Come unto Christ

This week, Professor Griffin made me realize something that I had never realized before. I often read Moroni 10 verse 32 as the recipe for sanctification. I always saw that verse as what each member had to do o live the gospel in its fullest. Today in class, I realized that the verse had an important part that I did not realize before. The first part of the verse said " Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness,"  it is interesting how it says come unto Christ and then be perfected in him and not the other way around. Most of the time i seem to forget that detail. I try to be perfect or wait to be perfect before I focus on the Lord. Sometimes I feel like I am not pure enough and have too many things to repent of before I can come unto Christ. With the Scripture I know that I should change direction. I do not have to try to do anything on my own, after all, I can not do anything on my own. The first thing I need to do is rely on Christ and ask him for his help to come to him. And only then will I be able to find happiness and follow his gospel the way he intended me to.

Walk where and how Jesus walks!

This week brother Griffin said something that got me reflex ting the whole week. He was quoting someone and he says that the person say : it's not as important to walk where Jesus walked as to walk where he walks. That immediately helped me reflect back to a story in the ensign that I read a few months ago while on my mission. The person who wrote the story said something similar " it is better to walk how Jesus walks than to walk where he walks" both ideas made me ponder about my discipleship with the Lord. Is Jesus Christ my  everyday example or do I just read about him and admire him? How do love life in a way where I could see the savior in my countenance? I decides that one of those things I could do is view others through the same scope as my Savior Jesus sees them. For that I would have to be more patient with those who don't always treat me how I want to be treated.  Instead of being quick to judge them, I could do as Jesus and forgive them and decide to remember the good in them. In 3 Nephi 12 Jesus states the beatitudes and the blessing of each. Then in verse 16 he said "Therefore let your light so shine before this people, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven." I have the light of Christ, I have his spirit as my companion and I know as I try to be like him and follow in his footsteps that I will be a testimony of him and my father in Heaven. Then others can recognize him through my example and believe in him. Walking where and how Jesus walks is my strongest testimony to the world that he lives and wants us to be like him. I know I can start today by making small changes and improve. I love my Savior Jesus Christ and know that he lives. This is my testimony in the name of Jesus Christ amen.

The Sacrament: A life changing experience

 This week I learned a lot in class. One of the things that touched me the most is what I learned about the atonement of Jesus Christ. Before, I used to think of the atonement of Jesus Christ as a sacrifice for the whole world, but the more I learn about it the more I understand that it is a personal act. An act of love for me, you, and each one of us individually. In 3 Nephi 18, Jesus institutes the sacrament to his disciples in the Americas. He told them to do this ordinance in remembrance of his atoning sacrifice for each one of them. I found it interesting that Jesus asks us remember of his body in verse 7 as we partake of the bread. Every sunday at church each one of us have our own individual piece of bread that we partake. For each of us, he suffered and as I take my share of the bread on sunday I can remember that Jesus Christ suffered for my personal problems, afflictions, infirmities and because of that he can succor me no matter what I am faced with.  As I partake of that piece of bread, he is succoring me, and only me at that moment, I have his full attention, love, help. After all, we all never partake of our piece of bread at the same time, so he is my personal savior. Inspiration, light and understanding continue to flow as I landed on verse 36 saying : "...He touched with his hands, the disciples whom he had chosen, one by one, even until he had touched them all..."  Another example of how personal my relationship is with Jesus Christ. What I have read have changed my thoughts and attitude about the sacrament. Every week as I partake of the sacrament, I want to try to be there in spirit so that I can feel the cleansing, enabling, and personal power of the atonement on my life. I will chose to be there for the Savior as he is for me in that moment which is our most important moment together. The sacrament is my time with my Savior and I will make sure that I do not miss that appointment with him that is scheduled for me specifically to change my life. I know that Jesus Christ is my personal savior and redeemer. I know that he lives and loves me. I know that he is there for me and that I am his number one priority. This is my testimony, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Spiritual War

I love the war chapters of the Book of Mormon. They are among my favorites because while some might find them long or boring , they speak to me. They give so many advice on how to build a firm foundation in the gospel. One of those chapters that I love so much is Alma 49, during which Moroni build such strong fortifications in the city that the Lamanites could not get in.  The more I read, the more I realize that my life is is so similar to that chapter . Just like Moroni, I can use the gift of the Holy Ghost to discern the plan of the adversary and build fortifications to prepare for when he attacks me. Unlike Moroni, many times my battles will not be physical but rather spiritual. So it is important to use daily prayer and scripture study, weekly partaking of the sacrament, attending the temple, doing service, and following the commandments at all times to build spiritual fortifications to resist the temptations of the devil.  When I fill  my life with light, following the perfect example of my Savior Jesus Christ, I can be better prepared for the daily spiritual battles. The Lord has promised us in exodus 14:14 that he will fight our battles and he showed it to the Nephites in verse 17 that says "Thus the Nephites had all power over their enemies; ...there was not a single soul of the Nephites which was slain."Satan will use our weakness and passions, send fiery darts our way to hurt us, although we will be hurt, bruised, tested, tried but we will not perish. We will remain strong because of the Rock of the gospel which is Christ our savior on which we are built. A rock on which if men are built, they can not fall as Helaman 5:12 says.

