the light of revelation.

I often find myself wanting an immediate answer or set of directions from God. I want revelation to be a light switch that flips on and suddenly everything is clear.

I've had "ah ha" moments that feel like that, when a sudden realization occurs and things come into focus. However, I think for most of us and in most cases the revelation is something more gradual.

When the sun rises the sky steadily lightens until the sun appears and everything is increasingly illuminated; it's gradual and the change is basically imperceptible.

Another parallel that a General Authority made a few conferences ago was about some gold prospectors.  A new prospector was working alongside a successful prospector. Most people had given up on the area and moved on or given up all together. The new prospector became frustrated that he wasn't finding nuggets. He asked the successful, seasoned prospector where he was finding all his gold. He revealed that he was gradually filling his bag with small flakes that were in the stream's water. His bag had become full with thousands and thousands of flakes as opposed to nuggets.

Our answers and revelations are similar. We get pieces gradually and sometimes we're even surprised to find our bag full of gold. We realize that the light of day is making things clear.

Anyway. Just something I was thinking about recently.

future blessings.

Do not let past experiences prevent you from receiving future blessings.

job.

This is something that a friend shared with me while I was on my mission and it was brought to my memory yesterday during church.

Job is a classic example of trials and suffering. And faithfulness to God. 

But I want to talk about how Job is an example of God's promise of eternal families:

This is what Job has before everything is taken away from him:

7,000 sheep

3,000 camels

500 yoke of oxen

500 she asses

7 sons and 3 daughters (10 kids)

He then loses every single one of those things. His kids are killed when a house collapses and fire and other things consume his flocks.

For the next 40 chapters Job stays faithful to the Lord while even his closest friends counsel him to curse the Lord.

Then in chapter 42:10 it says, "And the Lord turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the Lord gave job twice as much as he had before." (emphasis added).

It then numbers what the Lord gives him after he's proven faithful:

14,000 sheep

6,000 camels

1,000 yoke of oxen

1,000 she asses

7 sons and 3 daughters (10 kids)

You don't have to be a genius at math to see that 10x2 does not equal 10. If the Lord said he was going to bless him with twice as much as he had before, and he only has 10 more kids . . . something appears to be wrong. The math checks out on all the other things.

The only logical explanation is this; Job's first 10 children + his second 10 children = 20, or double what he had before. Ergo . . . his first 10 kids are still his. Even after death. They are an eternal family. After this life, he has 20 kids. The Lord fulfilled his promise to Job and we can see that families are eternal.

Thank you Spencer Hadley for showing me this years ago.

fruit snacks.

At my internship we've got snacks. I get hungry. So I make a regular trip to where the fruit snacks are. This is a Cosco size box of Tree Top fruit snacks, the healthy . . . ier kind. I probably ate 30+ bags of those little guys from the first box we had. And for the entire box I got strawberry maybe 4 times. I really like strawberry. Meanwhile the customer service girl got multiple strawberries in every one she opened.

I felt cursed. All I wanted were strawberries. I barely even got oranges, the second best flavor.

Well. We eventually ran out and recently we got a new box.

The odds have been much more in my favor:

Of the four packages I've opened I've gotten 8 strawberries. Yes, I counted.

So what does this have to do with anything?

1. When blessings come, they often come in greater volume than we expected. And often when we're not expecting them.

2. Just because we've had bad fortune with something, or it hasn't been yielding results, it doesn't mean that can't change. Sometimes you just need a new box. Sometimes a small change is enough.

the time is at hand.

This morning I was struck by what I read in the first chapter of 3rd Nephi.

Basically, a prophet named Samuel had prophesied that in 5 years there would be signs on the American continent of Christ's birth in Bethlehem.

There was a small group of believers holding out hope for those signs. Meanwhile the scumbags of the city were planning a day that they would kill all the believers if there hadn't been any signs.

Nephi, the prophet at the time, gets wind of their plans and is devastated by the wickedness of these people. So he does the only thing he can - he prays for help from God. He bows himself down on the ground and prays the entire day.

Keep in mind that prophets had been prophesying for thousands of years about Christ's coming. Then this answer finally comes:

"Lift up your head and be of good cheer; for behold, the time is at hand, and on this night shall the sign be given, and on the morrow come I into the world, to show unto the world that I will fulfill all that which I have caused to be spoken by the mouth of my holy prophets." (v13)

Be of good cheer. The time is at hand. Fulfill all.

That night there is no darkness and among other signs, a new star appears. Everything that had ever been prophesied about Christ's birth was fulfilled: "And it had come to pass, yea, all things, every whit, according to the words of the prophets." (v20)

I think a lot of us are hoping for the fulfillment of promised blessings in our own lives.

