No Need for Darkness

I got this in my inbox and wanted to share:

We know Joseph Smith is a prophet; that the Father and the Son appeared to him in the spring of 1820 to usher in this final gospel dispensation; that he translated the Book of Mormon by the gift and power of God; that he received keys and authority from angels sent for this very purpose; and that the Lord revealed to him the doctrines of salvation. "We announce that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the kingdom of God on earth, the only place where men may come to learn the true doctrines of salvation and find the authority of the holy priesthood. "We believe the Holy Ghost is a revelator and that he will bear testimony to honest people everywhere that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, that Joseph Smith is a prophet, and that this church is 'the only true and living church upon the face of the whole earth.' (D&C 1:30.)"There is no need for anyone to remain in darkness; the light of the everlasting gospel is here; and every sincere investigator on earth can gain a personal witness from the Holy Spirit of the truth and divine nature of the Lord's work. "Peter said: '. . . God is no respecter of persons: But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted' by him (Acts 10:34–35), which means that the Lord will pour out his Spirit upon the faithful so they will know of themselves of the truths of this religion.

Joseph Fielding Smith, "Out of the Darkness," Ensign, June 1971, 4

What a great testimony. There is no need for darkness. The Church of Jesus Christ is on the earth today and we need to declare it to anyone who will hear. :)

Before the Call

I found out today that my youngest brother had his mission papers sent in last night. I'm so very excited for him, the experiences he'll have, and the lives he'll touch. I know he'll be amazing. I'm grateful to call him my brother and for him to be an example for my kids, especially my little boy.

My son is only a toddler, but it is important for me (and my husband) not to forget that he's two going on 19. As his parents, we have a divine responsibility to teach him NOW to have the DESIRE to love the Lord and serve Him. Not if he'll serve a mission, but when. Elder Bednar, in {Becoming a Missionary}, said:

My dear young brethren {and sisters}, the single most important thing you can do to prepare for a call to serve is to become a missionary long before you go on a mission. Please notice that in my answer I emphasized becoming rather than going. Let me explain what I mean.

In our customary Church vocabulary, we often speak of going to church, going to the temple, and going on a mission. Let me be so bold as to suggest that our rather routine emphasis on going misses the mark.

The issue is not going to church; rather, the issue is worshipping and renewing covenants as we attend church. The issue is not going to or through the temple; rather, the issue is having in our hearts the spirit, the covenants, and the ordinances of the Lord’s house. The issue is not going on a mission; rather, the issue is becoming a missionary and serving throughout our entire life with all of our heart, might, mind, and strength. It is possible for a young man to go on a mission and not become a missionary, and this is not what the Lord requires or what the Church needs.

My earnest hope for each of you young men is that you will not simply go on a mission—but that you will become missionaries long before you submit your mission papers, long before you receive a call to serve, long before you are set apart by your stake president, and long before you enter the MTC.

A future missionary needs to have good examples set before him. I'm so grateful for my husband, father, and brothers---who have set an example for my little boy. Because of their examples I'll be able to have teaching moments with my children. We can write to their Uncle, learn about what he's teaching to others, and become more like Jesus.

Even though I didn't serve a mission I hope I can be the example they need. I hope I'm up to the challenge, to show my children just how amazing this gospel is. I hope they see the light in my eyes when I talk about my Savior, the temple, and having the chance to be with our family forever.

Like everything in this life worth having, it will not be easy. In December 1979, a man working for the Ensign related what parents can do before a mission call. He talked about sitting at the dinner table with his parents while he refused to eat his cauliflower. At one point in the dinner, his mom mentioned this, "missionaries eat everything on their plate whether they like it or not because that’s the polite thing to do. When you’re a missionary, somebody will eventually serve you something you won’t like. If you don’t eat it, you’ll hurt their feelings. So you might as well get into the habit now of eating everything on your plate.” Eventually, he ate his food, and it wasn't that bad.

