Alma 28

Death is truly something sad. Throughout life, it is inevitable that we have friends, family members and acquaintances die. We mourn the separation.

However, I am blessed to not fear it. I know that I will see them again. I don't have to wonder. I don't fear death for I know of God's plan and what happens after. I know of the resurrection. I know I'll see them again. Mortal time moves a lot faster than we may assume.

Of course you mourn the loss. It's hard. It's not easy. But when you know they lived a good life, when you know of the hope of the resurrection through Jesus Christ, it's not as hard as it could have been.

Alma 27

The Anti-Nephi-Lehies or the people of Ammon entered into the Nephite land and were numbered among the people of the church of God. However, "they were also distinguished for their zeal towards God, and also towards men; for they were perfectly honest and upright in all things; and they were firm in the faith of Christ, even unto the end" (27).

As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we should be distinguished from those around us by our character. We should live in such a manner that people can say, "Oh! The Mormons! I know them. They're a great people. Always serving God and their neighbor. They're so friendly. They are the most honest, kind, happy people I know and they truly live what they believe."

Share your testimony by living it. People will distinguish you from everyone else.

Alma 26

As you know, I have a brother serving a mission in South Carolina and I keep his blog updated for friends, family and strangers. Alma 26 is all about the joy missionaries can have of being "instruments in his hands of doing this great and marvelous work" (15). Of course, there are missions that are hard. But the missionaries should keep their spirits up. If they only introduce the gospel to one single individual, you never know what could come from that. How much good can come. They have still been an instrument in teaching the gospel by example if not words.

In this particular chapter, I have one favorite verse:

"And now, I ask, what great blessings has he bestowed upon us? Can ye tell?"(2).

I don't think this is a question only for missionaries, but rather for everyone. What great blessings has he bestowed upon us? Can we tell?

In my own personal life, I've noticed many blessings. The simple fact of my getting my homework done is a miracle every time it happens. I look at the pile before me and I just don't think I can get everything done. It's not that I procrastinate. I don't really. There's just so much to get done every day when I'm taking 18 credits. But I get started on it. I just start moving and working on it. Before I know it, I'm done. Not only am I done, but occasionally I'll have a tender mercy of a break in my homework. Not only that, but I have earned good grades. It's a total miracle to me. There is seriously no possibly way I could have accomplished it myself. The Holy Ghost and it's power to be able to help me remember and recall things is a fantastic study companion. This may not seem so amazing to you. But I know that I'm not doing it all myself. I have help. To me, this is a greatly appreciated blessing.

There are so many other blessings in my life that I cannot name them all. It would take hours and days and create a really long blogpost. So long, I wonder if blogger has a max for how many characters a post can hold. But begin to notice the blessings in your life. Can you see them? Do you know what they are?

Two Poems of Mine

I'm taking a creative writing class this semester. Currently, we are covering poetry. I've recently discovered I actually enjoy poetry (some of them). Once, I tried my hand at poetry in high school and decided never again. Yet we keep covering it in all my English classes for some reason. This particular professor gave us some of the reasons why we often do not have a positive experience with poetry and thus avoid the following:

The 7 Deadly Sins of Poetry

1. The Impenetrable Haze Poem - the work as a whole does not suggest a theme that any two people can agree on.
2. Truth-in-a-nutshell - poem tries to define truth, beauty, love or evil in the abstract, it is apt to sound like a little essay in short lines.
3. Oh-Poor-Miserable-Me! - based on unrelenting self pity. Belongs in a psychiatrist's office, not writing class.
4. The Marching Band Poem - heavy-handed rhythms and rhymes drown out subtleties of sophisticated poetry.
5. Hark, The Antique Language! - you are writing for the 21st century.
6. The Wailing-Violin Poem - the reader's emotions are manipulated to evoke tears. The poem is no longer sincere.
7. The Collective-Group Poem - we all resent being included in sweeping generalizations about all women, all men, all students, all Americans, all parents, or all anything.

As an assignment, I was to actually write some poetry. Here are two of my sincere attempts. Ironically, they are both based a little bit on my youngest brother. Tell me what you think!

Alma 25

To the Anti-Nephi-Lehies salvation did not come by the law of Moses, "but the law of Moses did serve to strengthen their faith in Christ; and thus they did retain a hope through faith, unto eternal salvation, relying upon the spirit of prophecy, which spake of those things to come" (16).

Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is the first principle of the gospel (Articles of Faith 1:4).


Dallin H. Oaks said:

You need the strength that comes from faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ if you are to fulfill your duty “to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places” (Mosiah 18:9). In times of trial you need the comfort offered in the holy scriptures, which assure you that when you have the shield of faith you will “be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked” (D&C 27:17). 

Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ prepares you for whatever life brings. This kind of faith prepares you to deal with life’s opportunities—to take advantage of those that are received and to persist through the disappointments of those that are lost. 

Most importantly, faith in the Lord Jesus Christ opens the door of salvation and exaltation: “For no [one] can be saved, according to the words of Christ, save they shall have faith in his name” (Moro. 7:38). ("'Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ'").

Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is pretty important. Faith is means action. Faith is action. You don't just believe something, you act on that belief. So you don't just believe in the Savior, you act on that belief. That's what faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is.

Alma 24

The Lamanities were a people who had the traditions of their fathers and had plundered, stole, committed adultery, murdered, and many manners of wickedness (Alma 23:4). However, when those Lamanities were converted, they were converted and never did fall away (Alma 23:6). They called themselves the Anti-Nephi-Lehies (Alma 23:17). However, even though the king of all the Lamanities was converted, and his whole household and many of the Lamanites, there were some who were angry and began to rebel against the king (Alma 24:1-2). This fraction began to make preparations for war (4). The leaders of the Anti-Nephi-Lehies came together to council on what they should do to defend themselves against the Lamanities (5). But not one of the Anti-Nephi-Lehies wanted to or would take up arms against their brethren and they wouldn't make any preparation for war (6).

Why? Why did they choose this path?

Crisis in Life

This is the simplified Chinese word for crisis. It's basically a combination of the words "danger" and "crucial point" ("Chinese words for 'crisis'"). Having crises in your life, either for a family or individual, can either strengthen or tear relationships apart. But it depends on the overall experience on whether it adds to the things that tears people apart.

The above is the ABC's of a crisis. In my own family, here's a simple example that helps illustrate this process.

Alma 23

"Yea, I say unto you, as the Lord liveth, as many of the Lamanites as believed in their preaching, and were converted unto the Lord, never did fall away" (6).

Are we so converted that we will never fall away? Conversion is something you can always be becoming. Richard G. Scott said:

To be converted, you must remember to apply diligently in your life the key words “a love of God, with a fixed and controlling determination to keep his commandments.” Your happiness now and forever is conditioned on your degree of conversion and the transformation that it brings to your life (Full Conversion Brings Happiness).

What's our degree of conversion? Are we only sorta converted? Or are we in it 100%?

How do we become better?

Alma 22

"I will give up all that I possess, yea, I will forsake my kingdom, that I may receive this great joy.
"But Aaron said unto him: If thou desirest this thing, if thou wilt bow down before God, yea, if thou wilt repent of all thy sins, and will bow down before God, and call on his name in faith, believing that ye shall receive, then shalt thou receive the hope which thou desirest" (15-16).

The king then prayed to God and said, "I will give away all my sins to know thee" (18).

Sometimes I think that when we repent that the Savior is taking away our sins. He is. But, we first have to offer them. Sometimes we value our sins and we want to hold on to them, even when you know it's bad. The Savior asked us to sacrifice something we shouldn't have anyways and He'll make us clean. Sometimes we love sin more then God.

It's like the monkey trap. The monkey sees something enticing and pleasureful, sticks his hand in and grabs it. However, as the hand forms a fist, the monkey can no longer escape. If the monkey would only let go of the object, he'd be free.

It's not an exact analogy, but it does get the point across. Would you rather hold onto your sin or be free? It's harder than you'd think to sacrifice a sin. Think of how hard it is to change a bad habit. It's a challenge. It's work. Sometimes you need help. But the reward is great. You get to know God better. You are free. You have the hope of eternal life. You receive great joy.

Sacrificing a sin is totally worth it. Even if it is hard.

Alma 21

"And they went forth whithersoever they were led by the Spirit of the Lord" (16).

We are supposed to be led by the Holy Ghost. Sometimes this can be difficult because you may not know how to recognize the Holy Ghost. I live by a rule of thumb. If it's good, do it. Moroni says:

"But behold, that which is of God inviteth and enticeth to do good continually; wherefore, every thing which invitheth and enticeth to do good, and to love God, and to serve him, is inspired of God" (Moroni 7:13).

Instead of trying to figure out if it is the Holy Ghost or not, what you should be trying to discover is if it's good or not. Anything good comes from God. The Holy Ghost helps communicate it. As you do those good things, begin to recognize it as the Holy Ghost. See the consequences of righteous action. As you become more familiar with the Holy Ghost and learn to immediately recognize it, then you will become more tuned and more easily guided.