Le courage

Today I read in the Book of Mormon a story about a man named Alma. He heard the words of a prophet named Abinadi and despite the rejection of the general populous, Alma felt the truth of his words and followed that prompting. Because of the ferocity of the peoples rejection Alma was forced to hide and flee the city. I don't doubt that there where nights when Alma was hiding in the woods that he would think to himself, "How much easier would it have been to just concede, to just go along with what everyone else was saying despite the spiritual confirmation that I received." President Monson (the current Prophet or President of the Church) once said, "Let us have courage to defy the consensus, the courage to stand for principle. Courage, not compromise, brings the smile of God's approval (The Call for Courage)." This story of Alma in the Book of Mormon is a stellar example of courage. He knew in his heart what was right and despite the societal pressures he did what the Spirit prompted him to do. It can often be hard in this crazy world to maintain a moral standard that contradicts pop culture but how much more blessed are we to stand for what we believe in? Because Abinadi stood for truth and because Alma stood for his faith millions of lives have been affected as they've been able to read this record. What a blessing it is to have a record such as this to help give us that courage we all need to "defy the consensus."

"attendant avec l'oeil de la foi"

Life is filled with twists and turns that often times cannot be anticipated. There are questions that cannot be answered and things we simply cannot understand. Despite all of this adversity we face if we are able to look forward with faith we can be given all the answers and strength that we need to accomplish any task (Alma 32:40-41). My testimony of this principle has significantly increased this week as I sat in front of two Sister Missionaries who were looking to me for help and guidance. I am not a theologist nor a scripturist but I do know that no matter how weak I may be through faith in the Lord my weakness may become strength (Ether 12:27). In the Book of Mormon we see so many examples of people being given strength according to their faith. In the First Book of Nephi chapter 7 it states "But it came to pass that I prayed unto the Lord, Saying: O Lord, according to my faith which is in thee, wilt thou deliver me from the hands of my brethren; yea even give me strength that I may burst these bands with which I am bound." Because of Nephi's faith he was able to break the bands which held him bound and stand before his brothers that were causing him so much pain. We may not be tied up by evil captors but we can be freed from the woes of life that hold us bound if we exercise faith in Christ. According to our faith we can be granted the ability to do all things, even help two Sister's in their time of need.

Une lettre

Until you are away from home without the ability to talk to family and friends every day you will never come to understand the joy that a simple letter can invoke in a person. Today I received a letter from a family I stayed with in France several years ago. It wasn't fancy, just a simple hand written note which I was ecstatic to receive. It got me thinking about how I would feel if I couldn't even hear from my family once a week, how horrible would that be? I wonder if that's anything close to how our Heavenly Father feels when we don't regularly come to Him in prayer. Prayer is our best source of communication with our Father in Heaven, it's much like a telephone call home. Through prayer we can tell our Father how we are feeling, verbally express what we need and what we are grateful for. He wants to hear from us everyday in the same way that my parents want to hear from me and I will want to hear from my children. When looking at prayer from the perspective of parent to child and child to parent I can truly feel its necessity and understand why prayer is so often mentioned in the scriptures. What a beautiful gift and magnificent form of communication.

"Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God (Philippians 4:6)."

Le prophète

A few days ago we had the opportunity to preview the new Joseph Smith movie, Prophet of the Restoration. The movie tells the life of the first prophet of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as well as a brief history of the beginning of the church. Since watching the movie I haven’t been able to stop thinking about the sacrifices that have been made throughout time for the cause of Christ. Beginning with Adam, each prophet has had one thing in common; they were all rejected by the common man as they tried to preach the word of God. It’s sad to think about so many that have died because the people didn’t want to hear what they had to say, they didn’t want to hear that what they were doing was wrong. It’s just like Abinadi the prophet from the Book of Mormon (Mosiah 11). He went to King Noah and began to rebuke him for his wickedness and call him to repentance but holding true to the pattern King Noah grows angry and tries to destroy him… It is heartbreaking to think about all the people that have died throughout history for their belief in Christ and for their desire to follow his example. I am so grateful for all that they’ve done but I sure wish they didn’t have to do it.

Jeudi

Yesterday we met these four young boys from Arizona who had hopped on a bus for 14 hours just to come to Temple Square. They couldn’t have been older than 18 but you could feel their excitement as they were able to explore this historic site. Two of them had just gotten baptized a few months ago and you could sense their love and desire to share what has made them so happy with everyone they know. This encounter got me thinking about why I served a mission, what made me want to dedicate 18 months of my life to this work? I’m not a convert to the church being that my family is LDS but I nonetheless had a defining moment when I had to chose, is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints the true church? Much like many converts to the church I had to ask, I had to know for myself that it was the right church for me. So I did just that, I asked my Heavenly Father knowing that He would answer my prayer. Because of that question and the sincere desire that I had to know the truth I was able to gain a personal witness that it is Christ’s church once again restored to the earth… I guess that’s why I chose to serve. The gospel of Jesus Christ has changed my life and I know it can do that for everyone. What better gift to give back to my Savior than to help others return to him?


“And whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, which is right, believing that ye shall receive, behold it shall be given unto you (3 Nephi 11:20).”

Le début

It has officially been two weeks since I last had a Diet Coke and I am beginning to feel the fatigue. When I woke up this morning I began to wonder why it was that I quit in the first place but the Lord subtly reminded me when I read in 1 Corinthians 6:19 which says, “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?” I guess it can be hard sometimes and easily forgotten that our bodies are a gift from God and that we are to care for them to the best of our ability. That is why God revealed the Word of Wisdom (the Lord’s law of health) through a living prophet, Joseph Smith. We really need to take care of ourselves so that the Lord can better take care of us. Maybe I should start running in the morning… But it’s just so early!

Bonjour

Hello everyone... and by everyone I mean the two people that will probably read this (including myself). I guess I should tell you a bit about me... Well, I am a Sister Missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. After I graduated from college I decided to dedicate 18 months of my life to serving my Heavenly Father and my fellow man by teaching people about our Savior Jesus Christ. I don’t know how exciting my blog will really be but I am looking forward to sharing my missionary experiences with all those out there in cyberspace.