Reconcile Yourself with the Will of God and be Saved Through Grace

As I studied the Book of Mormon this week, I thought about how important it is to seek the will of God and how we must reconcile ourselves with the Will of God.

In 2 Nephi 10:24 it says, "Wherefore, my beloved brethren, reconcile yourselves to the will of God, and not to the will of the devil and the flesh; and remember, after ye are reconciled unto God, that it is only in and through the grace of God that ye are saved."

How do we reconcile ourselves with the will of God?

In life we go to people who are learned in order to be taught. Many of us are born of goodly parents and learn many truths from them. We also go to schools and universities to gain knowledge.

God is omniscient. That means he knows absolutely everything, even down to the most minute detail. And He is truly our Father in Heaven. Therefore he loves us and his work and glory is to help us reach our potential. He wants to share his knowledge and wisdom with us and help us become like Him.

His work and his glory is to "bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man" (Moses 1:39).

In our eternal quest to gain knowledge, intelligence, wisdom and light, we should all go to the source of all truth. The source of all truth is our Heavenly Father. "O how great the holiness of our God! For he knoweth all things, and there is not anything save he knows it." (2 Nephi 9:20).

In light of this knowledge, and knowing that "the natural man is an enemy to God," should we not "yield to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and put off the natural man and become a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, become as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father?" (Mosiah 3:19).

We are all imperfect. We are all unclean and we also know that "The kingdom of God is not filthy, and there cannot any unclean thing enter into the kingdom of God." (1 Nephi 15:34).

That is why our Loving Heavenly father sent his Son, even Jesus Christ to be our Savior and Redeemer.

In the October 2015 General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Second Counselor in the First Presidency taught some very important and inspiring principles in his talk entitled "The Gift of Grace".

He said, "Even if we were to serve God with our whole souls, it is not enough, for we would still be “unprofitable servants.” We cannot earn our way into heaven; the demands of justice stand as a barrier, which we are powerless to overcome on our own.

"Salvation cannot be bought with the currency of obedience; it is purchased by the blood of the Son of God. Thinking that we can trade our good works for salvation is like buying a plane ticket and then supposing we own the airline. Or thinking that after paying rent for our home, we now hold title to the entire planet earth.

These words really struck me. I realized that I often put too much trust in my own efforts, thinking that my effort is the main part of working out my salvation. Though I know that my efforts and my obedience and my broken heart and contrite spirit are an important component of becoming worthy of salvation, the larger part lies in the atonement and the gift of grace that God has given us. The power of his atonement truly is infinite.

President Uchtdorf said, "The grace of God is our great and everlasting hope.

"Through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the plan of mercy appeases the demands of justice “and [brings] about means unto men that they may have faith unto repentance.

"Our sins, though they may be as scarlet, can become white as snow. Because our beloved Savior “gave himself a ransom for all,” an entrance into His everlasting kingdom is provided unto us.

"The gate is unlocked!

"But the grace of God does not merely restore us to our previous innocent state. If salvation means only erasing our mistakes and sins, then salvation—as wonderful as it is—does not fulfill the Father’s aspirations for us. His aim is much higher: He wants His sons and daughters to become like Him.

"With the gift of God’s grace, the path of discipleship does not lead backward; it leads upward.

"It leads to heights we can scarcely comprehend! It leads to exaltation in the celestial kingdom of our Heavenly Father, where we, surrounded by our loved ones, receive “of his fullness, and of his glory."

"All things are ours, and we are Christ’s. Indeed, all that the Father hath shall be given unto us. To inherit this glory, we need more than an unlocked gate; we must enter through this gate with a heart’s desire to be changed—a change so dramatic that the scriptures describe it as being “born again; yea, born of God, changed from [our worldly] and fallen state, to a state of righteousness, being redeemed of God, becoming his sons and daughters.

And so we see that we are all saved through grace.

President Uchdorf asked, "If grace is a gift of God, why then is obedience to God’s commandments so important? Why bother with God’s commandments—or repentance, for that matter? Why not just admit we’re sinful and let God save us?

"Or, to put the question in Paul’s words, “Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?” Paul’s answer is simple and clear: “God forbid.”

