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.

Below Zero

     Growing up in Texas I didn't experience very cold temperatures and it definitely never got below 0! In fact I didn't really know that it got below 0 anywhere. It just hadn't occurred to me. Well during the last year I got pretty familiar with temperatures that had a negative sign in front of them. I really didn't want to experience the cold; I enjoyed the heat and wanted it to stay warm because that is where I felt comfortable. I felt like I had never been so cold in my life when the winter arrived. I didn't think my body would ever be able to handle temperatures below 0, but somehow I survived it and I'm still alive and kickin'. Plus I learned an important life lesson.
Often times we want to stay where we are at because it is familiar and we are comfortable. We don't want to go through the "refiner's fire", or in this case the refiner's freezer, because it won't be easy. But that's not what our Heavenly Father wants for us. He knows that we all have imperfections and it often requires us doing hard things in order to become better. That's what this life is about. We face opposition and things that we may not be comfortable with but they give us experience and end up working for our good. So if you feel like you are having to do things that you don't want to or like life is just too hard, remember that I, Elder Huntsman, was able to survive an Eastern Montana winter. If I can do that then you can face any hard things you may face, especially when Jesus Christ is on your side.

Heard of Joseph Smith Before??

Many of you may have heard of Joseph Smith in your history class or from a friend that is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, but you may not know much about what he did or who he really was. This movie goes through much of the life of Joseph Smith and will give you an idea of who he was, what he did and why we refer to him as "The Prophet of the Restoration." Enjoy it, I know I did.

Take Advantage of the Blessings Available to You

     During this time of year in Wyoming we get a fair amount of mosquitos and they drive me nuts. I have never really liked them and I don't think I ever will. As we got home the other night I was thinking about those nasty bugs and on my desk was a bottle of permethrin, an insect repellent that we had been given to protect ourselves from the mosquitos and other bugs. I thought to myself, "You have what you need to avoid the mosquitos, you just have to use it!!" And then it hit me...

     To be able to avoid the mosquitos would be considered a blessing to me and if I would use the tools, like permethrin, that I had been given then I could have experienced the blessings of no mosquito bites.

As followers of Christ, our Heavenly Father has given us many good tools to help us experience the full blessings of this life. Some of these tools include the scriptures and prayer just to name a few, but how often do we leave those tools unused and then miss out on those blessings available to us.
Would you want to get bit by mosquitos if you could avoid it so easily?  I wouldn't! So why not use the spiritual tools we have and see the blessings that come from taking advantage of them.

Use those spiritual tools you have been given, such as prayer, and experience the happiness that comes through following Christ.

Wanna Meet a Mormon??

     There are so many misconceptions out there about "the mormons." People will make claims sometimes that we have horns, we don't use TVs or we can only ride bikes, just to name a few. But those claims simply are not true! Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, commonly called "Mormons", are everyday people who have families, jobs and they probably face a lot of the same problems that you do. That may not be what you have heard, but watch this video and you may find that you are very similar!

Wanna Meet More Mormons?? Click Here.