We can trust God to fulfill "every whit" of those blessings because he has done it without fail in the scriptures. Sometimes the timetable is lifetimes . . . but I know that God fulfills his promises.

You might be noticing a reoccurring theme in these posts. Whatever.

flat tires.

Last week I had an experience that reaffirmed a few things for me:

1. God knows me. God loves me. God never leaves me.

2. God often uses other people as his "angels," to help us in times of need. Sometimes unlikely people.

3. We are not exempt from trials, but they can be eased.

4. God listens when we pray.


Here's the experience, sorry, this may get long:

Last week Jakob and I started our long journey to Havasupai (located in the Grand Canyon). The plan was to drive to Kingman, AZ via Las Vegas and meet up with Austin's family.

I was a little worried about my car's ability to make another 1,000+ mile trip. We prayed before leaving and asked for God's protection.

In Las Vegas we stopped at Wal-Mart so Jakob could grab a few things and then we were going to get food and continue on our journey. Coming out of the Wal-Mart parking lot the steering wheel started pulling noticeably left. It got worse and then a terrible noise followed. We confirmed it was a flat tire and pulled into the nearest apartment complex.

This is where Bill comes in. A stout guy with long hair and a beard. Maybe a Harley-Davidson shirt? Not exactly white flowing robes. He just "happened to walk out of his apartment" and see us. He helped us remove the flat tire and put the temporary tire on. Then he told us that down the street there were some Mexican tire places where I could get a replacement starting at $25.

We found the tire place and I chose a used tire (might have been a mistake, but God still helped me out despite a poor decision). If we had gotten a flat tire just 10 minutes earlier we would have been going about 80 mph on I-15. A much more dangerous, and remote situation.

You can call it coincidence. However, I know that God helped us through an inevitable trial by making the timing so convenient. An answer to our prayers.

It gets better (or worse).

We got to Kingman in one piece and met up with Austin's family. We got settled into our hotel room and were planning on getting up at 3 am to head to the trail that leads into the Havasupai reservation.

I went out at about 11 that night to find the replacement tire was flat. I was a little surprised. I drove just down the street to a gas station and put air in the tire (there were a lot of hotels in the Kingman, "lucky" for us we were in one close to a gas station). There was definitely a hole in the tire. I could hear air coming out of it.

Had I found that out at 3 in the morning we would have not been able to do much about it.

So we slept in till 7 and got a new tire at Big O Tires, which "conveniently" was down the street from our hotel about a mile.

The rest of the journey went smoothly.

I don't believe there are many coincidences. This experience was evidence enough to show me that God loves me and never leaves me.

what?

Ask what.

Not why.

I find myself asking too often, Why? Why am I here? Why is this happening now?

Talking to my mom recently, she related a story to me and I realized I needed to be asking What?

What am I supposed to be doing here? What am I supposed to be doing now? What changes need to be made?

God wants our wills . . . so I guess I could try a little harder to be doing what he knows is best for me, and asking what actions that requires of me.

timing.

I'm unsure how uplifting this post will be, but I have two thoughts:

1. It's always been extremely interesting to me how God uses different things to send a message. It can be a song, a movie, something someone mentions in passing or even a fortune cookie.

2. Timing is probably one of the most important things to understand when trying to align our will with God's. Understanding that the timing is crucial can help us to be patient as well as understand God's greater plan.

So what I'm trying to say is that this insight came from listening to a new song by Motion City Soundtrack. I was really into them in high school, but kind of moved on to other music . . . I can't even remembered how I ended up finding this track or listening to it . . . The song has some interesting points and truths, though MCS is definitely not the most religious band you'll find.

The message I got out of it may not be their intended point, but that's one of the great things about songs and literature; it doesn't matter. Here's the song with lyrics:



It's a matter of timing. God takes us to where we are and where we need to be with his timing. Understanding his timing is key to being happy.

Be patient. Be diligent.

lessons from the war chapters.

Sometimes people struggle with why there are so many chapters that go into pretty extensive detail about the wars fought between the people of the Book of Mormon. In my recent reading in Alma I've started reading these chapters.

There are many lessons that we can learn from these war chapters.

Here are a few that I learned this past week:

We must counsel with the Lord and seek his help, while doing every logical thing we know how.
In Alma 43, when the Lamanites (badies) saw the armor and preparation of the Nephites (goodies) they hauled buns out of there and decided to attack in a different place. Moroni wasn't sure where they'd go, but knew they had to head them off. So he does two things. 1. He sends spies and leaves part of the army to defend the first area, while mobilizing the rest of them and 2. He asks the prophet to ask God where the Lamanites were going to attack. At this time the Nephites were following God's commandments and the Lamanites were not.

