Like a Child

Hello again!!
I just had this incredible thought and I have to share! :)
More and more on my mission that I reflect upon my childhood. Especially to my parents and how they raised me.
I was reading today, and I read a verse in Moroni 8:12 and I just wanted to share the first part of it. It says, "12 But little children are alive in Christ,"
I love how it is so simple. The gospel is so simple. We are to become like little children, because children are so perfect, so Christlike.
Christ himself admonished us in Matthew 18:3, when He said, "3 And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted,and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven."
Why is it that we are to become like a little child? 
I think this goes back to the verse in Moroni 8:12, that children are alive in Christ. 
Also, we are taught in Doctrine and Covenants 29:46-47, " 46 But behold, I say unto you, that little children are redeemed from the foundation of the world through mine Only Begotten;

 47 Wherefore, they cannot sin, for power is not given unto Satan to tempt little children, until they begin to become accountable before me;"

Satan cannot tempt little children. If we become like little children, like Christ taught us to, we will do all that God wants us to. We will be following His commandments and relying on Christ. 

While Satan will still be able to tempt us, our ability to withstand His temptations will be greater. And by degree his power against us will lessen. We will have greater faith in Christ and a greater knowledge of who we are as children of God. We will know where we came from, why we are here, and where we are going. And we will be able to help others along the way. 

I know that having childlike faith, hope, and charity is difficult, especially in today's world. But the joy that comes with being closer with Christ is so worth it. I know that God lives, and that He has a plan for each of us. And that plan is centered on Jesus Christ and following His example. 

Believe in Christ!

Ollo!
Its so wonderful to be on here again! :) There is little I enjoy more than writing a blog post. While I've been here on my mission I have had the wonderful opportunity to meet people from around the world! It is so amazing to hear all of the differing beliefs and views that people have. I count myself incredibly blessed to be where I am.
A question I am posed with a lot is about who Jesus Christ is, and if the Book of Mormon truly teaches about Him.
I would like to draw my answer to these questions from a couple of wonderful verses! :) They are found in 2 Nephi 33:10-11 they say:

" 10 And now, my beloved brethren, and also Jew, and all ye ends of the earth, hearken unto these words and believe in Christ; and if ye believe not in these words believe in Christ. And if ye shall believe in Christ ye will believe in these words, for they are the words of Christ, and he hath given them unto me; and they teach all men that they should do good.

 11 And if they are not the words of Christ, judge ye—for Christ will show unto you, with power and great glory, that they are his words, at the last day; and you and I shall stand face to face before his bar; and ye shall know that I have been commanded of him to write these things, notwithstanding my weakness."



 

These verses are AMAZING!!! It is broken down so simply. That the words found in the Book of Mormon are the words of Christ. And if you believe in Christ, then you will know of the truthfulness of them.

And vice versa if you believe in these words, then you will believe in Christ.

 

The Book of Mormon has truly brought me closer to my Saviour, Jesus Christ. I have come to know that He really did suffer and die for my pains, sins, sickness, and anything else you can think of. I know that through Him I have been able to find the greatest joy and peace in this life. I know of these things because I read the Book of Mormon, truly seeking to know if it was true. And through the power of the Holy Ghost I was able to learn that they really are true.

This same promise is given to you over and over again throughout the scriptures.

If you have any questions I invite you to check out Mormon.org where you can request a Book or Mormon, a visit from missionaries, or simply chat with a missionary like me! :)

 

Happiness

Hi-ya!!
So I wasn't going to post today but then one of my favourite quotes came to my mind.
Its from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. It was said by Professor Dumbledore, he said, "Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times. If one only remembers to turn on the light."
I absolutely love this quote!!
There is so much happiness that can be found in turning on the light and turning to Christ.

Christ Himself many times says that He is the light of the world. In John 8:12 it says,

"Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light‍ of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk‍ in darkness, but shall have the light of life."

Christ is the Light. He is the one that will bring true happiness into our lives. Darkness cannot over come light. A single ray of light can change a completely dark room.
There has been a metaphor of life that I particularly love. Why? Well it has to do with my favourite flowers.
Sunflowers are interesting flowers. They literally follow the sun in the sky all day. They do this so that they can absorb the most sun as possible.
We should be like the sunflowers, and continually follow Christ. As we do so greater light and happiness will come into our lives.
So going back to the quote; it can now read, "Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times. If one only remembers to turn to Christ."
I know that it is through Christ that I have been able to find true happiness in life. It hasn't been easy by any means, but through Christ it has been possible. I know that the Light of Christ is real, and that it can touch hearts and change people.

Saviour, Redeemer

Hi-ya!

I hope all has been well with you this week! 

I just wanted to share some quick thoughts today about Christ. Also, I was asked to give a talk today, so thats a little bit of it! ;) 

One of my favourite songs is Saviour, Redeemer of My Soul (Hymn 112)

The first verse is particularly special to me the lyrics read:

"1. Savior, Redeemer of my soul,

Whose mighty hand hath made me whole,

Whose wondrous pow'r hath raised me up

And filled with sweet my bitter cup!

What tongue my gratitude can tell,

O gracious God of Israel. "

I love the third line about Christ raising us up. It reminds me of one of my favourite scripture stories. About Christ walking on the water, and Peter going to Him. 

This story is found in Matthew 14: 22-33

I won't quote the whole thing, its far to long, but I just wanted to highlight Peter's reaction to Christ, and then the world around Him. 

Verses 28-29 read, " 28 And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.

 29 And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus."

When Peter saw Christ, He had faith to follow Him, even to take the steps he needed to to reach Him. However, verse 30 says, " 30 But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me."

