The Last Supper

Your Day for a Mission

The Blessings of a Mission far out weigh anything you could possibly gain by putting the work of the lord to the side and progressing for that instant in whatever you may feel compelled to accomplish. But not just going on a mission, but even as you put the Lord first in all things, then shall the Lord bless you in your life or mission, in your family, in your relationships, and in your future.

Jenny Oaks Baker Shares Testimony

Book of Mormon

I can promise, that by reading the Book of Mormon, you will gain a greater understanding of Jesus Christ than what you already have, you will come to know more of his mission upon this Earth, of his kindness, his mercy, and his plan for all of us. The Book of Mormon will build upon what you already know of Christ from the Bible, through the testimony of Prophets that lived long ago in America.

Family!!!!

Get Them To The Temple

Elder Perry quoted the sixth President of the Church, Joseph F. Smith (1838-1918), who said, “There is no exaltation in the Kingdom of God without the fullness of the priesthood.” He then explained that, “Every man who receives the priesthood does it with an oath and a covenant, and [if he is faithful] he shall be exalted...............

Rescuing Those Who Are Less-Active

He also said it is important to make sure that those receiving the Aaronic Priesthood as well as those who have become less active Melchizedek Priesthood holders or prospective elders should understand that neglecting the priesthood has consequences.

“I hope that sometimes we think about [the] responsibility that is ours to be certain they are properly trained in [the] priesthood before they are given the Melchizedek Priesthood and [that we as leaders] are careful that they understand the duties and responsibilities. … I hope this year we’ll turn the card a little by trying to make some effort on their rescue, to bring them back into the fold. And they will come back–it’s been so easy to reclaim them if we’ll go out and seek them.”

Priesthood leaders take note of what they feel inspired by the Holy Ghost to do in response to the teachings given by an Apostle.

He asked the leaders if they know how many less-active priesthood holders are in their stake or ward. “You should have that right on your mind. If you don’t have it now, I want you to go home and find out and put it on your refrigerator door. I want you to look at that number every day … and think about it. These are active Melchizedek priesthood, brethren that need to be brought into the fold.”

In an interview following the meeting, he said, “That is the job of an elder’s quorum president and of a high priest group leader, really taking their lists, analyzing which ones are less-active, and then prayerfully praying about selecting maybe five at a time [to whom] we will carry the message of the gospel. … It is the process of really understanding and knowing the people well enough that the inspiration of the Lord will come and say this one will be receptive, and this is the one we should start working with.”

Fulfilling a Dream

During the meeting, he said he has a dream, that in every ward in the Church the elders quorum president will be “vitally concerned about five less-active,” and the high priest group leader will be concerned about five less-active prospective elders, and that they will work with missionaries to “go into these homes and teach them the gospel.”


He said, “If you have good coordination with the full-time missionaries they can fill in and do those 10 so that the missionaries are always teaching, every night, the gospel. Then, when you’re short, then you start calling ward missionaries to fill the responsibility of teaching these 10 families the duties of these basic principles of the gospel. Then we’re bringing them along. We have found this works very effectively if we’ll only do it. We can build our father’s kingdom, we can fulfill our responsibilities, and we can be prepared for what the lord has ahead of us in this great period that we’re engaged in today. … Just think what would happen if every ward had 10 more active Melchizedek Priesthood. It would literally change the Church. We would have 290,000 more active Melchizedek Priesthood. Now, that would be a great body to meet the challenge we have ahead of us.”

Blessings from the Rescue

Elder Perry said that seeing someone return to full activity brings great joy. “There is nothing like a perspective elder returning into the fold because suddenly their whole outlook on life changes. … Think of what that does to a man. It prepares him spiritually to understand his relationship with God the Eternal Father and His Son Jesus the Christ, first and foremost. It unites [him with] the Holy Ghost again in his life, to where that is an active force in leading, guiding, and directing him. It makes him a better husband, appreciative of his wife because he learns the true doctrine that comes. They are eternally linked together for time and for all eternity. And of course it makes him a better father because he can teach [his family] the gospel and understand it and be an example to them on how they should live.”

The culmination of the rescue effort, he said, is when those who are rescued go to the temple. “To me, that is the graduation day. When we have been able to get them through course of study that they understand the doctrines of the kingdom been able to clean up their lives, been able to invite the Holy Spirit into their lives, they have made a commitment to our Savior in a culminating event of this whole process will be being there with their sweet companions and their families and having those great blessing pronounced on their head for time and all eternity.”