The prophet tells them where to send their armies and they are able to defend and defeat the invading army.

God always wants to help us, and is willing to when we ask for his help. He also expects us to use our own brains and do everything we can. This could include making a list of pros and cons of a decision, or pursuing multiple opportunities, then God can direct us to what is best for us.

Those that have faith in God are able to see his delivering hand.
In Alma 44 Moroni, the leader of the Nephites is able to pin down the leader of the Lamanites. Moroni says that it is because of their faithfulness to God that they have been able to defeat the Lamanites. This shouldn't be seen as religious arrogance. Moroni sees it as a fulfillment of the promise that if they were righteous, God would protect and deliver them. Zarahemnah (bad guy) says it's because of their armor and superior weapons.

Well, Moroni is a pretty righteous guy and he did all that he could to prepare his people. Then, God strengthened them to be able to preserve their liberty.

What others may see as coincidence, or our own talent or wisdom, those that are faithful can see God's aid and hand in deliverance.

There is always a lesson that we can learn. Even in, and sometimes especially during our trials. 

chiasmus.

Chiasmus is a rhetorical tool where words, grammatical constructions, or concepts are repeated in reverse order, in the same or a modified form.

They appear in Latin and Greek texts, Shakespeare and the Bible to name a few.

I know that the Book of Mormon has a handful of them at least, which should be some sort of evidence that it wasn't made up by Joseph Smith on the spot.

I was reading in Alma chapter 36 this past week and I noticed a chiasmus (I'm sure this had been pointed out to me before, but I was stoked to have noticed myself). 

Alma is leaving his son Helaman with counsel before he dies. He starts out by telling him that he will be blessed by God to the degree of his obedience to God's commandments. Then he tells him to always remember how their ancestors were delivered from the Egyptians by the hand of God. 

He then talks about the need for everyone to be born of the Spirit; essentially, to be reborn. 

Then he talks about how he received forgiveness from God through Jesus Christ after being called to repentance by an angel.

He closes by talking about being spiritually reborn, remembering how their ancestors were led away from the Babylonians and came to the Americas, and that he would be blessed according to his degree of obedience.

Hopefully you're seeing this inverted order of counsel. 

Most importantly I hope you're seeing what the central point was; that it is only through Jesus Christ that we can be forgiven and be saved.

The Book of Mormon teaches the doctrines of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, and it is through the Book of Mormon that I have received a testimony by the Holy Spirit that Jesus is my savior. 

Jesus Christ is the way to forgiveness and the Book of Mormon has taught me how I can apply his sacrifice in my own life. 

two years.

This is more of a reflection than an insight . . .

I've been thinking a lot about missions recently. The 25th marked two years of being home from my mission in California.

Missions are about being in the correct place with the correct timing; being where God can utilize you. It is a test of finding what that mission is and fulfilling it. We may be asked to do things that don't make sense, or we feel do not lead to anything, but they become clear later on. We may not know why or how, but by following impressions we are able to fulfill our missions. 

Being home for two years, I feel a lot like I'm finishing a second mission and preparing for the next two years. I've tried to be where God wants/needs me when he needs me. I feel like there have been things for me to do in certain places and at certain times during my mission and since my mission. Now I feel like I'm preparing for a third two years. Not sure what the mission will be or where it will take me . . . But I want to be where God wants me.

Hopefully this reflection was insightful.

confidence.

This is something I wrote down a few months ago. It's about virtue.

The best feeling in the world is knowing that what you're doing is pleasing to God. Having confidence that you're living correctly, having confidence that you can call on His blessings and the comfort and guidance of the Spirit. There is power in it. There is an ability to achieve and progress. And I feel that it directly relates to virtue. When your thoughts are focused on what is good and wholesome, your words and actions are as well. You have nothing to hide or feel ashamed of. There is a time for everything and when we bridle our passions, we are able to feel that God is pleased with us and trusts us; we are able to feel His constant love. He never stops loving us, but sometimes he must retire His influence from us because we are not living worthy of it.

That is it. 

sacrificing for the temple.

Yesterday was a sunny day. A little cold. So, I decided that I would ride my bike to the temple instead of driving. I figured I wouldn't die of heat exhaustion, so I should give it a try.

I have a single speed bike . . . the temple is 2.7 miles away . . . and it is uphill the entire time. Needless to say, it wasn't the best idea I've ever had. By the time I got to the MTC my thighs were about ready to go into a coma. 

