the worth of a soul.

On my mind recently is this idea that every single soul is precious to God.

That is so many souls. Everyone who has ever lived, is living, and will ever live.



God knows every single person better than they know themselves. He also loves them more than anyone else does. 



I don't know the science behind how it works, but I know that it does. It's interesting; we're often called upon to do things (whether a calling, or something less formal) to help other people. It is in those moments of service that we have moments of clarity, feeling to some degree how God feels about this person, knowing minutely what Christ feels towards this person, and why he chose to suffer for that individual. It is a strange thing for me to feel; where it can be difficult at times to understand how someone else feels, let alone how someone else feels about someone else (if that makes sense).

We interact with hundreds of people and often get so focused on what we have to get done, and all the things that are important to us, feeling they are more important than what other people need.

I'm not good at looking outside of myself, but I'm grateful for recent experiences that have strengthened my understanding that despite the choices his children make, God loves and knows every single one of us. 

gifts.

I have been thinking about this a lot this week in preparation for a lesson.

D&C 46:11-12 "For all have not every gift given unto them; for there are many gifts, and to every man is given a gift by the Spirit of God.
To some is given one, and to some is given another, that all may be profited thereby." (Emphasis added).

I am very grateful for the fact that everyone is different from each other. I would hate to imagine a world where people like me were doctors, economists, and politicians.

We are born with passions - things that define us, drive us, and help make us who we are.

God has a special plan for those passions.

God has a special plan for our gifts - whether it's being sensitive to the people around us, being able to make anyone laugh, being able to play piano by ear, or being able to communicate clearly - we all have things that make us special and allow God to use us in special ways.

Recognizing those gifts, what we're good at, and what we excel is not prideful if we use them to help other people - that all may be profited.

We must recognize, develop, and share our talents - whatever they may be.

his timing.

Many years ago I had an experience when I was a missionary in the Missionary Training Center. It was one of our temple days and I was in the celestial room reflecting on some of my concerns.

A very clear thought came to my mind completely out of the blue. At first I was startled by its suddenness and wondered if I had somehow just made it up myself.

It was a promise of something that would happen in the future. 

Basically the distinct thought was, "You will see _______ happen."

It gave me a lot of comfort, but I was unsure how or when that promise would be fulfilled.

Over five years later I saw the fulfillment of that promise.

I share this experience for this purpose: God fulfills promises. Completely and fully. This is something I've addressed multiple times in this blog, but it is something that needs to be reiterated. We forget sometimes. We forget fairly often and pretty easily.

This promise was fulfilled. It took awhile. It required a lot of change. It required the Lord's timing and his love and knowledge of his children.

His timing is much better than our timing. Even if it isn't in this life, any promises he makes to us (if we are righteous) will be fulfilled.

We must not forget that. 

all are alike.

2 Nephi 26

"He commandeth none that they shall not partake of his salvation . . .

but he hath given [salvation] free for all men . . .

all men are privileged the one like unto the other, and none are forbidden . . .

and he inviteth them all to come unto him and partake of his goodness; and he denieth none that come unto him, black and white, bond and free, male and female; and he remembereth the heathen; and all are alike unto God, both Jew and Gentile."

atonement.

In my current reading of the Book of Mormon I've had the question, "How do I access the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ?"

In each chapter of the Book of Mormon I've been trying to see what doctrine of the Atonement is being taught, or how the Atonement can help me in my day to day life.

Today I read 2 Nephi 4, also known as The Psalm of Nephi. Nephi talks about some of his trials, afflictions, and struggles, but then says "I know in whom I have trusted." He then goes on to expound on how he has been blessed and helped. I felt like the things he mentioned are all things that we have access to because Christ atoned for our sins, suffered for our afflictions and infirmities:

- He has been my support and preserved me through my afflictions
- I have been filled with his love
- He has confounded my enemies
- He has heard my cry
- He has given me knowledge
- Angels have come down and ministered to me
- Gives liberally if I ask not amiss.

That is a great list of things that we have access to on a daily basis if we choose to apply the Atonement in our lives.

