Honesty!

http://youtu.be/xDayDdxpw_M

I loved this Mormon Message! There is so much confidence and power in being honest, and I love the fact that God's true Church teaches us to be honest, true, and benevolent. Alexander Pope, an English poet stated bluntly and beautifully, "An honest man is the noblest work of God." How often do I remember growing up and hearing my parents and leaders telling me to be honest in all my dealings? OFTEN! Why? Because they understood the importance of being able to look someone else in the eyes and tell them the truth. That is nobility. When I think of honesty and nobility, I think of Abraham "Honest Abe" Lincoln. What an example of an honest, noble man.

Also when I think about honesty, I think about a prophet who I love and miss dearly. His name is  President Gordon B. Hinckley. In a talk entitled, "We Believe in Being Honest," he gave us his thoughts on honesty:

"Honest Man: God’s Noblest Work

How rare a gem, how precious a jewel is the man or woman in whom there is neither guile nor deception nor falsehood! Wrote the author of Proverbs:

“These six things doth the Lord hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him:

“A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,

“An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that are swift in running to mischief,

“A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.” (Prov. 6:16–19.)

The appraisal spoken long ago by an English poet is true yet today: “An honest man’s the noblest work of God.” (Alexander Pope, An Essay on Man, Epistle III, line 248.) Where there is honesty, other virtues will follow.

Honesty Is a Basic Tenet

The thirteenth Article of Faith of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints affirms that “we believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men.”

We cannot be less than honest, we cannot be less than true, we cannot be less than virtuous if we are to keep sacred the trust given us. Once it was said among our people that a man’s word was as good as his bond. Shall any of us be less reliable, less honest than our forebears?

Those who are living the principle of honesty know that the Lord does bless them. Theirs is the precious right to hold their heads in the sunlight of truth, unashamed before any man. On the other hand, if there be need for reformation in any member of this Church, let it begin where we now stand.

Brothers and sisters, the Lord requires his people to be honest. May we desire with all our hearts to be honest in all our relationships and in all the things that we do. God will help us if we seek the strength that comes from him. Sweet then will be our peace of mind and our lives. Blessed will be those with whom we live and associate. And God will bless and guide us with his loving care."

I love the Prophet Gordon B. Hinckley, and I also love the example he set for us of being honest. What a better example of being honest other than him.

I Stand All Amazed...at the power of honesty.

Tennessee Tornadoes! (Take 2)

Right now, I am on "exchanges" with Elder Hansen. Exchanges are where we swap our normal companion for another companion for a couple days to work in their area, and to see if everything is going alright. Well this morning I came over here to Elder Hansen's area and the first thing we did was we drove out to Big Rock, TN. There was an F2 tornado that hit the town on Monday and we went out there to see if we could help out in the relief efforts. We spent two hours unloading a HUGE semi trailer truck load into a tiny Church of Christ church building. There were many people there to make the work go quick and easy. It was nice to get outta the shirt and tie for a while and help out the people that I love. The people we helped were all the church members of that congregation. There were probably 20 of us in all that helped. We unloaded water, shoes, blankets, cleaning supplies, unperishable food, bleach, and a ton of other things to help out the clean-up efforts. We talked to the Preacher for a little while as we worked, and he found out we were Mormon. We were treated a little differently from that point on, but the people were still very nice to us. By the time we left, we were both soaked in sweat and had red faces, but it was all worth it because we got to help out, and we also got a free t-shirt and a hat! I'm grateful that I got to work shoulder to shoulder with those people, and if they didn't learn more about our church today, I hope that they did learn that we work hard, we love to help out others, and especially that we are NORMAL people! Here are a couple of pictures from the damage. Of course this morning I forgot my camera......but Elder Hansen snagged a couple.





I wish that yall could've seen the whole town. This whole tornado weather is completely foreign to me, and the destruction and the damage that they leave in their paths is terrible. This town was in shambles. It wasn't much of a town to begin with...don't get me wrong, it is backcountry Tennessee, but it has devasted many houses and families. There were a few fatalities, and a couple of injuries, but the town is recovering. I Stand All Amazed....at the power of God. 

Why Do We Deal Treacherously Every Man Against His Brother?

I love the scripture in Malachi 2:10: "Have we not all one father? hath not one God created us? why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother, by profaning the covenant of our fathers?" Early this morning before we went to church, I was bored because we aren't supposed to do our morning exercises on the Sabbath. I grabbed the yellow book that was on the table and started flippin thru it. I came to the Churches section, and started reading all the names of the churches. There's a good 4 and a half pages of churches just in the Clarksville and Hopkinsville Areas. Some of the bigger churches (most of them were Baptist churches) had their name in bolder names to stick out and some even had advertisments to "show" how much better their church is compared to every other one. One even boasts a continental breakfast before morning service! Here are a couple of photos from the phonebook:

          

Honestly, this really saddened me. I echo the words of the prophet Malachi, Do we not just have one God? A God who loves us and wants the best for us? The best being, living with Him again? Is there not just "One Lord, one faith, and one baptism"? (Ephesians 4:5) There is only one true and living church here on the earth! "For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints"! (1 Corinthians 14:33) I testify that there is only one true and living church here upon the earth! Naturally, the one true and living church is the church that Jesus Himself, the very Son of God, set up. That same church was restored thru the Prophet Joseph Smith. I testify that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is that one and true living church! I'm grateful that the fog of confusion can be lifted from my eyes, and it has been because of the knowledge of the truth. I Stand All Amazed...at the peace of being apart of God's true and living church.

