The Final Count Down...

  My blog today will consist of some of my thoughts now that I am at the last week of my mission. There is so much that I wish I could talk about but I will try to keep this brief.. A mission is a lot like a roller coaster, there are a lot of high points a few lows, but they are a ton of fun and they go FAST!!! It may seem hard to believe that 2 years goes by fast but when you are forgetting about yourself and your needs the time flys by. There has been no greater joy in my life, so far, than the great and many miracles that I have been able to see and experience on my mission while serving the Lord. To grow in love faith and trust in the Lord.

  One of the things that I have gained such a greater understand and love for is the term enduring to the end. There are a few places in the scriptures that talk about this enduring to the end and how important it is. I like sports so I like to think of things like sports and enduring to the end is no different. Say you are running a race and you start off strong, you take and early lead there is no one close to you, or even if you are right in the middle of the pack. You are going along and all of a sudden you get tried so you throw on the brakes and walk off the track. Doesn't make much sense to me. Sure its easy and and you were tired but where does that get up in life? No where! I have often heard the quote, " I never said it would be easy, all I said is that it would be worth it. Life isn't easy! There are many curve balls many obstacles that pop up in our way that slow us down or discourage us, but we must go on. There is a prize out there for all of us if we finish the race. We may come out of it with a few bumps and bruises, scratches and scrapes, but in the end we will all be made whole, because of the love of our Great Savior and Redeemer. So don't give up work hard, especially if the time is short!

Buffets

  The other day we went to a buffet and I thought to myself, "Wow all things really can realate back to the Gospel of Jesus Christ!" Even eating at a buffet. The reason for this idea was because at a buffet there are so many things that we like and they can satisfy that hunger we have and so does the Gospel!

  In some people's lives they may not realize that they are missing something on their "plate of happiness." They may have their favorites, so they are not willing to look or try things that are unfamiliar to them, so they pass something really good by. We all have times where we do this in our lives. We see something and we think that is gross or think no I don't want to talk to them when it may be something that will change their life forever, for the better. True if you find a new food that you fall in love with it may not be for the better because it may cause you to gain lots of weight, but the gospel will never make you fat unless you are like the Prophet Nephi form the Book of Mormon and say, "come unto the Holy One of Israel, and feast upon that which perisheth not, neither can be corrupted, and let your soul delight in fatness." 2 nephi 9:51

  There are so many messages in the scriptures that will bless us in our lives or bring a new love for the scriptures we did not know was there. Don't be afraid to feast upon the words of Christ because they will teach you what you need in your life to be happy.

Weak Hands and Feeble Knees

  During one of our visits this week we were talking to someone about how their life had been going. It was going well, but they had some things that were getting them down. So we did one of our favorite things to do, shared a scripture to bring them some comfort and they thanked us and shared a scritpure that they had found that brought them some comfort. It made me realize once again the importance of scripture study, because some times the things we read will help us and also others that we will run into. The scripture they shared with us comes from Isaiah 35: 3-4.
 

  "Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees. Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you."

  Thats what we are to do. Is to help strenthen those who's hands are weak and have feeble knees. The Lord is there watching over us as well and in the end He will get His vengeance with those that wronged His children. But so often in life we are ment to learn from our trails and then go and help strengthen others. Lets go to work, there are lots out there that are weak and need our help!

SMILE

  While reading through the scriptures, I have noticed there are lots of places that one could make some really good acronyms. And that’s where my thought is from today, is one my favorites it is smile. It comes from the Book of Mormon, the book of 2 Nephi 9:39.

  "O, my beloved brethren, remember the awfulness in transgressing against that Holy God, and also the awfulness of yielding to the enticings of that cunning one. Remember, to be carnally-minded is death, and to be spiritually-minded is life eternal."

  From the being of that scripture you may be thinking how does that have to do with smiling?! But as you look at the last 5 words of the scripture you see that being Spiritually-Minded Is Life Eternal. The devil is trying so hard to make us think that following him brings happiness. But we know that those things are not pleasing in the eyes of God. But being spiritually minded will bring us eternal life. This is the greatest of all of the gifts of God. Remember that smiles are contagious, when you see someone smiling; it is so much easier to smile. So let’s be happy not only now but in the life to come that will come as we remember to smile each day!                                                

Reap what you Sow

  What has been on my mind lately is our reward for our actions. I have often heard the saying, "what goes around, comes around." That is a very interesting topic to me. Of course, God plays a major part in the whole process of who gets what blessings and why, but we need to do good. God will reward us no matter what, but the blessing when we do good can be greater. Just like the saying, "God loves a cheerful giver" so here are some scriptures to describe that very topic. They will come from the Book of Doctrine and Covenants section 6 verses 33-34.

 "Fear not to do good, my sons, for whatsoever ye sow, that shall ye also reap; therefore, if ye sow good ye shall also reap good for your reward. Therefore, fear not, little flock; do good; let earth and hell combine against you, for if ye are built upon my rock, they cannot prevail."

  This is so important to remember in the world today. Now days the world seems to focus so much on the bad, and they don't seem to care as much about the good. Why is this? Has the world forgotten God? I would say a there are many things out there distracting us taking our thoughts away from God and what truly is important, causing us to forget Him. I love scriptures in the Bible and Book of Mormon describing the importance of teaching our kids the ways of God when they are young and when they are old they will not depart from it. So, if we teach our children, or the young people of the world to do good, then they will be able to have a greater chance of remembering and sticking to those teachings when they are faced with difficult decisions and all of the distractions in the world.

  What does that have to do with the scripture, I am asking myself? Well, we must sow good seeds, we must do good things such as teaching people about God. Sharing what we know about God, and His gospel to help others in their lives. To share how much God means to you and all of the great blessings He has given to you. To keep doing good even when we don't see immediate results from it. God is up silent note taking of all of the things we are doing, and the end reward will be far greater that anything we can receive in this life. God will protect us as we are built upon His rock, and no one will prevail against us. They maybe able to kick us, but our Big Brother, Jesus Christ, will protect us. I say this in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.