Christ is our Savior, and we have access to these great blessings if we choose to seek for them.

without questions there are no answers.

Often times, as Latter-day Saints, we find that there are things with doctrine or church history that we just don't understand. There probably isn't even a good answer or explanation for something, and you'll just have to wait until God explains it to you face to face. But, you know what's awesome about having these questions? You look for answers.

Personal revelation is at the very core of our belief system; Joseph Smith had a question, he had an issue with the existing systems and asked God. That asking lead to the restoration of the gospel and God's authority.

When you and I have questions we are taught to go to God and seek answers. If there were no difficult doctrines, if there were only rainbows and puppy dogs, many of us would never come to a crux in our faith and our lives as Mormons. We wouldn't turn to God, and we wouldn't have a revelatory experience. We would just keep chugging along, never knowing for ourselves, never feeling like God could/would communicate with us.

So asking questions is good. It's the whole point of this existence. And when people join the Church it is through questions that they learn. We're the same. But we must remember that how we ask these questions is important.

You must ask questions from a point of faith rather than a point of doubt. You must build on the foundations of the things you do know and use that as your basis for growth and increased knowledge.

Elder Holland says, "In the growth we all have to experience in mortality . . . When those moments come and issues surface, the resolution of which is not immediately forthcoming, hold fast to what you already know and stand strong until additional knowledge comes."

He continues, "When problems come and questions arise, do not start your quest for faith by saying how much you do not have, leading as it were with your 'unbelief.' . . . I am asking you to be true to the faith you do have."

I'm grateful that God wants to communicate with me, and I'm grateful he gives me opportunities to build my faith and exercise that faith when it is difficult to see the whole picture.

this i know.

Sometimes, I feel like we try too hard to apply worldly definitions to things that are spiritual. We should be careful about trying to intellectualize and quantify spiritually rooted things.

Recently, there was some discussion about what knowing is. And how you can't know anything, including things that relate to religious experience.

I think that's bogus.

Partly because for me, knowing spiritually is distinct from knowing as we may be accustomed to using and quantifying it.

So. Despite people saying you can never know that God exists, you can just hope for it, or that you cannot really know that something is true, but you hope it is, I have this to say:

I know God lives. I know Jesus Christ is his son. I know Jesus Christ atoned for my sins. I know that God answers prayers. I know that God and Christ love me.

Because knowing spiritually does not have to be related to the tangible, quantifiable, and quantitative evidences we are accustomed to in other disciplines.

I know those things because God communicated to me; he sent me impressions, feelings, and witnesses through the Holy Ghost and the sacred feelings that accompany those experiences. Something entirely spiritual. Something that the only evidence or support I can give to my belief is, "I just know."

So yeah. I think you can know those things. But that's just my opinion I guess.

will you at least tell us where?

Reading in Ether 1 the other day I was really struck by this verse:

[Jared to his brother] 38. "Go and inquire of the Lord whether he will drive us out of the land, and if he will drive us out of the land, cry unto him whither we shall go. And who knoweth but the Lord will carry us forth into a land which is choice above all the earth? And if it so be, let us be faithful unto the Lord, that we may receive it for our inheritance."

Here's my Daniel-ized version. "Go ask God whether he's going to have us leave our home, and if he is going to have us leave . . . ask him if he'll at least tell us where to go. Who knows? Maybe it will be even better than what we have now? If that's the case, let's follow whatever instruction he gives us."

Often times we have plans and God has different plans. But if God asks us to do something, he will provide: 1. a way for us to accomplish it (think Nephi), 2. some inkling of where/what he wants us to do, and 3. it usually ends up being way better than what we had had in mind to begin with.

Hopefully you feel this same way and can remember that the Jaredites were super blessed and got the fly-est land in all the earth all for their own. So when something seems scary and new . . . but you know it's what the Lord has in mind, you should go forward with it. He'll illuminate the path.

write it down.

I'm pretty sure I've addressed this topic before, if not only in my head.