Carry Christ

Recently I watched a video by Al Fox, and sometimes when I see a good video, I feel inspired to take action. So I watched the video with a really great person named Angelica, and we decided that we would challenge each other and see how well we could do what happened in the video; Al Fox carried in her hand a picture of Jesus Christ everywhere she went for the day, and she never put him down.

     Really, before I started the challenge, I thought it would be pretty easy. As I went through the day, I found out right off the bat, this was not going to be easy at all. The first thing that I did was go to the shower, ha. So I made it through that challenge. But then came making breakfast, which presented a little inconvenience, but sometimes carrying Christ in our hearts is inconvenient, but will always be worth it. Every now and then, I would lose hold of the picture of Christ and it would fall to the ground, but I would quickly pick it up. Sometimes outside forces will try and knock Christ out of our lives, and sometimes they will do a good job at it, but when that happens, quickly turn again to Christ and make him apart of your life again. Then at certain points, I would lose focus and set the picture down, and then I would remember instantly and pick it back up. How quick we are to forget Christ in our lives, but he shall always forgive us if we strive to keep our eye single to the glory of God and always remember him.

    
What is really interesting about it all, is that at the end of the day, if ever I lost focus and set the picture down, I always felt like something was missing, just like if we leave Christ, we will always feel as though we are missing the presence of his spirit. And when I got used to holding it in my hand, it became natural for me to do everything with it in my hand, and no longer became an inconvenience, but just everyday activity. What I learned through the challenge was sometimes it is hard to keep focused on Christ all the time, and sometimes we can easily forget that he gave us everything, and we should always remember him. But as we keep him close to us, he shall become one with us, helping us along our trials in life.

small things bring great things to pass

Never Underestimate the Effect You Can Have

We must never underestimate the profound effect we can have in gathering Israel, Elder Nelson said. He retold an instance where his willingness to simply lend a battered copy of the Book of Mormon to a young woman changed her life and the lives of many others in generations to come.
During the Korean War a young army nurse named Beverly regularly assisted Elder Nelson in performing operations. At the end of one particular operation, she asked him: “What makes you different from the other surgeons I work with?” Elder Nelson took that opportunity to bear his testimony and lend her the Book of Mormon.
“One week later, her husband returned the book and said, ‘Thanks a lot.’” Elder Nelson replied, “‘You didn’t read it, did you?’ ‘Please take it back and read it prayerfully and then I want my book back.’ When they returned, they said tearfully, ‘We have read the Book of Mormon. We know it’s true. We want to know more.’”

Elder Nelson tells missionaries they have a legacy to fulfill, and must never doubt the life-changing power of the Book of Mormon. “The Book of Mormon is the most effective book available to help you teach of the Lord,” Elder Nelson says. “It is a tangible sign to the world that the promised gathering of Israel has begun.”

From One Simple Gesture, 309 Conversions

Elder Nelson went on to baptize both of them and, 30 years later, was reunited with Beverly at a conference in Knoxville, Tennessee. He found that because of his simple gesture, 80 people had been converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ. In 2012, the list had expanded to 309 people.
“The Book of Mormon is the most effective book available to help you teach of the Lord,” Elder Nelson said. “It is a tangible sign to the world that the promised gathering of Israel has begun.”

Elder Nelson

Special Witness - President Uchtdorf

MY 10

Ten ways to bring yourself closer to God:

1- Pray to god always

2- Serve God

3- Serve others

4- Seek revelation through church attendance

5- Seek forgiviness from God and from yourself

6- forgive others

7- Teach the Gospel to those you know

8- Read the scriptures, better yet feast upon them :)

9- write in your journal: life, promptings of the spirit, spiritual moments

10- Be Humble -- Realize God gave you everything


There are many more things written in  the scriptures, for which Christ has given us wisdom on how to act while in this world. I would encourage you to to look through the scriptures on ways to get closer to God.

Today

Finish Each Day
Finish every day and be done with it.
You have done what you could.
Some blunders and absurdities
no doubt have crept in;
forget them as soon as you can.
Tomorrow is a new day;
begin it well and serenely
and with too high a spirit
to be cumbered with
your old nonsense.
This day is all that is
good and fair.
It is too dear,
with its hopes and invitations,
to waste a moment on yesterdays.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Carpe diem is a Latin phrase. It means “seize the day.” You have “today” within your grasp. But unless you “seize” it, it will slip through your fingers like quicksilver and be gone. Oh, certainly, the sun will come up each morning throughout your life, and each day will present an opportunity of sorts for good works and happiness. But no other “today” will ever again be quite like the one that is now in your grasp. Carpe diem.

