What Does Dad Know...

When I was young, my parents had a saying that use to drive me insane (the picture attached I think portrays my best "insane" look with my dad)! When something needed to be done in a time sensitive manner or when they were just particularly stressed going into an activity, my parents would turn to us kids and say, "Now when I say jump, you say 'how high'." They would then proceed to clarify what that statement did not mean (i.e. no asking why, when, or any other form of questioning). As a youngster, I thought this request for blind obedience was annoying--after all, how was it that they could really know what was best for me in a moment.

However, now as time has progressed on, I have come to really appreciate the wisdom Mark Twain once expressed in the statement, "When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years." There were times when I was young that my parents would give me "command" me to do things that I honestly could not see the value in doing. However, as is always the case with hindsight, I have learned they were more often than not right. Funny how much we learn over a few years!

In Alma 36, we read of father Alma's counsel to his oldest son Helaman following a mission trip they went on together. Alma teaches him many things, but one message he teaches early on in his counsel stood out to me as I read it this week. In Alma 36:2, Alma reminds his son of the captivity of their not too distant ancestors and says "for they were in bondage, and none could deliver them except it was the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; and he surely did deliver them in their afflictions." Alma continues on to share his personal experience of having to endure bondage of a spiritual nature and how it was only the Lord who could deliver him.

I think the message here for me is that it can seem during tough times as though God is not listening or maybe even punishing us. I have found myself terribly impatient with Him during points like these in my life. However, it has occurred to me again this week that perhaps in 70 years or so when I meet up with Him again, I will be, to steal Twain's word, "astonished" at how much God has learned over this time.  Alma and his father's generation went through tough experiences--the kind of experiences that could leave a person asking "if God loves His children, why would He let them pass through this?" I think the truth is that God intends for us to not just get through but grow through these experiences--we just can't see it at the time.

As we deal with tough situations and wonder where the Lord is, I hope that we can remember to see where the Lord is leading us. I hope that we can learn to see opposition as opportunity and trust that as He leads us through deep waters, that He is making better swimmers of us. So if any of ya'll are like me and find yourself asking the Lord questions such as "why" or "when will you help", I just would invite you to ask this week, "How high."

Jump!

I think this warm weather we're experiencing has got me a little excited for summer! Any of my roommates will attest to this as I think they feel as though I started wearing shorts long before it was warm enough! Anyhow, as I have mused upon summer the last few days while sitting in class, swimming has crossed my mind. Memories have come back as I have thought about swimming. These have included remembering taking swim lessons in Luling, Dad forcing me to stick with Willowdale swim team, and swimming with the fellas in the Bogue Falya. However, the memory of swim lessons has really stood out to me.

As a little guy, I can remember that the last part of swim lessons was always jumping off the diving board into the deep end. I was always really excited to do it, but was at first way too scared to jump. I can remember making it to the end of the board, looking over the edge at the expectant life guard waiting to catch me, and then feeling suddenly overcome by the urge to use the bathroom (aka not jump)! Each day, the lifeguard would gently reassure me that he would catch me, but I just wasn't quite ready to believe him. I can remember my mind running through all the various ways that he could miss catching me--resulting in my drowning. However one day, I just decided to trust him and jump! It was exhilarating as I fell from the board, still very uncertain that I would live more than the next few seconds, but then he caught me!

In Alma 32 we read of the story of the poor of Zarahemla learning about faith from Alma. These people had endeavored to build their own synagogues alongside the more affluent members of their society but upon completion, these indigent people were denied access to these very synagogues. It was during this time that Alma came to teach them the true gospel. In his discourse on faith Alma teaches, that a major part of faith is being willing to "awake and arouse your faculties, even to experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith" (Alma 32:27). He goes on to say that by so doing, the people would begin to feel that what they had learned was true and their faith would grow.

This means a lot to me because recently, I feel as though the Lord has been encouraging me to act but I have been scared to--much like on the diving board, I have allowed myself to be immobilized by fear. However, as I have read this and pondered this idea, it has occurred to me that God is even more likely than some minimum-wage paid lifeguard teaching swim lessons to catch me when I act on His counsel. By finally jumping as a boy in swim lessons, I learned to trust that lifeguard, and I think the principle is the same with God. If we want to trust/have faith in Him, we must jump first.

