Peace at the Temple

There is something about the temple that makes it unique and different from other places. Whether you walk the grounds or enter its doors, there is an increase of joy and peace found there. It truly is hallowed ground.

Just this past Thursday I visited the local temple (the Seattle Temple) with two of my close friends. Something that I thought of regarding my visit (but I didn't think of until afterwards) was Moses' encounter with the burning bush in the Old Testament:
"Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb.
"And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.
"And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.
"And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I.
"And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground" (Exodus 3:1-5).

When we went into the temple, we took off our shoes, just as Moses did when he was commanded by the Lord. I testify that the temple and the grounds of the temple are truly holy, sanctified ground, and that is why we experience such peace and joy there.


It happened to be a beautiful day that we were there, so here are some pictures as well.

Grateful No Matter What

"Over the years, I have had the sacred opportunity to meet with many people whose sorrows seem to reach the very depths of their soul. In these moments, I have listened to my beloved brothers and sisters and grieved with them over their burdens. I have pondered what to say to them, and I have struggled to know how to comfort and support them in their trials.
"Often their grief is caused by what seems to them as an ending. Some are facing the end of a cherished relationship, such as the death of a loved one or estrangement from a family member. Others feel they are facing the end of hope--the hope of being married or bearing children or overcoming an illness. Others may be facing the end of their faith, as confusing and conflicting voices in the world tempt them to question, even abandon, what they once knew to be true.
"Sooner or later, I believe that all of us experiences times when the very fabric of our world tears at the seams, leaving us feeling alone, frustrated, and adrift.
"It can happen to anyone. No one is immune."
-Dieter F. Uchtdorf, "Grateful in Any Circumstances"

Recently I was discussing with a close friend how to handle difficult times that come our way. During our conversation, he brought up this talk in particular and read this opening section. I cannot even describe the impact of those words in that moment. I could relate so much to this; we all can relate to this at some point in life.

Later, Uchtdorf said, "It might sound contrary to the wisdom of the world to suggest that one who is burdened with sorrow should give thanks to God. But those who set aside the bottle of bitterness and lift instead the goblet of gratitude can find a purifying drink of healing, peace, and understanding."

A perfect example of this above statement is the story behind the hymn of "It Is Well with My Soul," which I wrote about in a blog post earlier this year (click here to read it).

Another great example is the story of Job in the Old Testament. Job was a wealthy man in his day and was faithful to the Lord. Satan decided he wanted to see if Job would turn his back on the Lord if he was given trials, so he received permission from the Lord to bring afflictions upon Job. Job lost his servants, his animals, his children, his home... "Then Job arose, ...and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped, and said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord" (Job 1:20-21).

The Bible is filled with verses and passages about gratefulness, thankfulness, being content in circumstances, etc. Here are a few that particularly stand out to me:
-"And let the peace of God rule in your hearts...and be ye thankful" (Colossians 3:15).
-"Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, wherewith to be content" (Philippains 4:11).
-"Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name" (Psalm 100:4).
-"O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good: because his mercy endureth for ever" (Psalm 118:1).
-"Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place" (2 Corinthians 2:14).

Earlier I mentioned discussing this subject with a friend. That friend gave me a challenge, and now I challenge you to do the same: offer up a prayer in which you don't pray for any blessings or make any requests; let it solely be a prayer of gratitude. I've done this myself, and it made me feel so much better. I know that if you do this with sincerity, you will have increased joy and peace.

What Is the Spirit Telling You?

This week for me could be summed up in one word: promptings.
On Sunday, I received a prompting.
On Monday, I received a prompting.
On Tuesday, a prompting.
On Wednesday, another prompting.
On Thursday, more promptings.
Friday? Again.
Saturday? Keep 'em comin'.

In other words, we can all receive daily promptings, both big and small.

This is what Thomas S. Monson had to say about promptings from the Spirit:
     "At times, the answers to our questions and the responses to our
     daily prayers come to us through silent promptings of the Spirit.
     As William Cowper wrote:
         'God moves in a mysterious way
         His wonders to perform;
         He plants His footsteps in the sea
         And rides upon the storm. ...
         Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
         But trust him for his grace;
         Behind a frowning providence
         He hides a smiling face.'
     "We watch. We wait. We listen for that still, small voice. When it
     speaks, wise men and women obey. We do not postpone the
     promptings of the Spirit. ...
     "Never, never, never postpone a prompting."