Praise to the Man!

I'm not gonna lie, Elder Hill showed this to me today and he posted it on his blog and I'm gonna do the same. This is a way sweet video! Its just a slide show of pictures of the Prophet Joseph Smith, but the Spirit and the feelings that you get when you listen to the music, look at the pictures, and think about all that he did for us, cannot be described. I love the Prophet Joseph. I know that he is a true prophet and he did the work of the Lord. I love this scripture in the Doctrine and Covenants. D&C 135:3: "Joseph Smith, the Prophet and Seer of the Lord, has done more, save Jesus only, for the salvation of men in this world, than any other man that ever lived in it..." I testify that that is true. I love our Heavenly Father and I know that He loves us. I know that He is a God of order and a God of pattern. I know that if He is going to call a prophet to lead His people in the past, He will do that for our day out of love as well. I would challenge anyone to put the Book of Mormon to the test. Read Moroni's Promise in Moroni 10:3-5, and try it. You will receive an answer. I have and I declare that it is true. I testify that I know what happened in the Sacred Grove really did happen. I have been there! I've walked the path that the boy Joseph walked in upstate New York into that grove of trees. I had the touching chance to get on my own knees and ask God if what Joseph said happened, did happen. I received my answer. The joy and the peace that I felt in my heart testified to me that it was true. And I know if God answered me, He will answer anyone. Of this I testify. I Stand All Amazed...at the Prophet Joseph Smith.

Here's the video:

http://youtu.be/sXZHa55RyhA

Same Jersey

This is a pretty cool video too. I love me some high school football and this one hit home really well. Way cool story.

http://youtu.be/r0b_heiiWrc

President Uchtdorf is right. We all wear one jersey. Now if you ask me, the jersey should look like a purple and white one with the word "Pioneer" stitched across the middle. Just sayin...

I Stand All Amazed...at being unified of the faith, for the edifying of the body of Christ. (Ephesians 4:12, 13)

As Many As I Love, I Rebuke And Chasten

http://lds.org/pages/as-many-as-i-love-i-rebuke-and-chasten?lang=eng

This is a talk by an apostle of the Lord, Elder D. Todd Christofferson. I had the unique oppurtunity to meet him and shake his hand in the MTC one year ago. It was a pretty cool experience. We had an MTC fireside that night and there was hype that the Prophet was coming. (I think that is the hype every time there's an MTC fireside...) as all the missionaries filed in (about 3000 of us) and took our seats, anticipation was building. The moment arrived and the person conducting announced that Elder D. Todd Christofferson would be addressing us. We all arose out of solemn respect for the worthy servant of the Lord. He then gave a powerful and moving sermon on our purpose. After he spoke, the meeting ended and we stood out of respect again. He and his wife went to the waiting room and took pictures with the staff and the people in charge. Usually after this, the guest speaker will leave. A group of us about 300 or so, left the building and went around the corner to see him go. He walked to the car, and as I remember, put down his notes, closed the door and came walking towards us. His countenance shone so bright! He was immediately swarmed by all of us, and shook our hands. I got the chance to talk to him briefly as he shook my hand before he moved on to the next missionary. I haven't washed my hand since....haha just kidding. I will never forget that experience. Elder Christofferson is one of my favorites and he always will be. He is a man of God! He speaks truth and when he speaks, I can feel the Holy Ghost testify of his words. This talk was one that I really enjoyed.  I have felt the rebuking of the Lord on many occasions, and I know that growth and an even more outpouring of love follows the hard times. I testify that God does love his children. And because He loves us, He corrects and chastens us. I love Him. I Stand All Amazed...at the Love of our Great God.

Gloves!...yes, gloves

Tomorrow morning, we are going to help someone from our ward move a pile a cut down trees that fell during some of the big storms that we have had. My companions and I decided that the tree trunks are gonna tear apart our hands, so we needed to find some gloves. We debated between a trip to Wal-Mart or make some calls to some members to see if they had any that we could use. We were talking about who to call, and someone yelled, "Elder Logan! He's got everything!" And this is very true. Elder and Sister Logan are a senior couple that is serving a mission down here in Clarksville. They do a lot with the Military and the relationships between the wards and the soldiers. They do extensive home teaching, temple prep classes, and they do a lot with the YSA group here in town. On top of that, they are constantly serving us missionaries with anything that we need. I have officially dubbed them Superman and Wonder-Woman. Here they are:  (I took this yesterday when Elder Logan walked in the down looking like this after he got done dry-walling at one of the houses that they home-teach at)