As I was reading in 3 Nephi about Christ's visit to the people in the Americas, I was reflecting on what Christ chose to teach them during his comparatively short ministry among them. He gives the Sermon on the Mount to them, quotes Isaiah as well as Malachi, teaches the sacrament and baptism, as well as a handful of other things.

He also tells them to write the prophecies (and fulfillment of said prophecies) of Samuel the Lamanite.
"How be it that ye have not written this thing, that many saints did arise and appear unto many and did minister unto them . . . Jesus commanded that it should be written; therefore it was written according as he commanded." (3 Nephi 23:11-13).

Obviously those words were important for some purpose that the Lord had in mind. He was making a point before this as to how the prophecies of Isaiah had all be fulfilled and that the rest would be fulfilled.

It brought me to reflect on the things I write down and what their benefit might be in the future, if not to me but to someone else.

I won't go on a lot. Instead I'll just say that I need to write down the impressions, answers to prayers, warnings, and counsels that the Lord gives me. Then when they are fulfilled I can remember when I got them, what they meant to me at the time, and what their fulfillment means.



What we write down may end up being the only thing that someone knows about us in 100 years. Hopefully they know that we trusted the Lord and that we believed in his promises.

spiritual provisions.

Rant about Gangs
It says that secret combinations proved to be the almost entire destruction of the Nephites in the Book of Mormon: a group of people who had secret oaths, who lived off the hard work of others, who killed, stole, and would do anything to have power over other people.

I might have watched a few documentaries on gangs recently, including MS13 and the Aryan Brotherhood.

This post isn't really about how secret combinations are just as prevalent in our society today in gangs and drug cartels . . . but I hope we don't forget that the same dangers that threatened the ancient societies of the Nephites and Lamanites still threaten our society today.



Spiritual Provisions
Here's the real point of where I'm going with this: the Gadianton Robbers (secret combination) are getting so powerful and large that they're threatening to destroy both the Lamanites and the Nephites. In 3 Nephi 3&4 the Nephites and Lamanites under the direction of a guy named Gidgiddoni devise a way to try and conquer these robbers.

They spend about a year gathering all their crops, herds, supplies, and basically anything they can live off of, into one place. They build fortifications and the entire population bands together in one city. They have enough provisions to live for seven years. I hope you're seeing how crazy intense this is.

The robbers then come and surround the city, but since the Nephites took everything they could live off of, the robbers have to actually provide for themselves instead of taking from others. They realize they're not going to last long and they attack the city. The Nephite army lays down on the ground and raises their voices to God. They then are successful in decimating the robbers' armies.

A few years later the robbers come back with a plan to isolate the city and starve them out. This works in opposite manner and the robbers try and run away when they realize they're going to die. The Nephites come out and destroy and take captive the robber army.

3 Nephi 4:18 is interesting, "This was an advantage to the Nephites; for it was impossible for the robbers to lay siege sufficiently long to have any effect upon the Nephites, because of their much provisions which they had laid up in store."

Hopefully this convinces you to have food storage . . . but more important to me is the thought, What spiritual provisions do I have laid up in store for trials and spiritual battles?

Hopefully we have a strong testimony of the principles of the gospel, of the Restoration, of the Atonement, and of the scriptures. Hopefully those things are our spiritual provisions in times of trials and spiritual battles.

the faith not to be healed.

Every once in awhile a talk or fireside will really hit home for me and stay with me. Sometimes I forget who shared it or exactly what they said, but the principle continues to play a role in my life. I still remember a talk that I think was given at Conference while I was on my mission, "Good, Better, Best."

Regardless . . . I had one of those experiences during a CES fireside given by Elder Bednar back in March (he also gave a dope talk on chastity Saturday afternoon session).

Most of the talk was the story of a young husband who had cancer, but what sticks out most to me is the question that was asked of him, "Do you have the faith not to be healed?"

We often think to ourselves, if I just have enough faith, miracles will happen, I'll get what I want and everything will be great. Then, when things don't work out we question our own faith or God's love for us or involvement in our lives.

