doctrine, but I wouldn't be surprised if Christ came tomorrow and the signs were just fulfilled in different ways than I had supposed. 

I mean I'm pretty sure that there are still signs that have to be fulfilled... but I don't know... just a thought.

What if when the Savior comes and despite what's going on around you, you are still loving and serving your fellow men?

I don't think those people - people who really, truly love others... even those they don't know - have anything to fear. 

So what is your take on this? What lesson is to be learned?

A Marked Generation

We all know those people around us that just amazing.
They are smart, funny, spiritual, and just all around... good.

And there is no doubt in our minds that they are going straight to the Celestial Kingdom...

And then there's us.

At least that's how we seem to always see it.

We tend to often feel that we are not measuring up, that we're just not good enough.

Well...
There have been people on this earth for thousands of years.
There was Adam, the Ancient of Days.
From him came many, many prophets who preached to millions of people that we read about in the Old Testament.
In the New Testament, We read about Christ being born. He preached healed, and offered himself up for a sacrifice.
There were many, many generations following that.

Read history books. Read about the Indians, the Revolutionary War, Ancient Rome, Chinese history...

There have been a lot of people on this earth.

Billions.

Billions of people have lived and died here over the course of six thousand years, each with their own special mission.

And then you were born.

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For nearly six thousand years, God has held you in reserve to make your appearance in the final days before the Second Coming. Every previous gospel dispensation has drifted into apostasy, but ours will not.... God has saved for the final inning some of his strongest children, who will help bear off the kingdom triumphantly. And that is where you come in, for you are the generation that must be prepared to meet your God...." Make no mistake about it you are a marked generation.

- Ezra Taft Benson
(read more)

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You came here for a reason. You have a mission to complete that no one else can complete for you.

We are the strongest generation... the generation strong enough to defeat Satan.

Strong enough to stand up for what we believe.

Strong enough to make a real difference.

The fact that you live on the earth at this time... makes you amazing.

The Father saw something in you during the pre-existence. He knew you were strong enough.

You were foreordained to be great.

Of course, that means that we have a great responsibility. We can't let our Father down.

We have to work hard to accomplish what we came here to do.

But. I promise.

It will be worth it.

His Words Never Cease

I had an interesting experience at Joseph Smith's Red Brick Storehouse in Nauvoo, Illinois a couple years ago. You know... our church does not own that little store. It's instead owned by... well, another church.

Anyways. A customer asked the cashier what made their religion different from Mormonism. I overheard/pretty much eavesdropped on their conversation. The cashier said that while the Mormons believed in Eternal Progression, they believed that God was the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Pause. Wait, what??

She said a whole jumble of things that didn't really make sense, and most of them had nothing to do with anything, but she seemed to win over the lady she was talking to.

Now I didn't butt in, because it wasn't my place and that's not really in my nature. Plus I wasn't supposed to be listening, remember?

But it got me thinking about the way different religions interpret things. Now I most certainly would never judge an entire religious sect based on something that one person said. That's ridiculous.

But I started thinking about how we all have the same bible, but everyone translates it differently. I mean, we believe that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. At least nine scriptures that I just looked up would tell you that.

That's what the video above made me think of. I don't understand how so many people believe in an unchanging God that would cut off all communication between Him and His people.

Just like we did in ancient days, we have prophets to guide us. We have continued revelation including personal revelation. We have the Priesthood. We have twelve apostles.

I liked how he said that "The Old Testament does not lose its value in our eyes when we're introduced to the New Testament, and the New Testament is only enhanced when we read the Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ."

And hopefully you know that the Book of Mormon was talked about in the Old Testament.

Ezekiel 37
15 - The word of the Lord came again unto me, saying,
16 - Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions:

 17 And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand.

Stick of Judah = Bible
Stick of Joseph = Book of Mormon


Anyways... I pray that we will always remember that God truly is the same yesterday, today, and forever. And that we can still freely communicate with Him. He still speaks to us through the prophets and through the Spirit. The Heavens are open.

The Bible is the word of God, and the Book of Mormon is too.

His words... NEVER cease.

Appreciating the Scriptures

You can learn more about the coming forth of the King James Bible and William Tyndale from the Fires of Faith documentaries. (If you haven't already watched them...)

I'd be willing to bet that there are many, many, MANY people that hugely take for granted the sacrifices of others.

I'm one of those people.

It happens a lot in life, and in our church.

Things that meant so much to people long - or not so long - ago... Things that they would die for... Mean little or nothing to many people nowadays.

The fact that we have all of this amazing scripture now... that is a miracle. 


Now... I can't always understand the Old Testament. I think that very few people can...

But.

Seminary has taught me so much about understanding the Old Testament... and any scripture for that matter.

First of all, if you need help understanding what's going on... use study helps!!
We have a bunch of Institute study books that I've used when reading the Old Testament. There are all sorts of books that you can buy to help you read the scriptures - no matter where you're reading!


And remember that you will gain a lot from really studying, not just reading the scriptures. Try and pick apart the verses and find the hidden meanings. Sometimes they're not even that hidden, we just tend to skim over them when reading quickly. 


And also, if you start getting frustrated, remember that you don't have to understand every little verse. Hopefully you will spend your whole life studying the scriptures, and you can get something different from them every time. 


If you can't figure it out, move on. Just try to get the big, general picture. 


The scriptures are full of stories. They are history books. If you don't understand every principle that's written, stop and figure out what's going on, what people are involved, and what's the general lesson to be learned.


And if you are still having a hard time getting yourself to read the scriptures... here's my tip.


Start with the Doctrine and Covenants. Because it was written more recently, it's easier to understand, and is filled with amazing and beautiful scriptures.


So here's to not taking sacrifices for granted. 


Learn to appreciate the scriptures. They really will add more meaning to your life.