The gospel of change!

It was such an uplifting experience to listen to women's general conference on Saturday afternoon. I really love how Sister carol F. Mckonckie used Mosiah 3:19 to help us understand the importance of being holy. During her talk, the spirit brought a lot a of questions into my mind which led me to go back to my scriptures after her talk and dissect that verse.  It reads " For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father." It especially came to my attention that the word unless rather that until was used. According to the dictionary, the word unless means except if, which I interpret to mean that men are not destined to stay enemy of God forever. We are given the possibility to get out of that state if we use our agency to accept Christ's gospel and act upon its principles. If we truly want to stop being a natural man we would have to yield or surrender to the enticing of the Holy spirit which means we will have to lay aside all of our own judgement and knowledge and learn to trust the spirit of God who's only purpose is to lead us in righteousness. We would also have to cultivate child-like qualities such as meekness, humility, patience, in order to accept the will of the Lord and follow it as a child follow his father. This is the first tie i read this  scripture and realized that all it is asking is for us to sacrifice things that perhaps we love but leads us to a path contrary to that of the Lord. It is asking us to be more holy. What am I willing to sacrifice to be more holy? We all have the opportunity  to choose holiness each day and every time we do, we honor our covenants more fully and come closer to the Lord. We show to the Lord that he can trust us with his will and helps us retain a remission of our sins. As we do this, we will no longer be a natural man but will become a saint through the power of the atonement of Jesus Christ after all we can do. 

You are the convert

This week had been such a weird week. I feel like I was so productive, but at the same time I feel like I did nothing... I feel like for some reasons I did not have time to read my scriptures. For some reason, I felt like I needed to pray for some missionary opportunities. My week went by, on Saturday, I went to a service activity that the nursing program at BYU put together where we made Disney princess wigs from yarn for cancer kids. But what happened on Saturday night was so unexpected. My best friend came over my house and all of sudden her and my roommate started having a gospel discussion. She has been less active for 2 years and wants nothing to do with the church. So, even listening to my roommate, was a big step. Every time they would get into a point where my roommate would not know what to say, she would ask me to clarify it. As I clarified things for her, I realized that the one who was learning more. As words were coming out of my mouth, I felt the power of the spirit move me and  confirm to me that indeed this church is the church of God. Even though I was helping her understand points of doctrines, I felt that it was my personal testimony that was  being strengthened. At the end of the conversion, we didn't feel like that my friend had allowed the spirit to touch her and have a change of heart. However, because we asked her good questions and had her basically answer things for herself, both my roommate and I were satisfied. We knew for sure that even if she did not accept the church in its doctrines, that at least her mind was opened to it. It is in the back of her mind now. The Lord works in mysterious ways to answer the desires of our hearts. In Doctrine and Covenants 33 verse 2 it reads : For verily, verily, I say unto you that ye are called to lift up your voices as with the sound of a trump, to declare my gospel unto a crooked and perverse generation.
It is my responsibility to help others, especially friends and family to come to the path. Although I can not steal their agency, I can sure help them to use it correctly. Whenever I make an effort to testify of the truth, the Lord always fill  my mouth and understanding. The gospel of Jesus Christ is a gift. When we discover it, we need to embrace it, and share it. Only then will our testimony continue to grow until even conversion.

You are not alone

I am so grateful that I  have the restored gospel in my life. There are some days that I truly could have not imagined my life without it. This week as I was in pain due to some stomach virus and a migraine so I had a lot of time to think about the role the gospel plays in my life. As a lot of people already know, being religious does not save you from being sick or afflicted, however it does help you get through the afflictions or sickness easier. It helps us to have an eternal perspective. Mosiah 21:5 says "And now the afflictions of the Nephites were great, and there was no way that they could deliver themselves out of their hands, for the Lamanites had surrounded them on every side." This week as we discussed this verse in class, our professor helped me see it in a new perspective. He talked about how the Lord never expects us to get ourselves out of "bondage" or challenges we face. He is there every step of the way to help us if we let him! However if we do not let him help us, our challenges will seem bigger and endless. needless to say, we will never be able to deliver ourselves. So, in the end, it is better to trust in the Lord and cry unto him during all our trials because he will always help us. If anything, that is how we learn and grow. I am so grateful for my trials because they help me grow and draw me closer to the Lord.