Worth More Than A Million

As a missionary we are always looking for people to share our message of the restored gospel with. As a missionary you also walk around from appointment to appointment during your day. This often creates an opportunity to come across those people who are outdoors to share our message with. Sometimes this may present an awkward situation though as someone working outside on their lawn or doing other activities can often be startled or caught off guard when two Mormon missionaries in white shirts and ties, who they don't know, walk up to them, say hello, and ask them how they are doing. As a conversation is started usually we, as missionaries, can pretty quickly learn how interested, or not, someone is who we've just walked up to. Whatever the case though we always ask "is there anything we could do for you today?" The answers back do vary, but one of the most popular responses back is "Give me a million dollars." Usually I just laugh this off as nothing but a response to get us on our way quicker and say "Ok, have a nice day!" but the other day when this happened it caused me to think about this statement more. If only these people realized how valuable this message we have to offer really is.

 The message of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ can not be bought or purchased. Neither can the peace and happiness that comes from it. It is truly worth more than a million dollars, it is priceless! Those who realize and find this live rich and wealthy lives. Not the rich and wealth the world thinks of though. They live rich lives because they are inviting God, through their obedience, to poor out blessings of spiritual wealth. It is my hope that we can share this priceless message with all of Gods children in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

  To learn more about this Priceless message visit mormon.org

Remembering The Pioneers of the Past, and Being A Pioneer Today

Remembering The Pioneers of the Past, and Being A Pioneer Today

“Can we somehow muster the courage and that steadfastness of purpose which characterized the pioneers of a former generation? Can you and I, in actual fact, be pioneers today? A dictionary defines a pioneer as ‘one who goes before, showing others the way to follow.’ Oh, how the world needs pioneers today! Latter-day Saints can be modern-day pioneers by being aware of the needs of others and then reaching out to rescue them and show them the way to Christ."

Missionary Service: The Story of Sid Going

Missionary Service: The Story of Sid Going-The following is a great story from a talk given by Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles titled Preparing The World For The Second Coming. His talk focuses on missionary service and the required sacrifices that come with it but how the blessings far outweigh them.

    "Missionary service requires sacrifice. There will always be something you leave behind when you respond to the prophet’s call to serve. Those who follow the game of rugby know that the New Zealand All Blacks, a name given because of the color of their uniform, is the most celebrated rugby team ever.  To be selected for the All Blacks in New Zealand would be comparable to playing for a football Super Bowl team or a World Cup soccer team.

In 1961, at age 18 and holding the Aaronic Priesthood, Sidney Going was becoming a star in New Zealand rugby. Because of his remarkable abilities, many thought he would be chosen the very next year for the national All Blacks rugby team.

At age 19, in this critical moment of his ascending rugby career, Sid declared that he would forgo rugby to serve a mission. Some called him crazy. Others called him foolish. They protested that his opportunity in rugby might never come again.

     For Sid it was not what he was leaving behind—it was the opportunity and responsibility ahead. He had a priesthood duty to offer two years of his life to declare the reality of the Lord Jesus Christ and His restored gospel. Nothing—not even a chance to play on the national team, with all the acclaim it would bring—would deter him from that duty.      

He was called by a prophet of God to serve in the Western Canadian Mission. Forty-eight years ago this month, 19-year-old Elder Sidney Going left New Zealand to serve as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

   Sid told me of an experience he had on his mission. It was evening, and he and his companion were just about to return to their apartment. They decided to visit one more family. The father let them in. Elder Going and his companion testified of the Savior. The family accepted a Book of Mormon. The father read all night. In the next week and a half he read the entire Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price. A few weeks later the family was baptized. 

A mission instead of a place on the New Zealand All Blacks team? Sid responded, “The blessing of [bringing others] into the gospel far outweighs anything [you] will ever sacrifice.” 

You’re probably wondering what happened to Sid Going following his mission. Most important: an eternal marriage to his sweetheart, Colleen; five noble children; and a generation of grandchildren. He has lived his life trusting in his Father in Heaven, keeping the commandments, and serving others.

And rugby? After his mission Sid Going became one of the greatest halfbacks in All Blacks history, playing for 11 seasons and serving for many years as captain of the team. How good was Sid Going? He was so good that training and game schedules were changed because he would not play on Sunday.  Sid was so good the Queen of England acknowledged his contribution to rugby.  He was so good a book was written about him titled Super Sid.

What if those honors had not come to Sid after his mission? One of the great miracles of missionary service in this Church is that Sid Going and thousands just like him have not asked, “What will I get from my mission?” but rather, “What can I give?”"

