All Creatures of Our God and King!

      Lately, I have been putting a lot of thought into how wonderful of a gift from God our bodies are as well as the blessing that God has allowed us to live and experience life on this beautiful Earth. He spent 5 whole days preparing it and making it suitable for us to live on. The 6th day He made man and woman in His image and gave us dominion over every living thing that moves upon the Earth. (Genesis 1:26-28.) We should feel truly honored that not only did God make this beautiful perfect Earth for us but He made us in His image. Do you understand what that means? We are such a valuable treasure to our Heavenly Father that we were made to look exactly like Him. No other creature was made like Him. We truly are children of God. This gives me a whole different perspective on 1 Corinthians 3:16-17. "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are."



     A lot of people have tried to tell me "well, this is my body so I can do whatever I want to it." This makes me so sad because like the scripture says our bodies are God's and He loves us enough to let us use them. Lets just say for a moment our bodies were in fact completely ours, with the knowledge that we are made just like God and just the way He wanted us, why would you even want to change anything about your "temple?" Also, since our bodies are the temporary residence of our eternal spirit, what affects one will affect the other. By taking care of our bodies, we make our “temples” an acceptable house for our spirits.
     So what would be considered defiling your body? I would go as far as saying that anything that makes your body look or do things differently than it should would be defiling it. In other word, drugs, alcohol, tattoos, body piercings, immodesty, immoral thoughts and actions, and many more things defile your body and make it unclean.
     I would invite you the next time you think about doing something that might hurt your body in any way, give it one more thought and remember that it is the temple of God that you will be hurting. I know that God loves us as His children and wants us to be happy, so He gives us these beautiful bodies to enjoy life. Of this I am so very grateful and testify in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.




Here are some of the sources where my thoughts come from:

- Why are our bodies called temples of God in the Bible?
- What is the Mormon Church’s law of health and proper diet?
- How does modesty effect me spiritually?

Opposition and the Atonement

     Why do I have to experience bad days? Why do bad things happen to good people? Why can't life be easy? How come life is so unfair? Why cant I ever get a break? These are all questions I have asked myself along with many others. The answer I might suggest is opposition, and the solution is the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Now let me explain using two scriptures, in the Book of Mormon, that have helped me to understand this principle.
     The first states, "For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so, my firstborn in the wilderness, righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad. Wherefore, all things must needs be a compound in one;" (2 Nephi 2:11.) If every day was happy and perfect then that would be "normal." There would be no pleasure behind happiness because there is no reason for there to be. It would just be what we expect, with nothing special about it. How lame would that be! In order to really have a good day, sometimes we are going to have bad days. In order to really appreciate our health we need to experience sickness. There must be opposition so we can understand the difference.
     The second states, "And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind... He will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people... He will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities." (Alma 7:11-12.) The word "succor" more or less means to run to the aid. So, this scripture is telling us that Christ not only suffered to redeem us from our sins, but He suffered so that He could be there for us as we go through the hard times in life. He did it so that He could run to our aid when we are struggling. He did it because He loves us and wants us to find happiness in life.
     I know that my Father in Heaven knows and loves me and will not let me go through anything that I can't handle, at least not on my own. In a time of need my Savior is there waiting and ready to help me along as I feel I can't go any further. So, when you are going through a hard time, just remember, someone has been there before and is ready to help you through it. "All that seems unfair in life can be made right through the Atonement of Jesus Christ..." (The Plan of Salvation.) I testify of this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Clutter

     In one of my areas on my mission, we had an exceptionally hard time keeping our apartment clean. It didn't matter what was done, there always seemed to be a mess. I think the biggest reason was because there were 4 of us elders living in a 2 bedroom apartment. This wasn't so much of a problem when we were out doing missionary work. I could focus and keep track of all the things I needed to do and get them done just fine, but as soon as we got home for the night to plan or studied in the morning I had the hardest time doing so. Now keep in mind, there are very few things in this world that distract me more than a big mess. It made me so frustrated! It wasn't until we finally got our own apartment that we were able to keep up on our mess and have a clean apartment. It was so nice to have that change and the spirit in our apartment was so different and it allowed us to keep a clear mind and focus all our efforts on our work. I had never realized how true the teaching of the Prophet Gordon B. Hinckley was, which states, "cleanliness is next to godliness,” until I had experienced the beauty of a clean apartment.



     Now I want to relate this to your life. There are many voices in the world that compete for your attention. If you allow those voices to clutter your mind they can easily drown out the things that help you focus on Christ. How on Earth can you expect to focus on Christ throughout your day if you fill the entirety of it with garbage like mindless television, video games, or even Facebook? How could you even try to focus your thoughts on Christ if you cloud your mind with drugs and alcohol? How can others see the Light of Christ in you if you are hateful, dishonest, or judgmental? My invitation to you would be to unclutter your life and fill it with things of eternal worth like reading your scriptures, praying to God, and exemplifying the attributes of Christ. I know that as you do so, you will see changes in your life that will ultimately bring you joy in life and help you have more of a clear mind. This is my testimony, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Hearken: New Mission President

     A few weeks back I made a post on hearkening to the will of the Lord. Due to another event on my mission, I felt a need to make a second post about this very same principle. A couple weeks ago, we got a call from the assistants to the mission president telling us that we were having a surprise meeting in Nashville 2 days later, and all missionaries from the mission were to attend. This very rarely happens, so of course all the missionaries were making speculations on what was going to happen. Some thought China was going to be opened to missionary work and a good chunk of our mission was going to be sent over there, some thought we were going to head to Oklahoma to help clear up the destruction from the tornadoes or make care packages for them of some sort, and some thought we might have our mission split into 2 missions. As we gathered for this meeting, there was such an energy in the room due to the fact that we had over 200 missionaries (CRAZY) gathered together in the chapel awaiting whatever training was to be received.  We were quickly informed that our mission president and his wife, The Mckees, were being released at the end of the month and that we were going to have a new mission president. I was very saddened by the news, but as the meeting went on and the spirit was so strong I received very quickly a confirmation that it was the will of the Lord. I have been thinking about this for the last month or so and have learned a couple things from it. The thing I wanted to focus on is the principle of "with callings come releases." Today is the days that they are being released from their calling. One thing that President McKee was great at teaching us was that the same priesthood keys that called them to serve as the Tennessee Nashville Mission President are the same priesthood keys that called them to be released from that same calling. I am grateful for the example of the McKee's to serve the Lord and to accept His will in ALL things! Their attitude about it is quite extraordinary as well. I am excited to have President and Sister Andersen here with us as our new mission president and am grateful for their example to accept the call to serve. I sure look forward to meeting them at our zone conference this next week!
     I invite you all to take a look at your life and find something that is not in alignment with the Lord and then change it. Experiment and see the blessing that will come forth! It is great to have a knowledge that the Lord knows exactly what we need in our lives and is always making the changes to it that will ultimately help us grow and learn the most. Of this I testify, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.