The question of "Do you have the faith not to be healed?" has been a way for me to remember that God's will plays a role in every prayer and desire that we have. We can have the faith to be "healed," but we must also understand and be accepting of that fact that the Lord's will might be something different.

Maybe this isn't the best way to say it but, for me I think, "God, this is what I want . . . but if your will is something else . . . I'm okay with that." I guess from there is where we start listening to the whisperings of the Spirit and begin to align our wills with God's.

Anyway.

Maybe you're like me.

remember your name.

Helaman 5 has got to be one of my most favorite chapters of the Book of Mormon. Some beautifully concise council from Helman to his two sons Nephi and Lehi, focusing on the Savior and remembering, followed up the the account of thousands of Lamanites being converted to the Savior after they see Nephi and Lehi protected in prison by the hand of God.

Anyway, I know I've talked some before about the concept of remembering. Something struck me though today as I read Helaman 5.

Helaman says to his two sons, "Behold I have given unto you the names of our first parents (Nephi and Lehi) . . . and this I have done that when you remember your names ye may remember them; and when ye remember them ye may remember their works; and when ye remember their works ya may know that it is said . . . that they were good."

Their names served as a constant reminder of the kind of life they were expected to live. By remembering their names they remembered who they were named for and they remembered the legacy of those righteous men, inspiring them to live their lives in like manner.

At baptism we all take on us the name of Christ. We become Christians. I know for me I'm not always the best example of a true Christian . . . but I hope that we can all remember who we are named for and the way He lived his life and what He did for us. We are Christ's. We must strive to remember that we have taken on his name, we represent him, and as disciples of Christ we should live like such.

we trust in our God.

When you get towards the end of the book of Alma you get into some pretty detailed accounts of a pretty intense war between the Lamanites and the Nephites. For some people it's something they skim through or just take it at face value. There's lots of fantastic stories in there, like the 2,000 stripling warriors or the story of Lehonti's demise. But everything recorded in the Book of Mormon is there for a reason . . .

As I read Alma 58 I noticed some interesting things that I think apply to us in our own lives.

In this chapter Helaman and his army have just successfully retaken a city that had been captured by the Lamanites. Basically the Nephites want to get back the cities that were theirs in the first place, and they want to preserve their liberty, especially their right to worship freely.

Problem is the next city they need to take has an enormous Lamanite army protecting it and they remember the tricks the Nephites have pulled on them before to recapture other cities.

Helaman asks for reinforcements and fresh supplies, but because of dissension in the capitol (which he is unaware of) only a small army comes with some supplies, all the while the Lamanites are getting reinforcements and food.

So here's Helaman with his small army, they're low on supplies, they're low on strength of numbers and they're about ready to starve to death. They're suffering and they're terrified that they won't be able to defend or protect their families and their liberty. So what do they do?

The pour out their souls in prayer to God that he would strengthen and deliver them. It is then that God comforts them with "assurances that he would deliver us . . . he did speak peace to our souls, and did grant unto us great faith, and did cause us that we should hope for our deliverance in him."

After receiving that answer to their prayers they take courage and have the determination to be victorious. I am imagining that that experience is an incredibly spiritual and tender experience for this small army.

Imagine yourself in their situation and having the Holy Ghost testify to the entire army that God will deliver you.

After that they are able to take the city without any blood being shed (the Lamanite army chases after what they think is the full army while two smaller groups come in and take the city while they're gone).


I know I've received similar answers to prayers when I've felt that I'm about to starve to death in the wilderness with the odds stacked against me. God gave me peace and hope. I just wish that I had more faith to trust in answers given a long time ago instead of needing to be reassured every few steps.

"But behold, we trust in our God who has given us victory."

it really happened.

The other night at my mission reunion, my mission president shared a story with us. It was about a new missionary who was trying to memorize Joseph Smith's experience in the Sacred Grove.

It came to his turn to share the experience of when Joseph Smith prayed to know which church was true and God and Jesus Christ appeared to him in that grove. He shared the story of the first vision and felt good that he had remembered it all. After the lesson the missionaries left the house. This guy was a 6' 6" Tongan and as they walked down the street his tiny companion grabbed him by the tie, pulled his face down and said, "Don't you ever share it like that again . . . It really happened."