The time has come to “put away childish things.” This means developing a genuine sense of purpose about life. It means seeing “today” as the wondrous opportunity it is. Today is the day to make the most of your education, to prepare for missionary service and for temple marriage. Today is the day for magnifying Church callings and responsibilities, for thrusting aside self to render Christian service. Today is the day for right decisions and resolute determination—your mallet and chisel—to prepare for tomorrow. This is the very essence of being about your Father’s business.

My dear young friends, carpe diem! Seize this day! Grasp the marvelous opportunity that is at hand! Your today is garnished with the truth of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. Your tomorrow is bright indeed—if you make the most of today.

by Elder Lance B. Wickman

Jesus Teaches about the Widow's Mites

Deuteronomy 10:12

12 ¶And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul

Temples are a Beacon

What a blessing to have temple close to you for those who do, for many shall do everything they can to reach one thousands of miles away to secure for themselves the blessings provided by the sacred temples.

ALWAYS THERE

Carry Christ with you everywhere !!!! :)

Thief on the Cross

THIEF ON THE CROSS Doesn't the story of the thief on the cross prove that salvation can be instant apart from works? [Image]Does that story really show that salvation can come instantly without conditions, without effort, without covenants, without baptism, without knowledge of the Gospel and without striving to obey Christ? Look at what the Bible actually says. To a thief also being crucified who asked the dying Lord to remember him, Christ said, "Today shalt thou be with me in Paradise" (Luke 23:43). But two days after this, when Christ was resurrected and had taken up a glorious, tangible body, he appeared to Mary and told her, "Touch me not, for I am not yet ascended to my Father; but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father and your Father; and to my God, and your God" (John 20:17 - one of many passages, by the way, showing that God the Father and Christ are separate Beings). If Christ had been in paradise but had not yet ascended to heaven where the Father dwells, then what is paradise? It is obviously some other place besides heaven. See also 2 Cor. 12:2-4, where Paul speaks of someone being caught up to the third heaven and of someone being caught up to paradise, as if they were different places. Paradise appears to be a place where the spirits of the dead await the time of resurrection. I don't know what Aramaic word Christ may have used, but according to my non-LDS Greek Bible Lexicon, the Greek word for paradise can mean "the part of Hades which was thought by the later Jews to be the abode of the souls of pious until the resurrection: but some understand this to be a heavenly paradise." This agrees well with what Joseph Smith said that Christ meant: "This day thou shalt be with me in the world of spirits: then I will teach you all about it and answer your inquiries" (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p.309). Indeed, Peter explained that when Christ was dead, he went as a spirit to preach the Gospel to those who had died (1 Peter 3:18-20; I Peter 4:6). Christ was not offering instant salvation to the thief, who knew little of the Gospel and had not covenanted through baptism to follow Christ. He was simply telling him that they would be in the same place that day, in the world of spirits. There, the thief could learn of the Gospel of Christ and accept it. He would still need to accept baptism, which the early Christians and modern Latter-day Saints offer vicariously to the deceased via the sacred ordinance of baptism for the dead. So many people have misunderstood the story of the thief on the cross, thinking that it shows deathbed repentance is all it takes for a terrible sinner to get into heaven without baptism or anything else. Remember, though, that Christ did not offer instant salvation or heaven to the thief, only that they would be in paradise that day. It would be at least two days after that before Christ ascended to heaven. (And do we know that the thief was a terrible sinner? The Romans executed him for allegedly being a thief - but that tells us nothing of his real spiritual state. A sinner, certainly, but perhaps he was a penitent soul seeking the truth.) A related concept is the Biblical teaching that Christ ministered to the dead souls in the spirit world while he was in the grave for three days. Peter writes of this in the New Testament, where in 1 Peter 3:18-22, he speaks of Christ going to preach to the dead while He was physically dead, and further explains 1 Peter 4:6 that the Gospel was preached to the dead in order to offer them life, not torment as some anti-LDS critics have argued. The theme of Christ rescuing the souls of the dead by descending into Hades is ancient and widespread in Christianity, one that persisted into the Middle Ages but seems to have been more fully lost since the Reformation. Christ's mission of rescuing souls in hell is sometimes called the Descensus or the "Harrowing of Hell." According to the Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, "Most Christian theologians believe that it [the Descensus] refers to the visit of the Lord after His death to the realm of existence, which is neither heaven nor hell in the ultimate sense, but a place or state where the souls of pre-Christian people waited for the message of the Gospel, and whither the penitent thief passed after his death on the cross (Lk. 23.43)." [F.L. Cross and E.A. Livingstone, eds. The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1983), 395, as cited by Daniel C. Peterson, FARMS Review of Books, Vol. 9, No. 2, 1997, p. 137.] There you have respected non-LDS scholars discussing the ancient Christian concept of the Descensus, the descent of Christ to rescue the dead in a place where the thief went, a place which was not heaven. These truths were not invented by Joseph Smith - they've been restored. Now quit wasting time and start digging in! (In response to the above comments, one reader argued that this crucial story would be meaningless unless Christ was offering salvation to the penitent man. But is the story really meaningless unless there was instant assurance of salvation? Jesus was offering the man hope. He would be in paradise, and so would Christ. It appears that the thief was going to have the opportunity to hear the Gospel. But paradise - a word that refers to the waiting place of deceased souls prior to the resurrection - isn't heaven and isn't a final state of salvation, even though some will insist that it is, in spite of Christ not yet having ascended to His Father in heaven three days later.) Link: http://www.jefflindsay.com/LDSFAQ/FQ_Salvation.shtml#thief