I want to be that kind of Mom. I want to have the ability to teach gospel principles of kindness and sacrifice---then allow my children to make the choice for themselves. Further in the article, he gives suggestions on how parents can help children prepare for missions. Frankly, there's a lot and it's all good, so go read it! He ends with this:

If preparing sons for missions sounds like a big job, it’s because it is. But the challenge is not beyond reach—and the blessings are truly great, both in the home and in the lives of those involved. Rewards don’t come without effort, though, so parents should start preparing their sons now, no matter how young they are. My present concern is teaching my two-year-old son to like cauliflower. The next step will be the scriptures!

What Parents Can Do... Before the Call

It's a noble work to spread the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Our children were, and will be, born in the church for a reason; they are MEANT to become missionaries. They are meant to gain a testimony and proclaim its truths to the world. We are here to show them the first step and be their examples.

FYI:The New Era had {a special issue} all about missions a few years back and I went looking through it today and found lots of amazing gems. Take some time this week and glance over this issue. I recommend: Missionary Mail, The Five M's of Missionary Work, and Gifts to Bring Home from the Mission Field. It's a wonderful issue full of insights for anyone---I'm really excited to use the Missionary Mail one! :)

My Lifesaver

We had the missionaries over for dinner recently. The Elder giving the thought of the night likened missionary work to lifesavers (the floating tubes not the candy). As members of the church we are already in the lifeboats and it's up to us to throw lifesavers out to others, to share with them the saving message of the gospel of Jesus Christ. He also remind our family that, members, not missionaries, can throw lifesavers a lot closer to those we know because---well---we know them.

One way we throw lifesavers is through sharing our testimony of the gospel, which is what I want to do now:

I know this is the true and living church of Jesus Christ. I know Jesus is the Savior of all mankind---even you and I. I know he lived, still lives, and will come again. I know the church was restored through Joseph Smith and that he was a prophet of God. 190 years ago, he really did see Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. They spoke to him beginning the greatest time the earth has ever seen. I know the power of God is on the earth today through the priesthood and I know through that power the Book of Mormon was translated. I know the Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ; among other things it reminds us how much He really loves us. I know every prophet since Joseph were true men of God, inspired to lead the Lord's work to where it should go. I know Thomas S. Monson is the prophet on the earth today; he leads and guides the church as the Lord's mouthpiece. I know because I made sacred covenants with my Father in Heaven, if I stay worthy, I can live forever with Greg and our family---this has become the greatest motivator in my life. If I stay true to what I know, eternal happiness (which I've already felt a little bit of) awaits.

I'm so grateful to know for myself, the truthfulness of the gospel. It is my lifesaver, now all I need to do it toss it out and share it.

Being the Gospel

My mom is the Activity Days leader for the 8-11 year old girls in her ward. She asked me to cover for her this week while she and my dad were in Vegas. So the other leader and the girls and I played two truths and a lie and then talked about honesty. While we were sharing the message I felt impressed to share my testimony about how honesty affects your ability to do missionary work. I said to these girls, "As you are honest, people will trust you and then when you find missionary opportunities with those same people they will be more willing to listen to you and believe the testimony that you are sharing is sincere."
This moment of insight really struck me. I've heard the little sayings like, "Why do you do what you do when you know what you know?" or "Make your life so that those who know you will want to know Jesus Christ" so this week I came up with one of my own. Don't just live the Gospel, BE the Gospel. I know the biggest influence that I can have on other people isn't the words that I say or even in the special acts of service I give, it's the person I choose to be on a daily basis (which includes the words that I say and the service I give). Ever since that day with those girls, I have come home at night thinking, "What kind of missionary was I today?"
I know I'm not perfect, and there are things I wish I could have changed, but overall I'm proud to be a Latter-day Saint and I love that the people I work with know it. It helps me live up to the covenants I have made to my Heavenly Father by having others watch out for me.

Keep an Eternal Perspective

by Greg Hansen

“Therefore God gave unto them commandments, after having made known unto them the plan of redemption” (Alma 12:32).