It struck me as I contemplated my own feelings about God and Christ's appearance to Joseph Smith.

I've had the opportunity to walk through that same grove where they answered Joseph Smith's prayer.

But you don't need to go there to know.

As I walked back to my car after yesterday's afternoon session of General Conference a protestor was "singing" a parody of Praise to the Man. He derided Joseph Smith and called him all sorts of misinformed things.

I just need to say this:

God and Jesus Christ appeared to a 14 year old boy in a grove of trees in upstate New York and told him that no church was true; they told him that a restoration of God's authority and church needed to take place. That boy was Joseph Smith.

It happened. I know it because God told me so. I prayed about it and He answered. Joseph Smith was called to be a prophet, he translated the Book of Mormon by the gift of God.

God's Church is restored, we have full access to the Atonement of Jesus Christ and God's authority is on the earth.

there are no such things as coincidences.

When I step back and see a whole chain of events and what had to happen in order for something to else to happen . . . I often find myself amazed at how many "coincidences" are involved. It's brought me to conclude that if we are trying to do the right things, God uses us as instruments to move forward his plans and designs.

Two stories to try and help illustrate this. As well as the concept of karma:

About a month ago I was running late for a date. When I got to my house to get ready Bee Money was outside my house. We talked a little, but I told him I was in a hurry. He came in for a drink of water and without really thinking about it I asked him if he needed a ride anywhere. He said yeah, just down the street a bit. We started driving, and Bee was talking to me about some stuff that had happened on the Internets. We ended up about 7 blocks north and 7 blocks east, obviously not exactly "down the street." Because of being so far away I came back home down 4th east. As I drove past a friend's house I saw something in the middle the street and the thought came to me, "That looks like an iPhone. It's probably so-and-so's." I flipped around my car and picked it up out of the street. Sure enough it was their phone and I ran up to their door and knocked. Dejectedly they answered the door and I asked them if they were missing their phone. They looked at me like, How did you know? And I handed them the phone. They were so grateful that I had found it.

In that series of events a lot of things had to happen in order for me to find that phone. Bee Money needed to be at my house. I needed to ask him if he needed a ride. He needed to take me far from my house. I needed to drive on that road.

Here's where it gets pretty crazy.

Tonight, I was running late for my basketball game (in which we got destroyed) and I ran from my car to the basketball court. After the basketball debacle I was frustrated and I cringed when I found no phone in my jacket pocket. I have an iPhone and I have a considerable amount of useful data on it. I could live if I lost it, but it would be really really really nice to not lose. And I've never ever lost a phone before. I checked my car to see if I had left it there, checked the ground I ran across to the courts on, checked the basketball court again and went to the lost and found. Nothing.

I basically said this prayer: God, if there's anyway I can get that phone back, please let me know.

I figured one of two things happened. I dropped it while I was running in and someone picked it up, or someone grabbed it during the game.

Enter Eric.

Eric is a good friend of my roommate Austin, and we've hung out some. After I gave up and went home, I walked into my family room and he was sitting there with Austin and said, "Hey, guess what I found." And there was my phone lying on the table.

There are no such things as coincidences.

Eric saw my phone (probably about 20 minutes after I dropped it) lying in the grass by the courts and picked it up. It was about dead, but because I don't have a passcode on my phone he was able to charge it and call the last person I had called. Then looking through my texts he realized he knew most of the people I had just texted and realized that he knew the Daniel that owned the phone.

I really hope you're seeing how crazy this all is. Of all the people. The timing. The fact that he could charge my phone. I am so grateful for Eric being in the right place at the right time. 

Doing good leads to good. God can use us as instruments in his designs. God and Christ are real and they love us. 

There are no such things as coincidences. 

a new name.

I've thought about this a few times before, but it was brought again to my attention while reading in Alma.

Often times when a group of people, or person makes a covenant with God, or experiences a change of heart they want a new name.

They feel that they are a new person, that who they were before they repented is no longer who they are now. So why not have a new name?