We need to listen for the promptings of the Spirit. We need to "always have His Spirit...with [us]" (Moroni 4:3; see also Moroni 5:2) so that we can better recognize those promptings.

What is the Spirit telling you today?
Listen, and then take action.


*If you'd like to read or watch the rest of Thomas S. Monson's talk, "The Spirit Giveth Life," click here.

General Conference Thoughts: April 2015: Religious Freedom & Tolerance

This is something that I've wanted to address for awhile, but especially after hearing the topic come up several times, I felt that now would be a good time to do so.
In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we have something called the Articles of Faith. Long story short, a newspaper editor asked what Latter-day Saints believe, and Joseph Smith wrote this to condense our beliefs into 13 short but powerful statements.
Our 11th Article of Faith states, "We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may." Why would we, the same church that believes that we have the fully restored gospel of Jesus Christ, say this? Because we all have free agency (the ability to choose). If we didn't have agency, we would all be robots and there would be no point in living on the earth--but we are here to make choices and prove ourselves faithful to the Lord. That means loving the Lord and showing our love for Him by obeying Him to the best of our ability, just as a child who truly loves their parent would show their love by obeying their parent to the best of their ability.
This is why religious freedom is so important: if we didn't have religious freedom, our agency would be restricted and, in fact, nonexistent in the religion aspect. But it is not just religious freedom that is important; we also need religious tolerance.
Now, I'm not suggesting that you have to agree with or condone the beliefs and actions of someone of another faith (or of no faith at all); what I mean is that we all need to be respectful of others' agency and allow them to make their own decisions. We can share with them our beliefs, but don't force a decision upon them; allow them to make decisions--any decision, really--for themselves.
Which brings me to something else to address:
Something that I've noticed throughout my life in regard to varying religions is that oftentimes, when someone is curious about another belief system, they don't go directly to the source. I've especially noticed this in Mormonism, both as a nonmember and as a member. Unfortunately, it was my ignorance of what Latter-day Saints really believed that made it hard on me when I found out that the misconceptions with which I'd known throughout my life were wrong. I had to strip myself of pride in order to find out what these people really believed. I went to the source to find out what these people had to say and why they believe what they do. And it made sense to me! I understood, and I agreed. And that's why I am a Latter-day Saint myself.
I'm not trying to force anyone to believe the same as I do, but please--for the sake of myself and others of various religions and denominations--if you want to know what someone truly believes, go to the source. Don't go to someone who has never been involved in the religion or even someone who used to be in that denomination and is no longer affiliated with it, because sometimes practices change or they may even say something to taint a religion's image. Go directly to the source: using the LDS Church as an example, go to LDS.org, Mormon.org, read the Bible and the Book of Mormon (especially if you've read/studied the Bible and are skeptical of the Book of Mormon), read what our church's leaders have to say, and, your best source for any religion, ask their members! I cannot emphasize that enough. If you want to know what a Baptist believes, ask a Baptist. If you want to know what a Catholic believes, ask a Catholic. If you want to know what a Buddhist believes, as a Buddhist. You get the idea.
And if you want to know what a Latter-day Saint believes, ask me or any other Latter-day Saint out there!

General Conference Thoughts: April 2015: The Plan of Happiness

For those of you who watched General Conference last weekend: wasn't it incredible? I just love watching Conference every spring & fall, listening to our Church leaders and hearing the beautiful Mormon Tabernacle Choir sing. Such a wonderful time!
For those of you who missed General Conference: it's not too late to watch! You can watch, read, or listen to the talks here: https://www.lds.org/general-conference/sessions?cid=HP14GC&lang=eng
For all of you: for the next few weeks I'll be focusing on some favorite talks and quotes from General Conference. This week, it's the talk from the Saturday morning session by Boyd K. Packer.

First of all, what a precious, precious story Pres. Packer shares about how he met his wife and the beginning of their journey. It made me melt.
Now, there's a lot of deeper, more detailed doctrine referred to in this talk. It can be difficult to explain, but long story short, we as Latter-day Saints believe that we lived as spirits with our Heavenly Father before we were born on earth, that earthly birth is, essentially, the union of spirit and physical body. We need physical bodies in ordered to gain glorified bodies at the Resurrection (how can your body become glorified if you don't have a body to begin with?).
Side note: here's a diagram of the Plan of Salvation as Latter-day Saints believe it to be, just as a reference to what I just said. Also, you can check out lds.org or mormon.org to learn more.

