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.

The Gospel of Baseball Part 3- Second to Third through Baptism

The second to Third principle of The Gospel of Baseball is Baptism. As a baseball player you have to progress from first base to second base before reaching third base. Once we pass second base we truly have a desire to make it safely home to score. But first we must make a covenant, promise, or commitment to making it to third base. When we were on first or second base we were just trying to work our way around the bases safely and figure out what we needed to know about the defense. But as we approach third we gain a stronger desire to make it there because it means we are one step closer. Third base is the gateway or door to home. We can't score without it. So we have to be fully immersed in our decision and progress to third, cross through that doorway, and score. 
    Baptism is also very key in our lives. Just as the baseball player can't skip first or second base and go straight to third base we need to have faith and repent before baptism. But by gaining those two key principles we gain a desire to make a covenant with our Heavenly Father. A covenant is a promise or commitment to following God. Just as the baseball player commits to getting to third base we commit to keeping God's commandments, taking the Lord's name upon us, and always remembering Him. Baptism is the gateway or doorway to heaven. Without it we cannot make it home to our Heavenly Father. Baptism is performed by being fully immersed in the water for a remission of our sins. It is truly a blessing in our lives to be baptized and receive the blessings that come from making a covenant with God.