He Knows You.

"Nothing will surprise us more than when we get to heaven and see the Father and realize how well we know Him and how familiar His face is to us." — Pres. Ezra Taft Benson

That quote has been resonating in my head for the last week. I haven't been able to stop thinking about it. The implications are powerful! He knows us well, and wants us to live with Him. Will we regret anything from this life when we pass? Will we see Him, remember His face, feel His love, and be ashamed and sorry? Are we doing all we can to show how much we love Him?

I wish I could show people just how much their Father in Heaven loves them. His love is manifest to me as I do the small and simple things that He asks and keep His commandments. In return, He sends the Holy Ghost to gently nudge me in the right direction and give me comforting assurances that what I am doing is correct, and that He approves. From these feelings, we can know that we are engaged in what we need to be to be able to return to live again with Him. I have come to cherish and value these feelings.

Anyone who is searching for their Heavenly Father will find Him. He is not as far distant as we sometimes suppose. Indeed, Christ himself tells us that if we look for Him, we will find Him.

"Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:" Matthew 7:7

That promise is absolute. There is no, "maybe Ill find him," or "maybe He will answer me." He promises very plainly that He will manifest himself unto us. I know that is true. I know that he loves each and every one of us, and as we follow His son, Jesus Christ, and have faith, repent, and are baptized, we can be granted a spot alongside Him for eternity. Nephi says,

"Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life."

2 Nephi 31:20

I am so thankful for that promise.

We Are All the One

Matthew 18:12-13

 "How think ye? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray?

  And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which went not astray."

I was reading this scripture as I was eating my breakfast this morning (gotta love those early morning cereal revelations) and it hit me. I think no matter where you are at in your life, at one point or another, we are all the one. In some way or another, we have all gone astray. For everyone it is something different... The one thing that is always consistent however is Christ. He will always been searching for us, always reaching out. As soon as we can turn from ourselves, and listen to His voice calling out, we will be able to find Him. He will guide us home.

The gospel of Jesus Christ is available to everyone. I have the unique opportunity to be his servant at this time in my life, and reach out to find those who might have lost their way.  I come in contact with tons of people everyday, searching for His sheep, because just as He said, "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me" (John 10:27) You might have even felt the promptings in your own life... Like you are distant from your family, or you need a change in your life because you are unhappy. Christ and His gospel can really help us with a wide range of problems. Seriously, the gospel is for everyone, and God gave it to us to help us become happier!

I have such a testimony that the Lord rejoice when those that are lost are able to find their way back... That through the atonement of Jesus Christ, all of us who go astray can return back to the fold. We can be changed, and rejoice with the Lord when we are. When you make that effort to change your life and become better, it will enable Heavenly Father to bless you, and you will see the blessings.

If you feel like maybe your relationship with God could improve, or really just want someone to talk to about it, send me a message on facebook! My facebook should be right next to this post, on the right hand side of the page...

The Greatest Gift Ever Given...

"Greater ^alove hath no man than this, that a man lay down his ^blife for his ^cfriends. " John 15:13

Being a missionary, I am always talking about Jesus Christ. My whole purpose in my calling is to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ, and spread the wonderful news to everyone I come in contact with so that thier lives can be... well, better! I share the message of God's gift to us... How we can have everything he wants for us... If Heavenly Father himself were to give you the greatest gift He could, would you take it?

That gift I'm talking about is Jesus Christ, or more specifically Christ giving up his own life for us. Simply put, He gave it up so that we dont have to suffer shame or guilt for the mistakes we make. He gave it up so that we as humans can be forgiven and have those burdens lifted. He gave it up so that all of us can find a way to be happy, not only in this life, but after as well. Through his suffering, we can live with our Father in heaven and families forever if we but seek forgivness and follow Christ. The gift was given to all (2 Nephi 9:21), He denies none... But what does He expect of us to be able to claim those blessings?

The prophet Nephi describes what we need to do in verse 23 of chapter 9 (2 Nephi 9:23). Specifically, Nephi says that we need to repent and be baptized. When we do, we recognize our sins and weaknesses and make a promise to God to always try and do better. As we slip up and sin, we pick ourselves back up and move forward, constantly recommitting ourselves to be better. All of us are imperfect. We all have things we can change about ourselves to better align our lives with God's will for us. As we do, we will begin to feel the goodness and mercy of God, replacing feelings of guilt with love. We will also be able to feel the Holy Ghost more in our lives, and be able to hear His direction for us.

I am so thankful for what Jesus Christ did for me. I cannot imagine what life would be like if I had to live with the burdens of my mistakes forever. I am living proof that as you seek for change, and turn to God and repent, forgiveness will come. Anyone who takes up this challange and truely strives to follow Christ will add more light to thier life, and ultimately be a happier person. You will enable God to bless you, and I promise that He will. I know because I've done it, and have seen the incredible change in myself.