I will just say that I intend to make a jump in my life now, and I hope that for any of you who are feeling as though they may be suppressing a prompting to act, that you will decide to jump as well. God loves us. He wants us to become more than we currently are. However, I do not think we can gain faith in either of those statements without first trying a little on our end. So in the words of Edward Van Halen's band, "might as well jump"!

"All We Need is a Little Patience"

While on my mission in Alaska, I heard a couple wise sayings that made me laugh but have stuck with me. Both of these sayings dealt with patience. The first was "I really want patience... but I want it now." The second saying was simply more of a prayer to God that He would "help me learn quickly what I am suppose to from this challenge so that it is no longer a challenge."

I think I really appreciated these sayings while on my mission because being a missionary often involved both waiting and challenges. Both of these aspects of missionary work left me feeling at times extremely impatient.

Since being home, I have found that trying to develop patience and conquering challenges seem to have come home with me--imagine that! Recently, I have found myself confronting these same issues. In the past months, I have been trying to make many life decisions with my graduation approaching here in April and have felt as though the Lord has been slow to answer my prayers. This has left me feeling fairly discouraged. The Lord has also at times answered me, but in a way my father would of approve of--by "answering the question that should have been asked rather than the one that was."

As I read from the scriptures this week, though, I came across the story of the sons' of King Mosiah (king over the Lamanites) mission to the Lamanites (enemies to King Mosiah's people). One of the brothers has immense initial success whereas the other brothers are met with serious tribulation. After a while, the successful brother Ammon finds his brothers in prison and it is recorded in Alma 20: 29, "And when Ammon did meet them he was exceedingly sorrowful, for behold they were naked, and their skins were worn exceedingly because of being bound with strong cords. And they also had suffered hunger, thirst, and all kinds of afflictions; nevertheless they were patient in all their sufferings."

This verse touched me because what these imprisoned brothers didn't know was the success that would shortly befall them. One brother in particular would go on to help convert the king of the Lamanite nation! Yet for a time, these brothers suffered immensely in prison. I have to think that at times, they must have been tempted to wonder what the Lord was doing or what was taking Him so long to help them. However, they endured and as He always does, the Lord came through.

I think at times, the Lord has us make sacrifices that seem tough or puts us through trying times. It is during these times that we seem to become painfully aware of time and can become impatient. However, I think it is because we fail to understand the Lord's workings. I think the key to developing patience is faith. In Samuel we read, "them that honour me I will honour" (1 Sam. 2:30). The imprisoned sons of Mosiah waited patiently on God, and I believe they were able to do so because they had faith Him and His timing. He knows what we need and when we need it. I will wait patiently because I believe that.

For those of you who may feel as though you are waiting on the Lord as well, wait on! Don't give up on Him. I don't know what will befall us in every situation, but I do know that when we patiently wait on Him, it will be His will!

Fix You

For anyone who knows me, they know that I am probably a little bit too much of a fan of Coldplay. I think they do a great job making music that comes from the soul. I think this may be why their songs are able to connect with me and so many others. One such song is "Fix You." After laying out the struggle of trying "your best but you don't succeed," Coldplay writes "lights will guide you home...and I will try to fix you."

In Alma 8, we read the account of Alma who has given up his political office to go around the land proclaiming repentance full-time. He visits a few towns and has success before being shut down completely by the people of Ammonihah. In response Alma begins to leave but the scriptures read "it came to pass that while he was journeying thither, being weighed down with sorrow, wading through much tribulation and anguish of soul...it came to pass that while Alma was thus weighed down with sorrow, behold an angel of the Lord appeared to him" (Alma 8:14).

The angel would tell Alma to return to Ammonihah one more time and after obeying, Alma has moderate success in his endeavors. However, I think this scripture is meaningful for me because it is something that I feel as though I can relate to very much. There have been times where I have been giving everything I have got to do what is right and have felt incredibly dejected and almost alone when faced with disappointment. I think that during these times I have found myself deeply sorrowful and have even caught myself wondering why God would allow me to pass through failure when I have been trying so hard to do everything right.