Then I remembered a story that Silvia Allred (Relief Society presidency) shared about sacrifices to get to the temple:

"In 1976, when we were living in Costa Rica, the mission president asked my husband to help organize the first trip from the mission to a temple. The Central America Mission then included Costa Rica, Panama, Nicaragua, and Honduras. The closest temple was the Mesa Arizona Temple. The trip required us to travel five days each way, crossing six borders. The financial sacrifice for most of those who went was great. They sold their television sets, bikes, skates, and anything else they could sell. We traveled in two uncomfortable buses day and night. Some of the members had used all their money to pay for the bus fare and had taken only crackers and margarine to eat on the way.

I have never forgotten the great outpouring of the Spirit we experienced during the three days we spent at the Mesa Temple."

For me the sacrifice is usually time during a busy school week or a few hours on a free day. But I realized that 20 minutes of leg exhaustion wasn't so bad when compared to the time and discomfort others have gone through to receive temple blessings. 

The temple is a special place for me, a place where I almost always get answers to my prayers and questions, if I go prepared.

I'm glad I got to sacrifice a little more to get there yesterday. And besides. I'm sure my thighs are being blessed somehow.

keep safe these things.

This thought comes from a rather short passage in my more recent reading of the Book of Mormon.

In the first chapter of Mosiah, King Benjamin is teaching his sons the language and prophecies of their ancestors and stressing how important it is for them to remember (I love the theme of remembering that is so prevalent in the Book of Mormon). He has his son, Mosiah, come to him and tells him he will be the future king. He then gives him charge over the records (plates of brass) that contain their scriptures.

He also gives him charge over the sword of Laban as well as the Liahona.

I'd like to extrapolate some symbolism here. I feel like these three things are symbolic of what is important for us to remember and keep close to us in our lives.

Firstly the plates. For obvious reasons, the scriptures are integral to our salvation. For many it's how we received a witness that Christ is our savior, or how we get answers to our prayers. As well I'd like to add our own personal records. Journals and study journals. There we write down our own testimonies and scraps of revelation. It shows God that we value the answers He's given us, and that we want His help. It can also serve as a later guide to our family or friends. You never know who will benefit from an answer you got years ago. Including yourself.

Secondly the sword of Laban. To me it is symbolic of being obedient and understanding that the Lord has a greater plan; one that we might not initially understand. If we're obedient to the things He asks of us, we can be happy and be closer to the Spirit.

Third, the Liahona, or compass. This ties into obedience . . . as well as sensitivity and faith and diligence. If we are looking for the subtle directions of the Lord, being sensitive to the whisperings of the Spirit and then acting on them, we can see more clearly, even during our trials. Faith to act and move forward, as well as the needed directions.

So that's it. Keep safe these things and we can have the increased guidance of God.

faith. hope. charity.

This morning I read in the book of Enos (Book of Mormon) and remembered a comment that a friend made in Sunday school a few weeks back.

Enos has always been a favorite of mine, but my friend provided a different way of looking into Enos' conversion to Christ.

Enos' father was a prophet and so Enos was exposed to the teachings of Christ. However, it wasn't until later in his life that he got his own testimony of Christ. I enjoy this because it shows that he received a foundation from his father, who gave him all the necessary information to have his own testimony and then it was up to him to decide if it mattered to him. I feel like my experience was similar in that regard.

Anyway. In 1 Corinthians chapter 13, Paul says "And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity" (v13 KJV). Moroni in the Book of Mormon (Moroni 7) expands on this saying that we must first have faith, then hope and then charity. My friend pointed out why it is in this order, as illustrated by the story of Enos:

Faith
Enos goes and prays in the woods to have his sins forgiven (about 500 years before Christ). After praying all night he receives a witness from God that he is forgiven and God says he is blessed for having believed in Christ, whom he has never before seen. First came faith; a belief that he could be forgiven and would be forgiven.

Hope
Enos' faith becomes unshakable and he feels an overwhelming hope. He knows that God has forgiven him and he now has a hope in Christ. He can overcome everything because of Christ's future Atonement.

Charity
Where do Enos' thoughts turn to once he has exercised faith and received hope? First his brothers and people and then to his enemies. He wants everyone else to have the same hope and happiness that he is experiencing. He feels charity towards his fellow men and even his enemies. He prays fervently for their welfare and then receives the promise that at a later date his enemies would have access to the scriptures and a chance to believe in Christ.

First we must have faith that Christ is our Savior, then we can have the hope of returning to live with God and then we can love our brothers and sisters and help them find the same joy we have.