"Brothers and sisters, we obey the commandments of God—out of love for Him! Trying to understand God’s gift of grace with all our heart and mind gives us all the more reasons to love and obey our Heavenly Father with meekness and gratitude.

"As we walk the path of discipleship, it refines us, it improves us, it helps us to become more like Him, and it leads us back to His presence. “The Spirit of the Lord [our God]” brings about such “a mighty change in us, … that we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually.

"Therefore, our obedience to God’s commandments comes as a natural outgrowth of our endless love and gratitude for the goodness of God. This form of genuine love and gratitude will miraculously merge our works with God’s grace. Virtue will garnish our thoughts unceasingly, and our confidence will wax strong in the presence of God.

"Dear brothers and sisters, living the gospel faithfully is not a burden. It is a joyful rehearsal—a preparation for inheriting the grand glory of the eternities. We seek to obey our Heavenly Father because our spirits will become more attuned to spiritual things. Vistas are opened that we never knew existed. Enlightenment and understanding come to us when we do the will of the Father.

"Grace is a gift of God, and our desire to be obedient to each of God’s commandments is the reaching out of our mortal hand to receive this sacred gift from our Heavenly Father."

In parting I share with you the words of Jacob, from the Book of Mormon:

"Therefore, cheer up your hearts, and remember that ye are free to act for yourselves—to choose the way of everlasting death or the way of eternal life." 2:Nephi 10:23)

I will seek daily to reconcile myself with the will of God and choose the way of eternal life, putting my faith in my Savior Jesus Christ, that I may be Saved by his Grace.

What will you choose?

Getting an Education and Providing for your Family

This week I learned that I can become more like my Heavenly Father by getting an education and providing for the temporal needs of my family.

The lessons that I studied in the BYU Idaho Pathway program gave me confidence that I can be successful in getting an education and advancing in my career or maybe even starting a new career to provide better for my family.

A Reason For The Hope That Is In Me - 1 Peter 3:15

I wanted to share some of the reasons for the hope that is in me as Peter challenges in 1 Peter 3:15.

The Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ has given me the answers to the basic questions that most everyone asks: Who am I? Where am I from? Why am I here? Will I just cease to exist after I die? If not, where will I go and what will it be like? Having this knowledge, as revealed in the scriptures and the words of the living prophets and apostles gives me a sense of purpose and a sense of direction. It also helps me make the right decisions and recognize my mistakes and reconcile my thoughts, words and deeds with God and those that I have offended.

One of the many blessings that the Gospel has brought me in my life is the knowledge between good and evil and the peace and happiness that I feel when I do what is right. The scriptures teach us that "men are, that they might have joy." (2 Nephi 2:25). I think that so many people in the world are unhappy and they likely don't even know why they feel that way. Perhaps they don't have a clear understanding of what is good and what is evil. They cannot be happy in their sins because "wickedness never was happiness" (Alma 41:10). This is not to say that I live a perfect and happy life. What I can say, though, is that when times are tough I know that through God's justice and mercy, through the atonement of Jesus Christ and the influence of the Holy Ghost I can have hope for a brighter future.

 I am so grateful for the knowledge, peace and happiness that the Gospel of Jesus Christ has brought and continues to bring into my life. I feel a great responsibility to share the good news of the gospel with others.

Journey to the Promised Land

My professor in the BYU-Idaho Pathway program, Mike Haugen, challenged me to look at the parallels between Nephi building a ship and journeying to the promised land and our journey back to our Heavenly Father.

In 1 Nephi 17:17 we read, "And when my brethren saw that I was about to build a ship, they began to murmur against me, saying: Our brother is a fool, for he thinketh that he can build a ship; yea, and he also thinketh that he can cross these great waters."

Brother Haugen said, "The story of Nephi's family journeying to the promised land is a very good parallel for us, of our journey back to our promised land or the presence of our Father.

"I think one thing we all experience in life... is somebody pointing the finger of scorn at us; somebody pointing the finger of doubt at us, saying you can't build that ship, you can't cross these waters and make it back to the promised land.

"And that specific person is Satan. Satan is very good at getting us to think that we can't build a ship, that we can't make it back. And if he can get us to think that then he has won.

"And the truth from our Heavenly Father and my testimony to you as you study these chapters is that you identify how you, working with a kind Father in Heaven and his son Jesus Christ can overcome great waters.