3/11/11

by Elder Wilcox

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by : Allan F. Packer

“Elder Dallin H. Oaks defined a testimony this way: ‘A testimony of the gospel is a personal witness borne to our souls by the Holy Ghost that certain facts of eternal significance are true and that we know them to be true’ (Dallin H. Oaks, “Testimony” Ensign, May 2008, 26). At another time Elder Oaks said, ‘Testimony is to know and to feel, conversion is to do and to become’ (Dallin H. Oaks, quoted in Kenneth Johnson, “Coming to Know for Ourselves,” Ensign, July 2008, 29).”

 

When we become members of the church, we are not finished, for true conversion is to do and become as stated above. most importantly, we need to become the people Christ wants us to be, then shall we be converted saints. For we can not check off the list "father or mother", "saint" or "charitable" but we must become these things. We may always have a testimony, but the way to strengthen that testimony is to Become more fully converted children of God.

 

So Create your To BE list right now. In a recent Conference there was a talk about becoming, instead of Just doing. If we created a goal for ourselves, how are we doing. If we have not created some goals yet, what is holding you back, become the greatest person you can be.

http://lds.org/general-conference/2011/04/what-manner-of-men-and-women-ought-ye-to-be?lang=eng

Courage to Stand Alone

We must be firm in our faith and never waver, for he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. Stay firm, built upon the rock and we shall never fail in the end.

Good Intentions

"Crying babies are like good intentions: Both should be carried out immediately!" - Brigham Young
Most of us have good intentions of becoming a better person, but unless we act upon these good intentions, nothing shall ever become of them. You will never make the shots that you never take, and you will never become a better person, who grows closer to the Lord, unless you decide to try!

Power of God

"The gift of the priesthood is priceless. It carries with it the authority to act as God’s servants. … There is nothing else to compare with it in all this world.”

President Thomas S. Monson

Feeling the Holy Ghost: Power of the Holy Spirit

"Life is fragile, handle with prayer."
Harold B. Lee

Stand in Holy Places - Thomas S. Monson - October 2011 General Conference

I have pondered the inspiration which came that day not only to me but also to Peter Mourik. That remarkable experience has provided an undeniable witness to me of the importance of being worthy to receive such inspiration and then trusting it—and following it—when it comes.

17 Miracles

This movie is so amazing. Anyone who is interested in learning more about the pioneers and there amazing journey into the west, you must watch this movie. Also anyone who just wants a good movie in general, and one that will really make you feel how blessed you are to live how you do today, I suggest this movie! Miracles do happen if you put your trust in God.

Paora Winitana - His Personal Best

Home is where it all begins, I love this guys story!!

I Am a Son of God

Never let your gaurd down, satan shall always try to deceive you. But always remember that you are a son of God, and if you shall always look to God for strength he shall always be there for you. Satan shall always come after you soon after you have a spiritual experience, be on your gaurd and never lose your faith!

Grant Leeworthy - Organizing Energy