TEACH THE CHILDREN

Teach the children the true meaning of Christmas. This is something all of us (no matter what the age be) could use... Enjoy!

"Just a week before Christmas, I had a visitor. This is how it happened. I had just finished the household chores for the night and was preparing to go to bed when I heard a noise in the front of the house. I opened the door of the front room, and to my surprise, Santa Claus himself stepped out from behind the Christmas tree. He placed his finger over his mouth so I would not cry out.

"'What are you doing...?' I started to ask, but the words choked up in my throat as I saw that he had tears in his eyes. His usual jolly manner was gone - gone was the eager, boisterous soul we all know.

"He then answered me with a simple statement of 'Teach the children.' I was puzzled. What did he mean? He anticipated my question and with one quick movement brought forth a miniature toy bag from behind the tree. As I stood there bewildered, Santa said again, 'Teach the children. Teach them the old meaning of Christmas - the meanings that Christmas nowadays has forgotten.'

"I started to say, 'How can I...?' when Santa reached into the toy bag and pulled a brilliant shiny star....

"'Teach the children the star was the heavenly sign of promise long ages ago. God promised a savior for the world and the star was a sign of the fulfillment of that promise. The countless shining stars at night - one for each man - now show the burning of hope of mankind.'

"Santa gently laid the star upon the fireplace mantle and drew forth from the bag a glittering red Christmas tree ornament...."'Teach the children red is the first color of Christmas. It was first used by the faithful people to remind them of the blood which was shed for all the people by the Savior. Christ gave His life and shed His blood that every man might have God's gift of Eternal Life. Red is deep, intense, vivid - it is the greatest color of all. It is the symbol of the gift of God.'

"'Teach the children,' he said as he dislodged a small Christmas tree from the depths of the toy bag. He placed it before the mantle and gently hung the red ornament on it. The deep green of the fir tree was a perfect background for the ornament. Here was the second color of Christmas....

"'The pure green color of the stately fir tree remains green all year round,' he said. 'This depicts the everlasting hope of mankind. Green is the youthful, hopeful, abundant color of nature. All the needles point heavenward - symbols of man's returning thoughts toward heaven. The great green tree has been man's best friend. It has sheltered him, warmed him, and made beauty for him.'

"Suddenly I heard a soft tinkling sound....

"'Teach the children that as the lost sheep are found by the sound of the bell, it should ring for man to return to the fold - it means guidance and return. It further signifies that all are precious in the eyes of the Lord.'

"As the soft sound of the bell faded into the night, Santa drew forth a candle....

"He placed it on the mantle and the soft glow from its tiny flame cast a glow about the darkened room. Odd shapes and shadows slowly danced and waved upon the walls.

"'Teach the children,' whispered Santa, 'that the candle shows man's thanks for the star of long ago. Its small light is the mirror of starlight. At first, candles were placed on the trees - they were light many glowing stars shining against the dark green. Due to safety, the colored lights have now taken over in remembrance.'

"Santa turned the small Christmas tree lights on and picked up a present from under the tree. He pointed to the bow...

"...And said, 'A bow is placed on a present to remind us of the spirit of brotherhood of man. We should remember that the bow is tied as man should be tied, all of us together with the bonds of good will toward each other. Good will forever is the message of the bow.'

"Santa slung his bag over his shoulder and began to reach for the candy cane placed high on the tree. He unfastened it and reached out toward me with it....

"'Teach the children that the candy cane represents the shepherd's crook. The crook on the staff helps bring back the strayed sheep to the flock. The candy cane represents the helping hand we should show at Christmastime. The candy cane is the symbol that we are our brother's keeper.'

"As Santa looked about the room, a feeling of satisfaction shone on his face. He read wonderment in my eyes, and I am sure he sensed admiration for this night.

"He reached into his bag and brought forth a large holly wreath....

"He placed it on the door and said, 'Please teach the children the wreath symbolizes the eternal nature of love; it never ceases, stops, or ends. It is one continuous round of affection. The wreath does double duty. it is made of many things and in many colors. It should remind us of all the things of Christmas. Please teach the children.'"