        I know that I have sacrificed and given my time to the Lord to represent Him at this time in my life. I also know that the blessings He has given me and my family have far outweighed the sacrifice. A mission is a calling from God, but like all things with God, He gives us blessings for following Him which in turn makes a mission no longer a sacrifice but a Joy! I love my mission and the things that I am learning while being here. I love the people I've met and the things I've been able to accomplish. What a great blessing it is to represent my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!

Don't Make The Gospel A Part Of Your Life, Make It Your Life

Don't Make The Gospel A Part Of Your Life, Make It Your Life-Frequently in life we hear that we need to make the gospel a part of our lives. While this is definitely not a bad thing to do a wise man once told me "It is not enough to make the gospel a part of our life. We need to make our life the gospel." Now what exactly did he mean? It means we don't go about doing the things of the world and then try to pick and choose gospel principles to try to apply to our life. While this is better than doing nothing it is still not the strongest way or path to take.

      The best way is to have every action, decision, and thing we do and say in our life centered on the gospel. Let's look at the bible story of the wise man and the foolish man to help us understand this. As the story  goes the foolish man built his house upon the sand. The rain came....goodbye house. The wise man built his house upon the rock. The rain came....house holds strong. What was the difference? Weren't both striving to build a solid house? Don't you think they both tried to incorporate good masonry, framing, roofing, and other building skills? The answer is yes. They were both using the same tools and ideas to build their houses the difference was one had his house built and centered on a sandy foundation while the other was centered and built on a solid rock foundation. How does this happen when both were striving to build a solid house?
   Let's look at another example, this time a real life example. Let's say every week we go to church. Once in a while though there is something fun and wholesome out there that takes us out of church, whether it be a camping trip, baseball game, etc. Like was stated all are wholesome activities that may even be incorporating gospel principles, like spending time with our family, but missing church to do so isn't really focusing on Christ and His gospel.
   It all comes around to our decisions. Do we strive to be obedient or do we have selective obedience? When a decision is placed in front of us do we always make the gospel oriented choice because we've chosen to make our life centered around the gospel or do we waver? This will be the difference in claiming all of the blessings our Heavenly Father has to offer, or part of them. Let us all try to not only make the gospel a part of our life but make it our life. Great blessings will follow as we center and build that foundation on Christ. This I can promise you in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Yoke Up With Christ

Yoke Up With Christ-As the Mormon Pioneers made their treacherous journey for a home of religious freedom and refuge they had two main modes of transporting their goods and moving down the unmarked trail. The most effective and convenient ways of the two was to travel in a covered wagon. A covered wagon allowed someone to be able to carry heavier loads because of the two oxen that pull the wagon. The two oxen are attached to the wagon by what is called a yoke. The yoke not only attaches them to the wagon but attaches the oxen to each other to ensure they move as one pulling the load equally down the same course together.

 There were times that because of the grueling travel an ox might get so exhausted and sick it might die right on the trail leaving all the work of pulling the wagon to one ox. This made travels even tougher because the single ox doing all the pulling would get worn out and exhausted faster because of his partner not being there to share the load and burden.

Don't try to take the load upon yourself

     In our lives we too have a load to bear. It is not an easy one especially as we make our way down the path of life. We too, in a way, have that yoke upon us. At times we feel like that lone ox, like no one is helping us. This however is a false idea. We will always have a partner to share the load if we will come unto Him.

    Jesus Christ said in Matt. 11:28-30 "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

    Our yoke can be made easy, our burden can be made light through Jesus Christ. He is there to hitch up and yoke up to us to help us through our everyday struggles. There are times we may feel like He is not helping, not pulling his share of the load, but that's when we need realize He's pulling more than His fair share. He performed the Atonement for us to help us pull our way down the trail. With our diligence and patience, and His efforts of the Atonement, if we will be yoked up with Him we will be able to continue down that trail. Our burdens will become easier to bear, and we will be able to make it down the bumpy trail to our Heavenly Father a little bit easier.   

Commitment To Christ, And My Country

What a great 4th of July it was this past Monday. I hope all of you had as great of a day as I did. Being a missionary it was exciting to have the 4th of July fall on a P-day (preparation day) which allowed us to be able to fully enjoy the celebration of our country and its freedoms. I'm blessed to be serving in the Flathead Valley area of Montana right now. What a beautiful part of this great country to be able to spend the 4th of July in! (check out some google images to see what I mean). The scenery of the snow capped mountains, pine trees, lakes, rivers, clear blue sky and a pleasant 75 degrees was the perfect setting that made me realize again what amazing land God has blessed us with.