As Peter took his eyes off of Christ, he became afraid. But verse 31 teaches us something absolutely incredible. It says, " 31 And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?"

Christ IMMEDIATELY stretched forth His hand. Peter didn't have to wait for Christ. He was already right there to help him and to save him. 

Christ is there for each one of us. Always and forever. His wondrous power will raise us up. In a world that is always changing, isn't it incredible to know that Christ will NEVER change? He will never leave us, and He will always be there to lift, guide, guard, and protect us. I know this is true. I know that I have only been able to accomplish what I have because of Christ. 

Faith Roller Coasters!!

Hello again!!
It is always so refreshing to post on the blog! :) (Also Spring finally decided to come to Saskatoon!)
Anyways, I wanted to post a little bit today about something that has been talked a lot about recently in my mission.
The Trial of Faith!
Its so rough! Life is so full of ups and downs. There are mountains to climb. Every. Single. Day. And sometimes it just gets to be to much!
But there is much to be learned in the ups and downs of life. Even in my relatively short life I have been able to learn so much from the trials that I have faced.
There are a couple of scriptures I love when it comes to trials of faith. The first one is in the Book of Mormon. In Ether 12:6 which says,
" 6 And now, I, Moroni, would speak somewhat concerning these things; I would show unto the world that faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith."
Wow!! Moroni's testimony is so powerful! We need to continually have faith that God is leading us in the right direction. Even when we can't see the end result. The trial of our faith will pay off in the end, with more blessings than we will be able to count!
The second scripture I love is actually from one of my favourite stories! :) I love the prophet Joshua! He is so amazing! He had such big shoes to fill coming after Moses! And yet, we are able to see how he was able to trust in God and lead the children of Israel to the promised land. There is one story in particular that I like when he is about to lead them across the river Jordan.
This is probably one of the largest trust exercises in the history of the world. But in Joshua 3:13 it says,
" 13 And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests that bear the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of Jordan, that the waters of Jordan shall be cut off from the waters that come down from above; and they shall stand upon an heap."
They had to actually GET IN THE WATER before God would stop the waters and make it so they could cross.
I know that it is hard. And I know that my trials have been no where near many of yours. But I also know that God WILL bless us as we turn to Him in faith and with trust that there are blessings to come. Christ will help us along the way.

Have faith, carry on, see miracles! :)

Joy and Peace!

Hi There!
Sorry I've been terrible at posting lately! I'll try to be better!! :)


So I was reading today I and found a scripture passage that I discovered I really love!
This scripture is in the book of Alma. Its Alma 36: 17-21,
"17 And it came to pass that as I was thus racked with torment, while I was harrowed up by the memory of my many sins, behold, I remembered also to have heard my father prophesy unto the people concerning the coming of one Jesus Christ, a Son of God, to atone for the sins of the world.

 18 Now, as my mind caught hold upon this thought, I cried within my heart: O Jesus, thou Son of God, have mercy on me, who am in the gall of bitterness, and am encircled about by the everlasting chains of death.

 19 And now, behold, when I thought this, I could remember my pains no more; yea, I was harrowed up by the memory of my sins no more.

 20 And oh, what joy, and what marvelous light I did behold; yea, my soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain!

 21 Yea, I say unto you, my son, that there could be nothing so exquisite and so bitter as were my pains. Yea, and again I say unto you, my son, that on the other hand, there can be nothing so exquisite and sweet as was my joy."

While it is a little lengthy I love it!! I love the story of Alma, the Younger. He changed sooo much in order to become who God needed him to be. He truly used the Atonement for all that it could be used for.

And he was able to have such an incredible experience with it.

I really love how he said that there was nothing in comparison to his pain; excepting the  JOY that he was able to feel because of Christ and His atonement.

There is so much Joy and Peace that will come as we use the atonement of Jesus Christ. He wants us to turn to Him and rely on Him. BECAUSE He wants to give us this joy.

I know that I have been able to receive so much joy in my life only because of Christ. I know that the atonement works. And I know that like Alma I can be changed. And YOU can be changed as well! This is a promise that God has given each and everyone of us!

We Thank Thee Oh God for a Prophet

Hey Y'all!!
I'm so sorry that it has been forever since I have written a blog post!! Life has been crazy! Especially this last weekend with the 186th annual General Conference!
This past conference was AMAZING!!!
There were so many wonderful talks and the Spirit was so strong, especially as we were able to listen to the words of our Prophet; Thomas S. Monson.
President Monson shared some of His thoughts about choices and how our choices affect us. I just wanted to share some of His and some of my thoughts as well.
He shared about how our choices affect us now, and in the life to come; he said, "May we choose to build up within ourselves a great and powerful faith which will be our most effective defense against the designs of the adversary—a real faith, the kind of faith which will sustain us and will bolster our desire to choose the right. Without such faith, we go nowhere. With it, we can accomplish our goals."
We have to choose faith in order to grow. We have to choose faith in order to receive the blessings an miracles we are seeking. 
FAITH needs to be the lead out in any choice we make!! 
In my life I have been able to see how faith in decision making has changed me. As I was preparing to attend university. I had already made the decision about what my major would be and what classes I would be taking in accordance with that. 
As I went to the university for a day and toured around and talked with professors I had the impression that I needed to change my major. I was so angry. I had already gone through everything, picked classes, and made a plan. Now God was telling me to change it? 
For once in my life I listened. And I made the choice to change my major. 
The results and blessings I have received since have been innumerable. It has been amazing for me to see how much God is willing to bless me when I am willing to listen to Him and make the choice to follow. 
All God is asking is for us to put our faith in Him and to trust that He knows better! As we do so we will be blessed beyond compare. And our faith in Him will increase!