Back to the Basics- Repentance

     Hopefully you read the last post I wrote about Faith. If not, I would recommend that you read that one first because the gospel of Jesus Christ builds "line upon line," (2 Nephi 28:30) and I'll reference it in this blog post.  By now, hopefully, you have followed Alma's counsel found in The Book of Mormon and put it to the test. You have "experimented on the word" to see if it was good and have cared for your faith "as a seed" by giving it the spiritual food it needs. (If this sounds confusing read the last blog post)

     You have felt your faith in Christ begin to grow as you have learned more about him. As your faith continues to grow you want to be more like Jesus Christ and follow him. The first step you can take in following him is to repent. Let's first define what this means... "Repentance is a change of mind and heart that gives us a fresh view about God, about ourselves, and about the world. It includes turning away from sin AND turning to God for forgiveness."

     I love that definition, but I have an easier time applying something if there are steps for me to follow. The following are six basic steps required for true repentance. As you read these remember that it is not a checklist of items to be crossed off after you have done them once. Rather it is a lifelong process in which each of the steps are repeated many times througout your life.

1. Recognize that you have sinned and feel true sorrow.
2. Stop doing the sin and try your best to never do it again.

3. Confess your sins to God and ask for forgiveness. Also ask others you may have hurt for forgiveness.

4. Make restitution. Do all you can to correct any problems you may have caused.

5. Keep the Commandments. In addition to stopping bad things you must also do good things.

6. Remember the Savior. The most important part is to remember that forgiveness comes because of Jesus Christ. Without him, we cannot be forgiven. That's a big part of why it is so important to have faith in him. He makes repentance possible for us all because he suffered and died for us.

     As you try your best to follow Christ you may still fall short. Don't get discouraged, but remember that through sincere repentance you can be forgiven.

Want to learn more? Click Here!

Back to the Basics- Faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement

     First things first. What is faith?? Faith is a hope or a belief in that which you can't see. For example, I have never seen Jesus Christ, but I firmly believe he was a real person that lived and died for me and you and everyone. It was important that he died for us because without his sacrifice we couldn't be forgiven of our sins and make it back to our Heavenly Father. Jesus Christ's suffering and death for us is called the Atonement.
     Now it's time to learn how you can build your faith. A prophet in The Book of Mormon compared faith to a seed. Think about what you would have to do in order to make a seed grow:

1. Plant the seed. -----> It must have a place to grow.
2. Give it water and plant food. -----> It must be fed.
3. Place it in the sun. -----> It has to be in a place where it can receive light.
4. Continue to care for it. -----> Without more water, food and light it will die.

Those are things you must do in order for a seed to grow. So what about faith?

1. Plant the seed. -----> You have to make a place in your heart for faith to grow.
2. Give it water and plant food. ----> Just as a plant needs food to grow, faith requires spiritual food (The Bible and Book of Mormon, prayer, etc.).
3. Place it in the sun. -----> You need to be in a place where you can receive 'spiritual light' or learn more about Jesus Christ. After all, you must learn about him before you can have faith in him.
4. Continue to care for it. -----> You must continue to 'feed' your faith in order for it to live.

      As you learn more about Jesus Christ you will see your belief in him grow. Just like a seed it will require time, work and patience on your part, but in time you will find your small 'seed of faith' can grow from a small acorn into a giant oak tree! I know that to be true. If you already have faith in Christ, strengthen it. If not, begin today by learning more about him. I know as you do this your faith in Jesus Christ and his atonement will grow. I know Jesus Christ lives and loves us. I know he died for us so we can be forgiven. Now it's up to you to learn the same thing for yourself.

     If you have any particular questions you can message me on Facebook or click on any or all of the following links to learn more.
What is Faith?
Faith in Jesus Christ
Jesus Christ and His Atonement

Back to the Basics

     I remember playing basketball from a young age and I learned so many different things about the game. Even after learning many new things though we always got back to the basics and I think it's about that time for my blog. I have written a lot about the gospel of Jesus Christ and after talking about so many different  things I thought it would be good to get back to the basics and reinforce the fundamentals.

     Over the next month or so, I'll be posting blogs about topics such as Faith in Jesus Christ, Repentance, Baptism, and the Holy Ghost. If there are any other things you would like to learn about feel free to shoot me a message on Facebook and then be ready to learn!

A Second Witness Clears Things Up

     Every six months we get to hear from the prophet, apostles and leaders of the church in General Conference. The most recent was at the beginning of this month and I really enjoyed it. The following excerpt came from a talk that I loved (Click here for full talk.). Shortly after hearing it we were talking to a man who couldn't understand why we would need The Book of Mormon. It showed me just how much we DO need a living prophet on the earth.

