Forgiveness

Ah, what a topic forgiveness is. It seems sometimes like forgiveness is the last thing that we want to do when somebody has wronged us, yet, as with everything else in our lives, we can turn to the Savior for a perfect example. He taught that: "...I the Lord, forgive sins unto those who confess their sins before me and ask forgiveness, who have not sinned unto death. My disciples, in days of old, sought occasion against one another and forgave not one another in their hearts; and for this evil they were afflicted and sorely chastened. Wherefore, I say unto you, that ye ought to forgive one another; for he that forgiveth not his brother his trespasses standeth condemned before the Lord; for there remaineth in him the greater sin. I, the Lord,will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to forgive all men." (Doctrine and Covenants 64:7-10) What powerful words from our Savior! If we don't forgive, then the greater sin remains with us. Yes, we as human beings have weaknesses and sometimes we offend, yet when offence comes, look to the Savior who said in his final hours: "...Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do..." (Luke 23:34)

Here is a very very touching video about a man who lost his family in a car accident involving a drunk driver. Every time I see this, I see true Christ-like love as this man forgives completely the young man who completely changed his life.

I testify that as we forgive, our burdens truly will be made light. Happiness will come, and so will hope and healing, as we forgive our brothers and sisters of their trespasses.

My Kindness Shall Not Depart From Thee

"For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee. In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer...For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee." (Isaiah 54 7-8,10)

"The Son of Man hath descended below them all. Art thou greater than he? Therefore, hold on thy way, and the priesthood shall remain with thee; for their bounds are set, they cannot pass. Thy days are known, and thy years shall not be numbered less; therefore, fear not what man can do, for God shall be with you forever and ever." (Doctrine and Covenants 122:8-9)

In this song, the texts from the Prophet Isaiah and the comforting words of the Lord to the Prophet Joseph Smith are combined with beautiful music composed by Rob Gardner. Let it be a reminder than even in our darkest hours, the Lord is with us every step of the way. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Diligence and MJ

"And see that all these things are done in wisdom and order; for it is not requisite that a man should run faster than he has strength. And again, it is expedient that he should be DILIGENT, that thereby he might win the prize; therefore, all things must be done in order." (Mosiah 4:27)

I love this scripture. Here, the Lord is telling us not to push ourselves beyond what our limits are. All that is expected is that we are diligent. First of all, what does it mean to be diligent? Diligence is a constant, earnest effort to accomplish what we want to do, or what the Lord wants us to do. So how do we show diligence spiritually? The main ones are what members of the Church like to call the "Primary answers," or the answers that we have been taught since we were little kids. Examples of such are reading our scriptures, saying our prayers morning and night, attending Church every Sunday that you can, paying our tithing, etc. Yet, being diligent is more than just simply DOING these things. Diligence means taking what you learn and APPLYING them into our daily lives.

In the year 1978, a young man faces the reality of getting cut during tryouts of his high school varsity basketball team. Told that he was too short to compete at that level, he walks away with motivation to prove himself. That young man's name was Michael Jordan. Anybody who has any clue of what basketball is also knows who Michael Jordan is. After getting cut from his high school team, he made the junior varsity team where he scored over 40 points in several games. His junior and senior year, he played varsity and averaged 30 points per game as a senior. This led him to a scholarship to play for the University of North Carolina. He earned the Atlantic Coast Conference Freshman of the Year and played 3 years for the Tar Heels, averaging 17 points per game. Drafted with the number 3 overall pick in the 1984 NBA draft by the Chicago Bulls, Michael was about to change the game forever. By the time he eventually retired in 2003, he was known and acknowledged by many as the greatest to ever play the game and the stats back up that claim. He was a 6 time NBA Champion, 5 time NBA MVP, 14 time NBA All-Star, 6 time NBA Finals MVP, 3 time NBA All-Star Game MVP, 2 time Slam Dunk Champion, etc, etc, etc.

So, my question is, what might have happened if Michael gave up after he never made the varsity team his sophomore year? Would he be as well known as he is now? I'd bet a million dollars (if I had a million dollars) that he would not. Michael was diligent, not only in practicing and listening to his coaches, but also in applying what he learned in the actual games. It never was easy for him, and there were plenty of times when I'm sure he wanted to give in, but he never did. If we are diligent with the Gospel, we too will be champions. Maybe not of the NBA, but of eternal life.

*Pictures from websites: www.classes.lt.unt.edu and www.bleacherreport.com
 

Good will prevail

One of my favorite things to do is get a group of my closest friends, get a bunch of food, and watch movies. I've always loved watching movies. I remember the good old days of Lion King, Aladdin, Snow White, The Swan Princess(I grew up with 3 sisters...cut a guy some slack), and a lot of the other classic children's movies. A general theme in these movies that I've mentioned and in a lot of children's movies is that the evil characters(Scar, Jafar, The Queen, etc) at one point or another seem to have won, yet the good somehow find a way to pull out the victory. The Savior said: "But if it be not built upon my gospel, and is built upon the works of men, or upon the works of the devil, verily I say unto you they have joy in their works for a season, and by and by the end cometh, and they are hewn down and cast into the fire, from whence there is no return."