They are incredible people. So, I was gonna talk about gloves and how they represent our bodies and how without our spirits, our bodies would just be a blob and go nowhere. I'm kinda sick of that analogy to be honest, it is a great one, but they have used that one for at least 20 years, and most likely before that. So, I was trying to find a cool analogy of what to write about, but then the Lord taught me something else about a couple pairs of leather gloves (which Elder Logan had 3 pairs of...he's great). The Logans are perfect examples of what enduring to the end is. They have been faithful members of the church for their entire lives. They have had trials and issues that they have had to deal with. They have had good times, and bad times. And now they are giving up all that they have to the Lord. I love the Logans and I love their devotion to the gospel. They are enduring the end and giving back to the Lord all that they can to show their love to him. When I am as old as the Logan's, I want to be exactly like them, serving the Lord with all that I have. Joshua 24:15 comes to mind when I think about the Logans, "And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell; but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD." I Stand All Amazed...at faithful members of God's true church, like the Logans.

Cooper's Baptism!!

So, last night we went to the Cooper's home to plan out their baptism! We had a good discussion with them, talked about what was gonna happen today, we read some scriptures from Mosiah 18, and we rough-housed with the kids before we left :). We got up to leave, and I couldn't find my shoes. I had taken them off and put them by the door when I came in, and when I went to get them, they were gone. Well, I turned around and there was little Nicere with a Capri Sun in hand and some black missionary shoes that he hasn't quite filled yet. Haha coolest picture ever. Well, today was their baptism, and how great was and is my joy. The Spirit was so strong during their baptism! I love seeing families join the church! This church is true, and I'm grateful that I can be apart of this great work and be an instrument in the hands of God. I cannot wait to see all 8 members of this beautiful family in the temple getting sealed for time and all eternity. I Stand All Amazed...at the power of the Family.

Repentance

Lately, I have been thinking about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I've been thinking about what it means to me, and why I live it. One principle of His gospel is repentance. President Spencer W. Kimball said, "Sometimes it is easier to define what something is by telling them what something is not. Repentance is not repetition of sin. It is not laughing at sin. It is not justification for sin. Repentance is not the hardening of the spiritual arteries. It is not the minimizing of the seriousness of the error. Repentance is not retirement from activity. It is not the closeting of sin to corrode and overburden the sinner." I thought that was a pretty cool definition, especially since he was a Prophet of God. Repentance to me in one word is humility. As we realize that we have a loving Heavenly Father who wants what is eternally best for us, and as we realize that in order to obtain those blessings that He willingly gives we need to repent, or change, we will do so almost immeadiately. If we are in tune with the Spirit, we will be able to feel when He is not with us, telling us that we have done wrong, and at that instant, we will fall to our knees in humble prayer and talk to our loving Father in Heaven and ask for his forgiveness. In this there is safety, in this there is peace, in this there are blessings upon blessings that are available from the Lord. As we repent thru prayer, He will lift the burdens of sin. Guilt, pain, suffering, etc. Here's a video that tells us exactly that:  http://youtu.be/coef8G5ax6E. I testify that repentance is real. I'm the farthest from perfect, I know that I have messed up royally at times, but I know of the healing power of the atonement. He will lift the burden from us. He will heal us. He has suffered with us and He has died for us. I love Him. I Stand All Amazed...at the healing power of repentance.

The Thompsons!

This is what a missionary lives and dies for. There is no greater joy than seeing a family, kingdom builders, to be baptized into God's church. The Thompsons are one of those couples that a missionary will never forget. I am so grateful that God prepared the Thompsons to receive the gospel and I'm so grateful for their decision to be baptized. One very important part of their conversion was their friends, the Taylors. They are members and have been talking to the Thompsons about the church for quite sometime now. Gordon B. Hinckley, a former Prophet of God who I miss dearly once said, "Every convert needs a friend, a responsibility, and nurturing with the good word of God." The Thompsons have just that. The Taylors are incredible members of the church and good friends, they will soon get a calling in the church and have responsibility, and they are nurtured witht the good word of God daily by reading the Bible and the Book of Mormon. This is what I came out here on a mission to do. To be an instrument in the hands of God in bringing his gospel truths to families. My joy is full and it is better described in the scripture Alma 29:9, "I know that which the Lord hath commanded me, and I glory in it. I do not glory of myself, but I glory in that which the Lord hath commanded me; yea, and this is my glory, that perhaps I may be an instrument in the hands of God to bring some soul to repentance; and this is my joy." I am so grateful for this gospel. I know that the Thompsons followed the example of the Savior and were baptized today by someone holding the priesthood authority of God. I am so lucky to be apart of this great work. I know that Jesus is the Christ and He is my Savior. I love Him. The next step for the Thompsons...THE TEMPLE!!!

I Stand All Amazed...at the joy of being an instrument in the Hands of the Lord.