      "Why is the Book of Mormon so essential if we already have the Bible to teach us about Jesus Christ? Have you ever wondered why there are so many Christian churches in the world today when they obtain their doctrines from essentially the same Bible? It is because they interpret the Bible differently. If they interpreted it the same, they would be the same church. This is not a condition the Lord desires, for the Apostle Paul declared that there is “one Lord, one faith, one baptism” (Ephesians 4:5). To help bring this oneness about, the Lord established a divine law of witnesses. Paul taught, “In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established” (2 Corinthians 13:1).

The Bible is one witness of Jesus Christ; the Book of Mormon is another. Why is this second witness so crucial? The following illustration may help: How many straight lines can you draw through a single point on a piece of paper? The answer is infinite. For a moment, suppose that single point represents the Bible and that hundreds of those straight lines drawn through that point represent different interpretations of the Bible and that each of those interpretations represents a different church.

What happens, however, if on that piece of paper there is a second point representing the Book of Mormon? How many straight lines could you draw between these two reference points: the Bible and the Book of Mormon? Only one. Only one interpretation of Christ’s doctrines survives the testimony of these two witnesses.

Again and again the Book of Mormon acts as a confirming, clarifying, unifying witness of the doctrines taught in the Bible so that there is only “one Lord, one faith, one baptism.”

   My guess is that you may now be more curious about The Book of Mormon. To learn more you can talk to me on Facebook (see my blog's homepage) or you can get a free copy for yourself by clicking here. When you get your copy take the time to read and pray about it. Ask God if it is true and you will come to know that it is a Book from God.

The More You Feed It, The More It Will Grow

     The other day we were walking around when we saw a guy that was carrying an albino burmese python, basically a big snake for those that aren't familiar with reptiles. I was way excited to see it seeing as my brothers and I had many pet snakes at home. Well I got talking to Elder Bond a bit about the snakes we had and how we took care of them, etc. One thing that came up was how much to feed them and how it related to their growth. With snakes, as with most anything living I would guess, the more you feed it, the more it will grow. If you were to feed a snake less than it really needed, hoping it could get by on that amount, its growth would come along very slowly, if at all. It would be foolish to believe that a snake, or anything else, would grow if you didn't give it the proper nurtrition that it required. Later it clicked in my head what this meant in relationship to all of us spiritually.

     Often times we try to make our faith grow while only feeding it when it is convenient, which in my experience, is hardly ever. This occasional nourishment will not do the job. If you truly want your faith to grow you must feed it more. You must "feast upon the word" (2 Nephi 32:3) and "pray always" (2 Nephi 32:8). If you do these things I can promise that you will see your faith grow. And just as with the snake, the more you feed it, the more it will grow!

There Is So Much More to See

     Recently we went hiking on the Big Horn Mountains here in Lovell and it was a blast! We had hiked down a trail and come to Porcupine Falls (the picture on the right), which I loved! After walking around for a while though we saw that we could climb up another trail that would give us a different perspective. After we climbed up to this point we saw that there was so much more to be seen (the picture below is taken from that point). It was cool to see the same place from two different perspectives, both of which were gorgeous. I wouldn't say one view was better than the other or that one took away from the other. Instead it allowed me to see things that I may have otherwise missed out on. That's exactly how I feel about the Bible and The Book of Mormon.
     During our hike we had seen one beautiful perspective but that didn't mean it was the only one to be seen. In 2 Nephi 29:7-8 we read, "Know ye not that there are more nations than one?...Wherefore murmur ye, because that ye shall receive more of my word? Know ye not that the testimony of two nations is a witness unto you that I am God, that I remember one nation like unto another? Wherefore, I speak the same words unto one nation like unto another."

     The Bible is great and I love reading its words. I also love to read more of God's word in The Book of Mormon. I love to compare and see how both offer a new insight or perspective. One doesn't take away from the other but they work together hand in hand. So give The Book of Mormon a try and see how it can build your faith in Christ just as the Bible has. As you read from its pages you will find that there is so much more to see!

Grandfather's Journal- Learning From Your Ancestors

Genealogy is one of the fastest growing hobbies in America and people are becoming very interested in learning about their families. As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints I believe that this work is very important to help us in this life and for the life to come. See how this man learned from his ancestors and think of you can do the same thing for yourself. Learn more about your ancestors for free at familysearch.org.