-Author unknown

Let us remember the true meaning of Christmas, teach the generations that come to live on the earth after we have been here for awhile, and let us each carry the true spirit of Christmas year round, not just around Christmastime.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Holy Ghost as a Translator

I want you to imagine something. Imagine you are in a conference room. You are surrounded by millions of people. Only a few people in the room speak the same language as you. The other people, you just can't understand them and they can't understand you because there is a language barrier. All you know is that you have a headset, and everyone else, you notice, has one as well. You see that everyone has put their headsets on, so you decide that you will put yours on too. Now, in the midst of all the confusion, a person stands at the front of the room. The commotion ceases. The person starts speaking in a language that no one, but the few people in the front of the room can understand. Instead, to you and everyone around you who can't understand that language, it looks like he is just waving his arms and hands around. Then you realize that you can hear a voice through your headset that is speaking in YOUR language.

This is what you hear: "Hello. It is a pleasure to see all of you here today. Many of you are probably wondering what is happening. I am using American Sign Language (aka ASL) because I am Deaf and that is my language. But because most of you probably don't understand ASL, what I am saying is being translated into different languages, so that each person in this room can understand what is being said."

What just happened? At first, you saw what was being said, but you couldn't understand it. Then with the help of a voice interpreter, you were finally able to understand what the speaker was saying.

This, my dear brothers and sisters, is one of the ways that the Spirit of the Lord can work with us. When we hear the Prophets of old and today speak, through the scriptures and through special meetings held by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, called General Conference, we don't always understand every single thing that is said, but with the Holy Ghost (the Testifier of all Truths), we can understand what is being said. The Holy Ghost "translates" what is being said into something that our spirits can understand.

Heavenly Father DOES Love us!

Call me crazy. Go ahead, do it. But I must tell you something. No matter what you call me, it will not change the way I feel today. I feel so grateful to my Father in Heaven. He truly does love me! He truly does love you! You can come to know of this love that He has for us for yourselves. All you need to do is turn to Him in prayer and ask Him!

From my own experiences, I tell you that He does love you. I don't mean to say that I know exactly how He show you His love for you. I couldn't possibly do that. But what I can do is tell you how I know that He loves you, by how he shows me in my own personal life.

He has shown me His love for me by blessing me tremendously! One example of these blessings is: He has placed people in my life to help me. My parents, siblings, and family (He has placed them in my life to teach me and raise me); my priesthood leaders (He has placed them in my life to guide me); my mission president (the one man who can help me, and is helping me, in a way that no other could while I am on my mission); and my mission companions (the Lord has had a specific thing for them to help me with - and maybe even me to help them with. Each one of them has help me in a way I never thought possible - even though I didn't always get along with all of them!).

There are many more people that have been placed in my life for a reason that I have not mentioned (either because I have yet to meet them, or because I have yet to figure out why they have been placed in my life).

There are some where sometimes I wonder "why were they placed in my life? I wish I had never met them. I can't stand them." But even they are placed in our lives for a reason. Even if it is just to help us learn patience, it is a reason.

With all people placed in our lives (whether we can get along or not), let us strive to call them "friend" as the Savior Jesus Christ has called us "friend". Let us say as He said: "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friend. Ye are my friends, if you do whatsoever I command you." See John 15:13-14.

This does not mean that we must always lay down our lives (die) for our friends. We must be willing to give up our lives for them. But that may not be required of us. If it isn't, there is something that will be required of us to show our love for them.

I am grateful for the people that I have met and that I will meet. Thank you all for all that you do for me (even if at the time I don't seem very grateful...)!

THOUGH WE ARE DIFFERENT IN MANY WAYS, WE STILL ARE CHILDREN OF GOD!

Amidst thinking of new ideas for a post, I decided to look at the posts that other missionaries have done. And there is only one thing that had crossed my mind. I don't know, maybe someone who reads this, sometime down the road, needs this.