It gets kinda hard when it seems like there's no reason to hope. Yet, there is reason to hope. We know that  

through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, all that is unfair about life will be made up. We will all live again. Our sins can be forgiven. All this and more is possible, because the Only Begotten Son of God atoned for us, in the most supreme act of love in the entire history of the earth. It is because of the Atonement that good will prevail over evil. As we put our faith in Jesus Christ, repent, be baptized by somebody who holds His Priesthood authority, receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost by that same authority, and endure to the end, Satan cannot and will not win. The Savior is constantly extending His arms to us with the invitation to follow Him.

How grateful I am for the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I've done plenty of dumb stuff in my life, but thanks to our Savior, we can be forgiven. He promises: "Behold, he who has repented of his sins, the same is forgiven, and I, the Lord, remember them no more." I know that He lives. I have not seen Him, nor do I think I will ever see Him while in my mortal life, yet I don't have to. The Holy Ghost has told me that He lives. I know that He loves us. If He didn't love us, He wouldn't have performed the Atonement, and if He didn't perform the Atonement, good would have eventually been overcome by the influences of the evil one. I end with a line from a Christmas Hymn:"Then pealed the bells more loud and deep: God is not dead, nor doth he sleep; The wrong shall fail, the right prevail, With peace on earth, good will to men.”

Can I really be happy?

In the world around us, happiness seems to be hard to find these days. Turn on the evening news and stories of murder, violence, rape, and other horrible things always come on first. In these times, a lot people tend to choose to be miserable and unhappy. There's one word I want to emphasize in that last sentence: CHOOSE. I have several friends back home that always told me that happiness is a choice, and it took so long for that message to sink in. In reality, we cannot control what happens to us, but we can control our reactions to it. Though times are hard, and evil is all around, let us use our God given agency and choose to be happy. Enjoy this video by Elder Richard G. Scott of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

Anger

In the 2007 season, BYU football faced the UCLA Bruins twice. One was in Pasadena, California in the famous Rose Bowl where UCLA plays their home games, and the other was in the Las Vegas Bowl at the end of the season. The first game, UCLA beat the Cougars 27-17. The game was close basically the whole way and a late turnover by the Cougars sealed their fate. In the Vegas Bowl, BYU controlled most of the way. At the very end of the game, UCLA had a chance to win the game with a really close field goal of only 28 yards...but to their dismay, it was blocked. The Bruins had their chance for revenge in Week 2 of the 2008 season when they travelled to Provo to take on the Cougars again.



As we can see...UCLA has had better days. The inspiration for this post came from Matthew 5:21-22: "Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother shall be in danger of the judgment..." http://lds.org/scriptures/nt/matt/5.22?lang=eng 

Now, whether UCLA was angry with BYU, I don't know, but what I do know is that anger will get you nowhere. God has commanded us not to be angry with each other and sometimes that is hard, but I know that as we look for the good in people and try our best to love them as the Savior loves them, He will make up the difference.

When I am Baptized

As I have been out here on my mission, I have grown fond of some of the music that I sang as a kid growing up in the Children's Songbook. One of these songs is called "When I am Baptized." The lyrics go like this:

"I like to look for rainbows

whenever there is rain

And ponder on the beauty

of an earth made clean again.

I want my life to be as clean

as earth right after rain.

I want to be the best I can

and live with God again.

I know when I am baptized

my wrongs are washed away,

and I can be forgiven

and improve myself each day.

I want my life to be as clean

as earth right after rain.

I want to be the best I can

and live with God again."

(Children's Songbook #103)

Baptism is an essential ordinance if we want to enter into the Kingdom of God. Jesus said: "...Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." (John 3:5) http://lds.org/scriptures/nt/john/3?lang=eng To give us an example to follow, Jesus Christ Himself was baptized. The prophet Nephi said: "And now, if the Lamb of God, he being holy, should have need to be baptized by water, to fulfil all righteousness, O then, how much more need have we, being unholy, to be baptized, yea, even by water! And now, I would ask of you, my beloved brethren, wherein the Lamb of God did fulfil all righteousness in being baptized by water? Know ye not that he was holy? But notwithstanding he being holy, he showeth unto the children of men that, according to the flesh he humbleth himself before the Father, and witnesseth unto the Father that he would be obedient unto him in keeping his commandments." (2 Nephi 31: 5-7) http://lds.org/scriptures/bofm/2-ne/31?lang=eng 

God loves us. He sent His son to live a perfect life. He set the perfect example for us. He suffered for us. He died for us. All that He did, He did for us out of perfect, sincere love for each and every one of us. I testify that when we are baptized, our sins are washed away and our lives will be as clean as earth, right after rain.