"And think in your life where you have done that; where the Lord has helped you overcome some pretty rough waters in your life and that we all can return to our Father."

This is my challenge to you, the reader of this blog as well.

I try to imagine myself in Nephi's place. I think of how hard it would be for me to do what Nephi did; to sojourn for the space of many years, yea, even eight years in the wilderness.

After arriving in the Land Bountiful I imagine myself giving thanks to the Lord for his many blessings. I try to imagine myself, after having been in the land Bountiful for many days, hearing the voice of the Lord, telling me to arise and to get into the mountain. (1 Nephi 17:7)

I might think to myself, What for? Why do I need to go into the mountain?

I hope that I would be obedient to the Lord and go up into the mountain as Nephi did and cry unto the Lord.

I can imagine myself hearing the words the Lord speaks to me, saying, "Thou shalt construct a ship, after the manner which I shall show thee, that I may carry thy people across these waters." (1 Nephi 17:8)

Yikes! I am afraid I would have reacted more like Laman and Lemuel than Nephi if the Lord told me to build a ship. I don't know how to build a ship! But I hope I would have faith in the Lord.

Here we see that Nephi had to put forth a significant amount of effort and faith to do the will of the Lord and follow his promptings at each step in the process. When the Lord told him to go into the mountain, Nephi didn't know what for, but he was obedient and went into the mountain and cried to the Lord. Only then did the Lord tell him what He wanted him to do.

So it is with us, we have been given some commandments or in some cases, revelations that we need to follow. In some cases, only when we are obedient and do as we are commanded, do we find out what more the Lord has in store for us. Then we are given further instructions.

The Lord wants us to rely on Him and not on ourselves alone. He wants us to show our trust in Him, even though we cannot see the end from the beginning.

"For behold, thus saith the Lord God: I will give unto the children of men line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little; and blessed are those who hearken unto my precepts, and lend an ear unto my counsel, for they shall learn wisdom; for unto him that receiveth I will give more; and from them that shall say, We have enough, from them shall be taken away even that which they have." (2 Nephi 28:30)

The Lord always prepares a way for us to accomplish the thing that he has commanded us. In the account of Nephi, the Lord showed him the manner in which he was to build the ship.

Heavenly Father also sent his son to show us the way to live.

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16)

"And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people." (Alma 7:11)

"He that ascended up on high, as also he descended below all things, in that he comprehended all things, that he might be in all and through all things, the light of truth;" (D&C 88:6)

Christ truly gave us a perfect example of how to live and keep all the commandments of the father. He lived a perfect life as a perfect example for us. He is the Savior of the world.

He showed us how to return to our promised land, which is the presence of the Father.

"As we look to Jesus as our Exemplar and as we follow in His footsteps, we can return safely to our Heavenly Father." (President Thomas S. Monson, October 2014 General Conference).

Nephi recognized that he did not have tools to make a ship, he asked the Lord, "whither shall I go that I may find ore to molten, that I may make tools to construct the ship after the manner which thou hast shown unto me?"

As Nephi, we must press forward and continue along the straight and narrow path that leads to Eternal Life in the presence of our Heavenly Father. We must pray and ask for guidance in each step along the way. Our Heavenly Father knows what we stand in need of. He knew that Nephi needed tools to build the ship, but he didn't drop down a toolbox out of heaven. We blessed Nephi with the knowledge and abilities that he asked for in order to accomplish the thing that the Lord had commanded him.

As we take each step, the path before us will be made clear by His light. We make a step and the Lord lights the way a little further, giving us the confidence to take another step. But we must ask the father to guide us. And in this manner we press forward with faith, persevering until the end, until we have returned to our Heavenly Father.

In 1 Nephi 17:13-14 we read the Lord's promise to Nephi and to us, "And I will also be your light in the wilderness; and I will prepare the way before you, if it so be that ye shall keep my commandments; wherefore, inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments ye shall be led towards the promised land; and ye shall know that it is by me that ye are led.

"Yea, and the Lord said also that: After ye have arrived in the promised land, ye shall know that I, the Lord, am God; and that I, the Lord, did deliver you from destruction."