While reading the posts of other missionaries, all I could think about was, "Man, I wish I was as good as all of them with good posts." Then I came across a few posts that answered my question. No, not directly, but in a way that I was able to get the answer that I needed.

A few talked about childhood hobbies, others talked about talents. What I wish to share with this is, we are all different. We had different lifestyles growing up. We have different talents. But there is one thing that is not one bit different for any of us. That is, We are children of a Heavenly Father and He loves us so much that He sent us here to help us fulfill His plan for us. Part of that plan for us is a plan to help us along the way, while we are here on this earth.

Once we understand this one most vital piece of information about each other, then we can figure out our talents and develop them to help others in ways that we could not help them otherwise.

My favorite things in the world are:

1) Reading.

I love to read different books (mainly the Bible and the Book of Mormon). Reading books helps me to learn things that I could not learn by myself. For example, the Bible and the Book of Mormon helps us to learn about our Savior.

2) Writing.

Although I am not the best of writers and English is not my best language, I love writing poems, plays, and stories to help me express myself in a way that I could do verbally.

3) Music.

I love, basically, anything that has to do with music. I love to play the flute and the piano. I love to sing. I love to compose my own music and lyrics as a way to express myself whenever I cannot express myself through reading and writing.

These are just some of my talents and hobbies. I want each and everyone of you to know that I know that talents are gifts from God. He has given them to us so that we can help Him to accomplish His plan for us. We can also use them to serve and touch others in ways that no one else can do. Let us each discover what our talents are and how we can develop and use them to help build the Kingdom of God!

Fathers!

This Sunday, 19 June 2011, is a day that I am really looking forward to. That is because I get to mention another important person in my life. Yes, my mother is very important to me, but today I wish to talk about my father. That's right! It's Father's day this Sunday!

My father is just as important to me as my mother is to me, because there are things that my father was able to teach me and help me with that my mother just couldn't have done. It's not that my mother isn't a wonderful person. It's just... well, let's face it... I am a guy. There's only so much that a mother can teach her son.

While my mother was able to teach me about the gospel of Jesus Christ, my father was able to show me how to live so that I could be worthy to have the Priesthood, or the aurthority to act in God's name. He was also able to show me how I can use the Priesthood. Also, even though he didn't teach me much through words (that I remember), he did teach me many things through his example.

I will always remember times when he would accidentally let slip and blow his top, not for that reason, but for his responses after he would blow up. He always did his best to repair the damage done, whenever he could. He never was a man to hurt his family intentionally. If there was a time that he did, accidentally, hurt me, I knew that I could tell him. I love my father so much! Through his example, I hope I can be the best father to my children, later in my life.

Now, a little letter to my father:

Dad,

I love you so much! I am so grateful for the things that you taught me, even the things that I was happy and didn't understand. If there is anything that I would change, with what I know now, it would be to change myself and the things that I did and the ways that I responded. Thank you so much for being the best father to me that you knew how. Thank you for supporting me in the hardest time of my life. Thank you for supporting me on my mission. I love you so much!!!!

Now that y'all have read this, make a tribute to your fathers...

The Atonement of Jesus Christ

The Atonement of our Savior Jesus Christ truly is amazing! Heavenly Father knew what He was talking about when He was creating the Plan of Happiness for us. He knew that we would make mistakes, so He knew that we would need a Savior to pay the price of our mistakes. Jesus Christ, our Savior, loved us so much that He was willing to fulfill our Father in Heaven's plan. Even Jesus Christ knew that this would require Him to come to earth (the same way we all come to earth). He also knew that it would require Him bleeding for us and dying for us on the cross. He also knew that He could have chosen to not do it. But he chose to do it. He loves us and He knew that it was required to fulfill Heavenly Father's work and glory, which is "to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." (Moses 1:39)

Yes, Jesus Christ knew this. Yes, He died for us that we might become clean again and return to live with our Heavenly Father again. But it was not just for the price of our sins and mistakes, it was our to help us through our pain, so that we could truly be happy again!