I think the answer for me and for anyone who has felt or is feeling like this is hope--hope that a light will guide you home. For Alma, an angel came to him and comforted him. For me, it has been my angel family members, friends, or sometimes the Lord Himself through prayer who have helped guide me home. The real principle is this, love is not as allusive as it may feel at times.

When Alma needed comfort most, he did receive it and so can we. I know it can be awfully discouraging at times to feel like you are doing everything right only to be rewarded with a less than desirable outcome, but it is in these moments that we can learn to rely on others. The other principle I think may be less evident from Alma's story is that hardships help make us into God would have us become. I know trials are hard, but I do know that as we look for help, we will find it. I also know that if we persevere, God can "fix" us into who He knows we can become! So next time you are really struggling after giving your all, look up and try to see what God is making of you.

Feeling Like a Black Sheep, eh?

When you Google the the definition for the word infinite, the definition that you will find is "limitless or endless in space, extent, or size." This is a fairly tough concept to wrap our minds around, but we generally understand that something that is infinite is understood to be limitless. 

With that understanding in mind, we sometimes hear Christ's atonement (His suffering and death for us) described as infinite, and we understand that it can be enough to cleanse and strengthen anyone, anytime, anywhere. However, it has occurred to me over time from my own experience that while we understand this concept intellectually, I think that we at times may actually really feel in our hearts as though there is a limit to His atonement--a place, a time, a person that it does not cover. Unfortunately, I believe that this person more often than not for most people is themselves.

Many of us have known someone who has been touched by Christ's grace, and we know that many others have and can be as well, but at times it can be difficult for us to believe we can be included among these people. In Mosiah 29:20, the king of the Nephites reminds his people of how a part of them had recently been in bondage and teaches "[God] did deliver them because they did humble themselves before him; and because they cried mightily unto him he did deliver them out of bondage; and thus doth the Lord work with his power in all cases among the children of men, extending the arm of mercy towards them that put their trust in him." 

The part of this teaching that I would like to call out is that Mosiah states in no uncertain terms that the Lord extends mercy in all cases. This means so much to me as I have felt before in my life that while the atonement was efficacious for others, I did not know if it could be efficacious for me. The strangest irony in this thought, though, is that as I have mentioned, this is not a unique thought--many of us at one point or another have felt this way. The atonement is in fact infinite and fortunately for us all, it does include all of us. I came to know this by calling upon Him for mercy myself and learning the truth that even for people who are certain His atonement won't work for them, sorry, (but not so sorry) it will.

For any of my friends or family who are living life wondering what others are talking about when they talk about how their lives have been changed by Christ, I would just invite you to try calling upon Him to strengthen you. For those of my friends and family who feel as I have in the passed in that they feel isolated and outside the bounds of His grace for whatever reason, I would just invite you to do the same. 

I don't know very many things absolutely, but I do know this. Christ loves us so much and anyone who trusts Him enough to try calling on Him sincerely can feel His truly matchless love as well. 

Make That Change!

Within The Book of Mormon, there are many different groups of people that readers encounter. However, two of the most notable groups are the Lamanites and the Nephites--long-time enemies of each other. Very early on within The Book of Mormon, the Nephites flee their homeland as instructed by the Lord, and the Lamanites then proceed to inhabit the land of Nephi. Later on, though, a group of Nephites led by a man named Zeniff decide that they would like to go live back in the land of Nephi if the Lamanites will let them. The Lamanites surprisingly do go for this with the implicit agreement that they will allow the Zeniff's people to live there peacefully. However, later on the Lamanites attack and while they are initially repulsed, we learn that predictably, the Lamanites agreed to these terms in hopes of enslaving Zeniff's people.

As a kid I can remember reading this story and thinking "Oh man! Bad idea to intentionally surround yourself with your enemies". Despite my skepticism of this move, I have still always tried to draw inspiration from Zeniff's people's ability to at least still stay strong in the faith even when surrounded by those who opposed their faith as long as they did. However, this time as a I read, I could not help but think about how strange it is that even once Zeniff realizes the Lamanites are not actually interested in being friends but are rather interested in enslaving His people that he doesn't pack up and lead his people to safety. Rather, Zeniff's response to realizing the Lamanites are likely to attack again is only to "set guards round about the land, that the Lamanites might not come upon us again unawares and destroy us" (Mosiah 10:2).