Okay, back to what I was saying... So, the quote from this talk that stuck out for me the most was when Pres. Packer said, "The power of procreation [and, by extension, marriage and family] is not an incidental part of the plan; it is the plan of happiness" (emphasis added). The Lord commanded Adam and Eve to "multiply, and replenish the earth" (Genesis 1:28); that commandment has never been "canceled out," so to speak. The purpose of using our procreative powers (within marriage, of course) is to give other spirits bodies, and they in turn will provide others with bodies, etc., etc.

Now, as Pres. Packer goes on to say later, there are those who cannot bear children, or who never marry, or under other circumstances are not able to have children. Remember, the Lord hasn't forgotten you. Your Heavenly Father loves you and is ever so aware of you. Just as in other things, the Lord knows your heart, and He will bless you.

I can't really say any more, because I have not been married, nor have I borne children. But I can say that I know that what Pres. Packer shared is true.

And here's the talk that he gave so that you can watch (if you would rather read it, click here):

The building where General Conference takes place. Anyone is welcome to go--you can get tickets ahead of time or go via stand-by, so feel free to go sometime! It's an amazing experience!

An Invitation, From Me to You

It's General Conference Day--both today and tomorrow!
I invite all of you to tune in--TV (channel 232 if you're in WA), radio, or streaming on the Internet (LDS.org, BYUtv, etc.) (or, if you're lucky and make it there: in person at the Conference Center).
You do not have to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to listen in; just be edified--to have your faith strengthened and come closer to our Savior this Easter weekend.
No two sessions are alike, so I encourage you to watch all of them.
Times for the sessions as follows (all MDT):
-Sat., April 4: 10:00am-12:00pm, 2:00-4:00pm, 6:00-8:00pm (6-8pm session is for the men--to see the women's broadcast from last Sat. night, go to LDS.org and search "General Women's Meeting 2015"--you should be able to watch it there).
-Sun., April 5: 10:00am-12:00pm, 2:00-4:00pm


If you miss any sessions, you can watch them later online at LDS.org (search "General Conference April 2015").
Last but not least, here's a link for complete broadcasting info for the US: http://www.bonneville.info/broadcast.cfm


Enjoy General Conference! And if this is your first time tuning in, welcome!

Learning Experiences

As I prepare to embark on a journey, I was drawn to the topic of learning.
We can learn all sorts of things, in all subject matter, in all sorts of ways.
We are encouraged to study all that we can. In the Doctrine and Covenants, it says to "seek ye diligently and teach one another words of wisdom; yea, seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom; seek learning, even by study and also by faith" (D&C 88:118, emphasis added). I believe that the reason that we are encouraged to seek wisdom and learning is because we can learn things pertaining to us both spiritually and temporally.
Jesus Christ said in the New Testament, "Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me" (Matt. 11:29). Learning more about Christ and how to emulate Him is what's most important.
Here's something I find pretty cool: the Old Testament prophet Daniel was gifted with the ability to learn. "As for these four children [meaning Daniel and his friends], God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom" (Dan. 1:17). Some of us, too, have been gifted with the ability to learn. And if we feel that learning may not be something we are good at, we can pray for the gift of learning, that we can learn more and learn more effectively.

I don't know about you, but I personally enjoy learning, and every time I take a trip, I like to learn along the way.
And that is exactly what kind of journey this will be.
We will be going to Germany and Austria. Just a few of the things that I know I will learn about on this trip:

• At Dachau: Dachau was one of the first concentration camps built in the 1930s and became an example for future concentration camps. It was one of the worst camps at which to be imprisoned. There, I can learn in person about the horrors of Dachau and about life in concentration camps in general, about World War II and the Nazi regime, and gain a better appreciation for the world in which I now live.
  

• At Neuschwanstein: I can learn about the history and explore the architecture of this beautiful castle after which the Disneyland castle was modeled.

Neuschwanstein Castle (credit: Amazon.com)

Disneyland Castle (credit: TheEnchantedManor.com)

• In Salzburg: I will be able to experience firsthand the musical culture of Salzburg (yay!). Salzburg sound familiar? It's also the home of the famous Von Trapp family and filming city of many scenes from Rodgers & Hammerstein's The Sound of Music, including the Mirabelle gardens where many of the scenes from the song "Do-Re-Mi" were filmed. (Yes, we will be taking the special tour. Four hours of living the dream!)

Credit: AmericanSongWriter.com

Credit: TheWorldIsABook.com

Credit: FlipTravels.com

Auf Weidersehen!