How great is this plan that our Father in Heaven has created for us!


I bear personal testimony that the Atonement of the Savior Jesus Christ can help us with pain! A week ago today, I made a grave mistake with my driving. A simple mistake as not looking when changing lanes, in a construction area. Because I forgot to look, I hit a dump truck, and, as a result, the car came away with a bumper dangling on the driver side.


I made a mistake, yes. But I also felt the pain for the damage that I caused. I honestly feel that if I wasn't on a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and that if I wasn't a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I would have struggled worse and felt worse and handled the situation I was in a lot worse. But because I know about our Savior's healing power, I knew that I could go through this week with his help, even if no one else could understand my pain.


Because the Savior was willing to bleed for us, even though it probably wouldn't have been his first choice, He can comfort us in ways that no one else could. He can touch others around us to help us in ways that they wouldn't be able to, if he didn't go through our pains before.


I am so grateful that we have a loving Heavenly Father who loved us enough to provide us with a plan in which He made it possible to return home to Him. I am grateful for an elder brother who loved us enough to suffer for us and go through the pains that we have gone through, are going through, and will go through. I am grateful to "have been born, as Nephi of old, to goodly parents who love the Lord" and to "have been taught and [I] understand, that we must do as the Lord commands" (We'll Bring the World His Truth). I am grateful for the opportunity that Heavenly Father has given me to serve a full-time mission and to serve Him for two years. I am grateful to be surrounded by people who have the same values that I have.

Armor of God

What is the Armor of God? In Ephesians 6:11-18, we read:

"11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

"12 for we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

"13 where fore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

"14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with the truth, and having the breastplate of righteousness;

"15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

"16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

"17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

"18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;"

Let's work on figuring out the meaning of each piece of the armor and see if we can't figure out how we can make sure that we have each piece of the armor on...

How do we have our "loins girt about with the truth"? What is this girth that we are to use? It is of my own personal opinion that this girth that we should use is our testimony. If you think about it, how can you begin to defend the truth if you do not have a testimony of the truth?

What is the "breastplate of righteousness"? This, I would think, would be our worthiness. If we are to defend the truth, after having a testimony of it, we must also follow God's commandments and be strive to be worthy. Repenting when we do make mistakes.

What about having our "feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace"? Well, you can also think of this as the roots of a tree. A tree can grow to be big and tall, but if its roots are shallow, when the winds blow, it will fall down. In this case, study the gospel of Jesus Christ, which is a gospel of peace, so that we can dig our roots deep.

"The shield of faith" is just that, a shield. When we have faith in Jesus Christ, and when we increase that faith in Him, it becomes a shield that protects us from the powers of the fiery darts that are being thrown at us every day, from every direction.

"The helmet of salvation". After all we do, if we have tried our best to follow God's commandments, we shall have salvation.

"The sword of the Spirit". This is our best offense. If we can have the Spirit with us, and if we can make sure that we do everything that we need to do to have the Spirit with us, I have no doubt that we will (to use President Christianson's word) astonish those who watch us. And I see no reason why this shouldn't happen if we have the Spirit with us. "The sword of the Spirit", as its says in Ephesians, is also the word of God. We must follow the word of God, if we are to have the Spirit with us. One thing that God's tells us that we need to do, which He says in verse 18, is to Pray always. We must pray always with prayer and supplication.

So, my dear brethren and sisters, "put on the whole armour of God." I promise that as you do this, as you strive to follow all of God's commandments, and help Him defend the truth against those who wish to destroy it, you will receive so many blessings. So many, that it is impossible to count. So many that there will not be enough room in your heart to hold them all.

It is my testimony that I know that this work that God has asked us to do is not the work of men, but the work of God that we do. Just as Joseph Smith, the Prophet, has said:

"The Standard of Truth has been erected; no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; Persecution may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame; but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, until it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done."

-Joseph Smith, History of the Church, 4:540