When I was on my mission I had the opportunity to teach a less-active's non-member husband. We went through the lessons week by week struggling to find them at home [they were a Navy family] and trying to get the lessons done before they were deployed. The day before they were deployed we caught them at home and gave them the lesson about the plan of salvation. The husband made a comment at the end of the lesson like 'now I know why you are bugging me all the time about the choices I make and why I should be baptized'. It occurs to me as we are leaving that if we had just known 4 months earlier that he did not have an eternal perspective, he might have joined the church before he was deployed.

If we can keep an eternal perspective it makes many if not all of the decisions and experiences of this life seem manageable. And keeping an eternal perspective can help us weed out the unimportant matters to focus on the matters with eternal weight.

Missionary bloggin'

Yesterday our Sunday School lesson was about missionary work, more specifically "Every member a missionary". With the wide spread fear and panic that I feel society is currently embracing, sometimes being a missionary seems hard to me. People in my neighborhood won't even answer their door without first asking who I am. When I substitute teach elementary school kids, each child has to be individually signed off and accounted for at the end of the day.

Most people feel more secure at their computers than they do in social situations. I was watching "The View" for a few minutes today and Whoopi was reading a letter someone had sent about people growing up from the 30s to the 70s. The writer had said that back then they ate whatever they wanted without fear, went wherever they wanted as kids for as long as they wanted, and didn't have all the safety contraptions that we have now (carseats, seat belts, etc). The writer wasn't trying to bash on our current level of safety and security but was merely pointing out that growing up like that has produced more daring and inventive people, also people who aren't afraid to talk to strangers or play with kids that are a different age.

The show had some pretty interesting conversations about this topic. It made me contemplate the challenges we face when trying to share the gospel with others. The challenges I mostly thought of were basically what I've already shared plus the obvious things that would probably bore you if I mentioned. But I think that sometimes having a challenge brings new opportunities. Since many people are so comfortable at their computers these days, we have the opportunity to share our love of the gospel online.

I know I've already written about how the Ensign has being running articles about missionary blogging so I won't go into that again. Instead this time I wanted to find some other LDS blogs and link them so that everyone can see that a lot of people are doing this. After you have checked them out, let me know if you want me to link any of them on the sidebar. (Or if you know of any other amazing LDS blogs that give spiritual nourishment!)

Day of Praise

LDS listings: lists of other LDS blogs and sites

My dates with God

LDS Funnies

LDS Scripture Study

Faith Precedes Size 10

Family Home Evening

I think that this part of the gospel is so inspired! I love having family home evening activities with Nick. It means that I get his attention and he can't go off on his own or dink around on his computer!

Just kidding, it is more than that. Since we are blessed with the ability to record TV at the moment, we decided to record all the general conference sessions. That makes the FHE lesson so easy! We just rewind to a talk and listen to it together. Then we can pause it and talk about what it means to us. Then after we have an activity and maybe some kind of treat.

Tonight we watched one of the talks from the Sunday afternoon session about missionary work while we folded our laundry and put it away. Somehow I'm always better able to pay attention to conference talks when my hands are busy. Anyway, the speaker was saying how they hoped and prayed for Russia to open up for missionary work when he was a missionary and now his son is serving a mission there!

It was quite exciting and made me wonder if my kids will ever serve missions in China. Who knows, right? It also made me reflect back on my mission. Sometimes it is a sore spot for me, there were such struggles. I wondered what I could have done differently and I why I didn't get along with most of my companions. I guess we "got along" okay enough but I wish I was able to develop relationships with them that were able to stay strong even after getting home.

Fortunately my life's mission is not over and I can still learn from my mistakes. I have learned so much more since I got married and have been able to make positive changes in my life. I think that maybe for me I can make changes easier when I'm not under a lot of pressure but I am in a happy and stable environment. That isn't to say that nothing constructive happened to me on my mission. I just feel fulfilled now and think that my life is going well.

So in conclusion, family home evening can make you really stop and think about things in your life and any changes you might want to make. It can also help you re-evaluate your past and maybe forgive yourself for what you thought were mistakes. It turns out that sometimes the mistakes we make actually help us to grow in ways that we didn't know were possible.

Get Inspired!

Have you received your October Ensign yet? I always get excited when I get the Ensign in the mail. I'm not sure why I suddenly feel this way, since I didn't used to be so excited about it once upon a time. But now when I see it, I have to search it immediately upon arrival.