Or God has made a covenant with them and with that covenant they are given a new name. I feel it's symbolic of a new person as well. It shows a rededication or a change. Through the Atonement we can be reborn in Christ. We become a new person, a person distinct from who we were before. This happens every time we repent.

Anyway, some examples of "new names" that I can think of are:



Abram and Sarai becoming Abraham and Sarah after God covenants with Abraham.


The Lamanites who were converted by Ammon, Aaron, Omni and Himni want to have a new name to distinguish themselves from the unrighteous traditions of their fathers. They take on the name Anti-nephi-lehis.


Jacob is renamed Israel by God before he fathers the twelve tribes of Israel.


Saul is given the new name Paul after his conversion to Christ.



Just some food for thought.

by small and simple things.

Some people call them "tender mercies." But sometimes I feel like they're even smaller than that.

I don't know the science behind it or how it is done, but I do know that God is acutely aware of me individually. The thought to me is incredible. That he knows what I feel and what I need. He knows where to put me and where to put other people at the right time and the right place.

Aside from having a special experience of being in the right place at the right time to help someone find something they had lost, or saying something that someone needed to hear, I have been the recipient of small "chance" meetings, conversations and experiences.

God knows that sometimes I just need a little reassuring. He does that through people I run into or things I see or hear. The causality of existence is very interesting to me; how one thing sets in motion other things and how something might not have happened had the other small thing never happened; dominos I guess.

Just wanted to say that I'm grateful for the tiny things. For the ripples of tiny stones.



Also. This. Posted it last week, but in case you haven't seen it yet:

i do not know all things.

In Words of Mormon in the Book of Mormon, Mormon is talking about why he has compiled the different books the way he has and what he hopes will come of all his work.

He then says, "I do this for a wise purpose; for thus it whispereth me, according to the workings of the Spirit of the Lord which is in me. And now, I do not know all things; but the Lord knoweth all things which are to come; wherefore, he worketh in me to do according to his will" (v. 7, emphasis added).

I think often times we can't see the end from the beginning; we don't know where our decisions will lead, but if we listen to the whispering of the Spirit we can be tools in God's hands and do our part in a chain of events that accomplishes his will. We can also have the confidence that we'll be where we need to be when we need to be there. And as always, that the future is bright and that God has something in mind for us.

Mormon didn't know the full impact that his work would have, but he felt like he was following the Holy Spirit and he knew that that was God's will, and that was all he wanted to do.

engraving.

In Jacob 4 of the Book of Mormon, Jacob writes these words: "(I cannot write but a little of my words, because of the difficulty of engraving our words on plates) and we know that the things which we write upon plates must remain . . . "

Reading this brought two points to my mind.

1. If it was so difficult to engrave onto these plates (and I think he means time consuming more than anything) then you can assume that anything that we have in the Book of Mormon is probably of great value. Someone didn't just throw it in there to fill space. It would take a lot of time and effort to engrave words on these metal plates, so anything that we have in the Book of Mormon is there for a reason.

2. What would I take the time to engrave? What would I deem worthy of intense labor and time? Council to my future children? Life lessons? Testimony?

Jacob continues, "but we can write a few words upon plates, which will give our children, and also our beloved brethren, a small degree of knowledge concerning us . . . that they may know that we knew of Christ and had a hope of his glory."

truth.

Something I loved from President Uchtdorf's recent devotional:

Truth is independent of belief; just because everyone believes something doesn't make it true and just because no one believes something doesn't make it not true. Truth is true regardless of who believes it.

the priesthood.

In a priesthood blessing the priesthood is the divine authority to act as a conduit and mouthpiece of God, through the Holy Spirit; to declare the blessings, councils and comforts the Lord desires that person to hear.

It is interesting that priesthood holders cannot bless themselves; the priesthood is to be used to serve and bless others.

Yet, by serving others we bless ourselves. Giving a blessing and exercising the priesthood provides a new closeness to the Spirit, an increase in testimony and provides strength as well as blessings to both the giver and the receiver.