The Last Word

Well... it has been two years! I am wrapping up my full time missionary service and will be heading home in about a week. This will be my "last words" in my blog as a full time missionary, and so I looked at some of the last words of prophets in the scriptures, and let me tell you I found a great theme.

Amaleki's last words- "And now, my beloved brethren, I would that ye should come unto Christ, who is the Holy One of Israel, and partake of his salvation, and the power of his redemption. Yeah, come unto him, and offer your whole souls as an offering unto him, and continue in fasting and praying, and endure to the end; and as the Lord liveth ye will be saved" (Omni 1:26) Mormon's last words- "Know ye that ye must come unto repentance, or ye cannot be saved. Know ye that ye must come... and believe in Jesus Christ, that he is the Son of God... therefore repent, and be baptized in the name of Jesus, and lay hold upon the gospel of Christ. " (Mormon 7:3,5,8) Moroni's last words- "Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ.. that ye become holy, without spot" (Moroni 10:32-33)
Did you find a theme among their last words? I found that their last invitations were twofold: to come unto Christ, and a call to faithful action and change... aka repentence. As my mission comes to an end I echo the invitations from these great prophets. Before my mission I believed that the Gospel was true, but I don't think I realized how real and powerful it is. I have not seen the Savior or touched his hands and his feet, but I can promise you that I have experienced the power of His grace. It is real and it will transform your life if you "come unto Him". I know that He lives! It is the greatest message I could ever share.

Be wise!

"Oh be wise, what can I say more?" - Jacob 6:12

Quick insight from the scriptures... LISTEN to the Spirit

Quick insight from the scriptures today! Have you ever had the thought... "I knew I should have done that!" Or maybe you have had the thought... "I knew I shouldn't have done that!" God will often give us little whisperings by the Spirit and tell us things we should do or things to avoid. We can miss out on blessings if we don't respond to the little messages that the spirit gives us. I read Moroni 1:4 this morning and had a thought. It says, "Wherefore, I write a few more things, contrary to that which I had supposed; for I had supposed not to have written any more; but I write a few more things, that perhaps they may be of worth unto my brethren.. in some future day, according to the will of the Lord." Moroni thought he was done writing! But he probably just had a little whisper that told him to write a little bit more. He listened and we are so lucky that he did listen! Because what do we have in the Book of Mormon after Moroni chapter one? Directions on confering the Holy Ghost and ordaining brethren to the priesthood; the wordage of the sacrament prayers; discourse on faith, hope, and charity; instructions on not doing infant baptism; outlining of the gifts of the spirit; and last but not least Moroni's Promise- that if we read and pray about the Book of Mormon we will know that it is true. What would the Book of Mormon be without all of these valuable messages? We would not have them if Moroni didn't listen to the little quiet prompting that told him to write a little bit more. Let's follow Moroni's example and pay attention to those little messages and then actually do them. If we do this we can become a great instrument in the hands of God :)

Have a question?

Have you ever had to make a hard decision? Me too. Life is packed with choices that we have to make; and those choices define us. You, like me, have probably got on your knees and plead with the Lord for what direction to take. Maybe it was what college to go to, who to marry, what church to join, what career path you want to take and there are so many more decisions; big or small. Listen to the Lord's advice to all of us who are seeking his guidance, "Behold, you have not understood; you have supposed that I would give it unto you, when you took no thought save it was to ask me. But, behold, I say unto you, that you must study it out in your mind; then you must ask me if it be right, and if it is right I will cause that your bosom shall burn within you; therefore, you shall feel that it is right." (Doc & Cov 9:7-8) That scripture helps me a lot! It is the process that God has given us to help us with our decisions. First, we study it out... so we explore all of our options, read the scriptures, search for guidance. Second, we say a faithful prayer... we beg the Lord for his help and assistance. Third, we shall 'feel that it is right'... the 'burning of the bosom' is a feeling of comfort and serenity. We will feel good about moving forward with a certain decision. I hope this helps! Use this process with the question you have or decisions that you need to make, and I promise that you will see the Lords hand guiding the path that you take.