    We headed down to Bigfork to join a few other Missionaries for the Bigfork Ward community breakfast. For those of you who are not familiar with Bigfork its a small mountain lake town near Flathead Lake. A lot of people come here to enjoy their 4th of July and have some fun on the Lake. It was fun to mingle amongst the crowd at the breakfast and have the chance to talk to visitors, member and non-member a like, from all over.  As the breakfast started they began with a flag ceremony. They had the Boy Scouts of America from the Bigfork Ward participate and a man dressed up in vintage revolutionary war attire gave a little speech before the the flag came forward. He talked about the blessings we have in this country of freedom and that if we were to remain faithful to God we would remain blessed. As the flag came forward I placed my hand on my heart. As I did so my hand not only hit my heart but my name tag. As a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints we bear the name of Jesus Christ at all times on our name tags. As the flag was raised up into the blue sky the feelings of patriotism and love for God, Jesus Christ, and my country swept over me. As my hand rested on my heart and on His name I thought of all He has done for me in my life. How without Him none of us would be spiritually free. We would all be captured and bound by our sins. It's because of Jesus Christ, His Life and His Atonement, that we are made FREE! If we will come unto Him and let Him take our sins and burdens upon Him we will find rest and freedom.
         Mosiah 5:8-9 says And under this head ye are made free, and there is no other head whereby ye can be made free. There is no other name given whereby salvation cometh; therefore, I would that ye should take upon you the name of Christ, all you that have entered into the covenant with God that ye should be obedient unto the end of your lives. And it shall come to pass that whosoever doeth this shall be found at the right hand of God, for he shall know the name by which he is called; for he shall be called by the name of Christ.
    Not only as a missionary but as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ I have made that covenant with God to take the name of Jesus Christ upon me. If I will strive to do so I can be found on the right hand of God someday as I stand as a witness of His son, Jesus Christ. I'm grateful for the opportunity I had to place my hand on my heart to remember Him and my country. And to recommit myself to America and following Jesus Christ. I challenge all of us to remember the freedoms we have not only in this great country but from Jesus Christ. And I leave this in His name, Jesus Christ, Amen.

Let Freedom, From God, Ring!

As an American we hear the word Freedom a lot in our country. We look at it as a true blessing to live in "the land of the free and the home of the brave" We, as a country and as a people, never want our freedom taken away or put in jeopardy. This causes us to even fight and risk our lives for our freedom. We want to be able to choose and make our decisions in life. We want independence! We want to Let Freedom Ring! I can testify to you that by being a member of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and an American I know why we all have this desire for freedom. It's something that is ingrained into us from before we were born. It's natural and God given.
   God has given us the gift of freedom to act and make decisions for ourselves. This freedom is called free agency. We received this gift before the world was even created. God gave us this gift because he knew that in order for us to truly learn and grow we needed to experience life through our choices.
   Our country allows us to make choices but with all choices comes a consequence, whether good or bad. Many think we can always make a choice but not choose our consequence. This is true, however God would rather have us learn how to make better choices with our freedom that has a positive consequence attached to it.
     2 Nephi 2:27 states that "Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself."
    Through this scripture we see men are free to choose, liberty and eternal life. This means through correct choices, and through obedience to God's commands, in the end we will find ourselves free from sorrow, pain, guilt, shame, and addiction. This allows us to keep our agency.
    On the flip side if we make choices contrary to God's commands we will find ourselves bound and captive to sorrow, pain, guilt, shame, and addiction, and more. This is exactly what Satan wants because these kinds of choices slowly bind us and our freedom to the point that it is very limited, if not gone.
    A simple real world example of this process is driving a car. If we drive a car as long as we follow the laws, or commands, of the road we have the freedom to drive where ever we desire. But if we break those laws, or commandments, we can find ourselves with fines from tickets, to having to attend driving school, to ultimately having our license suspended. And with no license we can't drive and our freedom to drive is gone.
   Unfortunately all of us over time in life have broken a lot of these laws, or commandments. This means all of us are in jeopardy of losing our eternal freedom. Luckily God has given us His son, Jesus Christ. Because of what Christ did by performing the atonement for all of us, through repentance, we can be forgiven. This sets us free of the penalties of sin and allows us to live with God again.
   How grateful I am for my freedom. Freedom from God and in my country. I know that if I make correct choices with that freedom that it will remain intact. I challenge all of us to examine our lives to see if there is, in any way, things we are doing to limit our freedom. Pray and seek God's help about it. As you do, through repentance, you'll feel liberated and free. I can promise this to you in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. 

  For another Blog about the 4th of July Click Here