This month's edition is so exciting to me because it features an article about blogging! The main article is called "Finding and Sharing the Gospel Online". I strongly recommend that everyone read it and rejoice in how inspired it is. There is also a mini article features inside the larger article that is titled, "Be a Blogging Missionary". It has a lot of great suggestions as well.

What I love about sharing the gospel online like this is that it isn't scary for me to do. Anyone can read it and I don't need to confront anyone. It is a great way for me to share my feelings about belonging to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. No one has to feel awkward or uncomfortable from misinterpreted cues that sometimes come from face to face interactions.

The gospel means a lot to me. I could not just get up and walk away from it. Sometimes people in the church let someone easily offend them and they use that as an excuse to not be active anymore. Unfortunately not all people (ward members) are 100% tactful, but that doesn't change the validity and truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Sometimes a part of our life isn't going how we imagined that it should and we may feel that God is to blame. Instead of taking the role of victim, we need to rise up and move forward with faith and courage. Inside we know that God has a special plan for each of us and we can trust in Him.

I want to encourage all members reading this to make a personal goal to be open with your feelings about the church. Either write it in a blog or mention it to friends and/or associates. Or do both! God loves you and all His children and wants them to know more about Him! I hope this post has been inspiring to you. If so, leave a comment and let me know!

Be a Friend

My younger brother got home from his mission last week. He served in Frankfurt, Germany-- the land of our ancestors, and he very obviously grew (spiritually and physically).

He described the work in Germany as difficult because of the lack of support from members. The Germans are a very private, NOT very outgoing, stay-in-my-comfort-zone sort. My brother said that if they were going to bring an investigator to church, they'd have to call like 20 people the night before to give them a heads-up and ask them just to say hi to the investigator. And on Sunday, still no one would.

This shocked me! How sad for these new investigators! To not feel welcome or meet a potential friend! It can be a culture-shock for people to come into a brand-new church, why wouldn't anyone want that culture to appear friendly and inviting?

President Gordon B. Hinckley said:

“It is not an easy thing to become a member of this Church. In most cases it involves setting aside old habits, leaving old friends and associations, and stepping into a new society which is different and somewhat demanding” (in Conference Report, Apr. 1997, 66; or Ensign, May 1997, 47).

I will be the first to admit that I am not a great member missionary. I have never given a Book of Mormon to my mail carrier, I don't bear my testimony to the grocery checker. I really don't interact closely with anyone who is not a member of our Church. My friends are members, my daughter is too young to make her own friends, I don't work, and I don't even know my neighbors. Even if I did, I'm not a brave person in that way.

But this aspect of member-missionary work-- nurturing new converts, being a friend-- that is something I can do! And it is an important way to support the full-time missionaries in your area.

Pres. Hinckley also taught:

“Every convert needs three things:

“1. A friend in the Church to whom he can constantly turn, who will walk beside him, who will answer his questions, who will understand his problems.

“2. An assignment. Activity is the genius of this Church. It is the process by which we grow. Faith and love for the Lord are like the muscle of my arm. If I use them, they grow stronger. If I put them in a sling, they become weaker. Every convert deserves a responsibility. …

“3. Every convert must be ‘nourished by the good word of God’ (Moro. 6:4). It is imperative that he or she become affiliated with a priesthood quorum or the Relief Society, the Young Women, the Young Men, the Sunday School, or the Primary. He or she must be encouraged to come to sacrament meeting” (Ensign, May 1999, 108).

I may not hand out a lot of pass-along cards, but I say hello and introduce myself to every investigator the missionaries bring to church. I also ask them about themselves, how they found the missionaries, etc. I'm not trying to be their BFF, but I try so hard to be a friendly face and make them feel important by letting them know that I noticed them and am interested in their story.

The next step? Keep doing it! Say hi again the next time they come to church, and the next and the next and the next...

Another way to support the full-time missionaries? Feed them! A home-cooked meal is always appreciated and they can help you in your own missionary efforts.

Whatever they may be. :-)