This is my testimony, that if we trust in the Lord and seek his light and follow his example, we will reach our promised land.

It was not easy for Nephi to build a ship. He had never done it before. He was faced with strong opposition from his brothers who pointed the finger of scorn at him. But Nephi put his faith in the Lord. He was guided by the Lord step by step relying on Him to receive more light in each step of the process.

Our journey through mortality to the Promised Land, the presence of our Heavenly father, will undoubtedly be accompanied by affliction and opposition. To successfully reach our destination we will require the same faith in the Lord and our sincere efforts to follow in his footsteps.

It will all be worth our efforts, for "as it is written, eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him." (1 Corinthians 2:9)

I am so grateful for Jesus Christ and his atonement. He has prepared the way. He is the Way to return to our Heavenly father and I know that we can accomplish this magnificent goal by putting our faith in Him.

This is my testimony. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Learning by the Power of the Holy Ghost

Henry B Eyring shared the following key to being a lifelong learner:

“Because I am clean, the Holy Ghost can teach me.

“I imagine many of you have had some experience where you were taught by the Holy Ghost. You have had times in your life when you were keeping the commandments of God and the Holy Ghost could be close to you and teach you easily. If you persisted, you felt the power of the Holy Ghost adding to your capacity to learn. You felt the Holy Ghost nudging you in the direction of truth, confirming truth when you found it, even bringing ideas directly to your mind. That may not have happened often to you and it may not have lasted long. But if it has happened to you once, you know it is possible.”

I know this is true, that “by the power of the Holy Ghost [we] may know the truth of all things.” (Moroni 10:5)

Perhaps the most powerful experience I have had with learning through the power of the Holy Ghost is when I began my mission at the Missionary Training Center (MTC) in Provo, Utah.

I was to serve a Spanish-speaking mission in Nicaragua. I remember my first night at the MTC very vividly. I was sitting in a room with a group of nine or 10 other missionaries. We had begun our first Spanish lessons. As we practiced some basic Spanish, I quickly realized that I was going to fall behind quickly. The rest of the elders seemed to be picking up the language quickly, while I was struggling. A sense of fear came over me. I am not a quick learner. I felt that if I fell behind it would be extremely difficult for me to be successful in learning he language.

However, I had a great desire to serve the Lord “with all [my] heart, might, mind and strength” (D&C 4:2). I knew that a critical component of achieving that goal was to learn the language as quickly as possible. I remember having a profound feeling that night that I couldn’t learn it on my own.  I was going to have to rely on the Lord to help me learn. I would give Him the glory for helping me learn the language.

That night before I laid down in bed, I knelt and said one of the most sincere, faithful, humble and hopeful prayers of my life. I told Heavenly Father that if I was to learn Spanish, it would not be because of my own efforts or my own intelligence, it would be because he had blessed me with the ability to learn the language.

I had faith that he would do just that because I knew he wanted me to be an effective and successful missionary as much, probably even more, than I wanted to. My faith was also bolstered by my confidence that I was living in a way that kept me clean and worthy to learn through the power of the Holy Ghost.

I slept well that night. I had turned my fears of failure over to the Lord and knew that he would help me.  Beginning the next day, I began to carry a prayer in my heart that the Holy Ghost would help me to learn the language. Though I had to work very hard, I never again felt that I could not learn the language or keep up with the class. My abilities and confidence in speaking the language expanded every day.

These blessings continued as I began my missionary service in Nicaragua. I memorized and delivered the discussions in Spanish to the wonderful Nicaraguan people day after day. I made great efforts every day to understand and make myself understood. Though I often say that I had a headache for the first 6 months of my missionary service in Nicaragua, every day I “felt the Holy Ghost nudging [me] in the direction of truth, confirming truth” and helping me learn the language. Meanwhile my understanding and appreciation for the basic principles of the gospel distilled upon my soul. The truth and beauty of the Plan of Salvation sank deep into my heart. May the glory be to God for the many blessings He pours out upon his children.

I am so thankful for this experience. It has given me a great sense of the love Heavenly Father has for me and all of his children. It has given me confidence in my ability to learn through the power of the Holy Ghost. I have had similar experiences since then. In fact, I have felt that same influence of the Holy Ghost as I have participated in in the Pathway program.