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.

Challenges and Spiritual Growth

I just want to start by bearing my testimony that I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. No matter how many times I've read it, I seem to discover new things each time. I do not discover those things because I am smart but because the spirit of the Lord is there with me to give me new spiritual insights when I read the word of God. This week as I read Mosiah 21   , verses 15 and 16 made me realize something I had never experienced before. It reads : 14 And they did humble themselves even in the depths of humility; and they did cry mightily to God; yea, even all the day long did they cry unto their God that he would deliver them out of their afflictions.15 And now the Lord was slow to hear their cry because of their iniquities; nevertheless the Lord did hear their cries, and began to soften the hearts of the Lamanites that they began to ease their burdens; yet the Lord did not see fit to deliver them out of bondage.16 And it came to pass that they began to prosper by degrees in the land, and began to raise grain more abundantly, and flocks, and herds, that they did not suffer with hunger. 
By reading the previous chapter, we learn that this people is in bondage and they have just being baptized by Alma and accepted the gospel of Jesus Christ. They are persecuted by the Lamanites and are in bondage. They can not even worship their God in public because the Lamanites threatened to kill them. It amaze me so much that it says that the Lord did not see fit to deliver them from the hands of the Lamanites. Why? we might ask? is bondage a good thing? Did the Lord make it happen to punish them? no, on the contrary the Lord did not make it happen. However, he allowed it so that the people of Alma can prosper in the land as verse 16 says. That made me realize that there is ALWAYS something to learn when we are faced with trials, sufferings, and other mortal challenges that we can not control. The Lord will not deliver us until we have learned or have progressed. After all, all that we suffer help us to be more spiritually mature and draw us closer to our Lord. The Lord sent us on this earth to grow physically, intellectually ad spiritually. Can there be growth without challenging experiences? No. I know that the Lord loves each one of us and wants us to progress, that is why he allow us to have challenges so that we can develop attributes that will help us grow. I am looking forward to many more challenges in this life and know that each one of them will be for my own good.