 I believe that his answer to this threat reveals perhaps a human flaw that when we are able to successfully survive something, we feel as though we can survive anything on our own power. As anyone who has read the next few verses and chapters knows, Zeniff's people are eventually enslaved despite his efforts to keep them safe. I think the principle this teaches is that we are not actually invincible. If we place ourselves in terrible places in our lives and do not get out of them once realizing that we are in a terrible place, we will likely fall. I think the truth "pride cometh before the fall" is really at the heart of this principle.

I know that at times I have been guilty of believing I can take on the world and not falter, but I think the truth is that only one has been able to do so successfully. I also think we have a tendency to blame God once we are enslaved after staying our bad places. For me personally, I feel as though God has always given me strength to get out of my bad places when  I have accepted that it is a bad place. I think for us, we need to be realistic in our expectations of our ability to not be influenced by others around us and recognize when we need to move to safer ground. This can mean changing friend groups, changing jobs, or just making large personal changes. While I know change is hard, I think in the long run, changing early can save us from greater pain. May we all recognize when we have been blessed with a chance to right our lives and take those chances as God gives them!

Starting- Just Do It!

As a looked through motivational quotes this week on the internet in an effort to inspire me amidst this week of midterms and assignments, I came across the old adage, “the beginning is always the hardest part.” I can certainly attest of this when it comes to getting ready for a test! However, I have found myself pondering upon this adage in the context of faith as well this week and would like to share with ya’ll my thoughts on this.

I have found that when it comes to the struggle of faith, (whether it be beginning to believe, trying again to believe, or just building upon existing faith) this adage seems to hold true. Contemplating the vastness of faith and God’s infiniteness can leave one’s head swirling. For the person who decides much like a determined student to succeed in their quest for faith, I feel certain that the most difficult question to be answered along the path remain will always be “where do I start?”.

This week as I read through King Benjamin’s words found within Mosiah 4:9, though, I was reminded of what I believe the answer to this difficult question is. King Benjamin teaches, “Believe in God; believe that he is, and that he created all things, both in heaven and in earth.” I believe the answer of where to start with faith begins with finding a belief in God.

I can remember heading into school one morning years ago while at BYU and pondering this very verse. At this point in my life all those years ago, I had begun to truly question the origins of my beliefs—had I come to espouse certain beliefs because of my upbringing or did I in fact, of myself believe in my faith along with its many tenets. This was truly upsetting to me, though, and despite a lot of introspection, I wasn’t really quite sure I could even answer the basic question with full conviction that I knew that God lived.

As I looked out across the Utah valley that morning, though, I saw the majesty of Mount Timpanogas just the sun began to break behind its peak. I saw the trees lining the rivers I passed. I saw all sorts of life—birds, humans, small pets—out and about enjoying the scenery. It was beautiful.

After taking in the nature for a little while, my attention was then drawn to something else—I saw a tall building.

For the first time it hit me how feeble our manmade creations are. As grand as that building looked, it had nothing on the mountains, trees, or life I saw all around me. It struck me as odd as I marveled at this skyscraper’s insignificance, though, how caught up and proud we are as a species despite obviously not being in contention for the best developers of beauty.

It was then that I recalled these words of King Benjamin. As I pondered upon his words, I began to desperately give all I had in that moment to believe in God and that it was He who had overseen the creation of all the beauty around me. As I did so, I felt a calm, reassuring peace settle over me, almost like a gentle voice telling me, “I’m glad to see you can see me.”

This scripture has come to mean to me that we begin our faith by believing in God. While this first step seems daunting, He is certainly not hard to see if we but look around. I believe that King Benjamin hoped that his words, while seemingly simplistic, would lead those sincere in their efforts to find faith to find Him. King Benjamin had seen evidences of God in all creation and I am grateful that I stopped to look as well.

I don’t know that everyone is as touched or inspired by seeing nature’s unrivaled majesty as I am but I know that God knows each one of us and can find a way for each of us to know Him personally if we will look for Him. I would just invite you all as my friends, no matter where you are at on your search for faith, to try to see Him today and believe.