Jesus' Kingdom

     "We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul-We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things" (Articles of Faith 13).

    In this last week, I was reading through a dauntingly sizeable book called Articles of Faith, by Dr. James E. Talmage, a super amazing church leader who apparently really liked using big words.  The last section of the last section of that chapter hit me pretty hard-- not a bad hit me hard, though.  There, it talked about how the world would be organized according the system of God.  I'm someone who LOVES "what if" situations, but once they're tied with feasible evidence, do they still count as "what if" situations?

     Anywho, the part of the book talked about how the world will basically be a Thomas Moore-type world; no chaos and only the righteous and virtuous succeeding.  It sounds good on paper, but there's more to it than that.

     With life revolving around God, social stratification may as well be eliminated; however, in the words of that same Dr. Talmage, "the varying grades of occupation will still exist; there will be... some who can serve the cause of God best with the pen, others with the plow... every one laboring as far as practicable in the sphere of his choice" (Talmage 399).

     Think about it-- if Christ comes to reign again in these latter-days, the world, will be like this-- he knows the perfect form of government.  Only the righteous will prevail.  Because of which, we aim to look out for things that make us so-- not charlatan-esque, because that would be hypocritical.  We all have a role we can play on the grand stage of God.  He wants us to do what we can in all diligence and all grace.  We are who we are and we can be what we will be.  Food for thought.

Zero Evidence (Satire)

"A ring!  A ring!  I've got a ring!" exclaimed a young neophyte archaeologist.

Brushing off the gritty, tan dust from the circular piece of metal, the young archaeologist then bit into it, attempting feebly to determine its genuinity and impress his fellow excavators.  Of course, they didn't take him too seriously.  He had thought to himself that this little discovery in the ruinous inhabitations of the Holy Land meant a significant advancement in biblical history. 

Flying back to his office later that month, back in the urban sprawl of Farragut Valley, Eastern California, the young archaeologist had returned with his curious object.  As inexperienced as he was, he managed to convince his coworkers and his archaeological firm of the importance of his finding-- evidently, he was granted permission to examine and inquire more upon it in the local laboratories.  The permission, a giving in to pity, led way for the young archaeologist to research his work.

Through chemo-radio-physical dating and multiple x-rays of sorts, the circular piece of metal that was found was labeled as "pretty old."

Thinking to himself, the young archaeologist wondered "Wasn't Jesus living in this time period?"  The idea that he had planted started to grow in his head, roots intact and flourishing.  Day by day, he kept pondering upon the idea with amazement and speculation.

Then, the dots that he had made converged-- "the ring," "the time," and "the setting--"  The hazy bulb in the young man's head blinked.  With the evidence in hand, he ran to the nearest historian to exclaim this groundbreaking news.

The historian the young archaeologist ran to, Frinckley, was an odd man of reputable standing in the circle of historians.  He and the young archaeologist went back a very long time-- him knowing the latter's parents.  Frinckley, overjoyed to see his old friend inquired what it was that the young archaeologist wanted to inquire about:

"Jesus must've been married, seeing how this ring is Israeli in origin and pretty old!" stated the young archaeologist.  "It all makes sense!  I suppose it's at least very briefly mentioned in the bible, too."

A rather secular individual, not having any real experience with the holy volume of scripture, Frinckley ate up his friends word, sweet to the taste, prestige, that is.

"You found yourself a discovery of the century, buddy boy!" Frinckley proclaimed.  "We're going to be famous, yuh' know that?"

So the two began disseminating this new information, backing it up with rather broad, non-specific pieces of evidence that made them sound expert in their respective fields.  Quoting the Psalmist and the lyrics of Solomon's composition, the two managed to influence all the came into contact with.

"Is that so?"
"What does this mean now?"
"I knew it all along!"

The denizens of Farragut Valley flocked to Frinckley and the young archaeologist, desiring to know more.  When such evidence could no long be found, they had resorted to bending what was only partially correct, claiming it to be sure knowledge.

With such a presentation, Frinckley and the young archaeologist saw fame and wealth pour in from the discovery.  The papers all announced the fact now that Jesus had married and no longer the words of the Son of Man valid among the people.  Independent from their predecessors, ignoring their pleas and warnings of proper examination, the two lived to see the world around them change-- a religion seeing the rise of a very attractive and risqué woman and her oversized beast had come to pass.






All but the ending-- sounds familiar?  Think about it.  This is how apostasy comes to start and grow.  Believe in what's right, not what's there.  To know what's right, though, you have to start by asking the One who knows all knowledge.  James 1:5.  Ponder it.  Food for thought.

The Stick of Ephraim

It's everywhere.  It's been mentioned.  It's been prophesied.  It's been restored.  I ask y'all a question: why is it so important?

The answer comes simply yet hard to understand-- I had a hard time accepting it for myself-- but it's necessary, the Book of Mormon, because it takes everything complex and hard to understand in life [and in the Bible] and sums it up conveniently in around 500 pages.  Your first thought would probably be something like "how is that possible?" or "that's absolutely blasphemous!"



However, it's been mentioned in the Bible itself that something like this would be coming-- that the "other flock of the fold" has bore record of the Christ.  There is one shepherd guiding many sheep toward where they need be going.  The children of Israel are of one flock-- but to the others, that question remained--->

Christ Jesus loves everyone, that means the people of everywhere else.  Israel wasn't the only place occupied by people at the time!

The Word of God-- where its fullness be found?  Where can I find the missing puzzle pieces of the Bible not found elsewhere?  What is the most correct book that has ever been translated?  What book can answer all of my life questions?  Many have pondered these questions.  They then looked at all their Mormon friends, living so content with what they have-- their happy little big families and their glowing faces-- there's a definite reason why they're like that!  Wouldn't you like to be like that?  Well, talk to them!  They won't bite!  You'll finally understand why they behave like that-- through this jewel of a book that God has given us today.  Find out for yourself whether this book be true while you're at it-- I can't just tell you that it is, but through asking God, you'll know.  There's a Bible verse about that.  The evolution of the word has come in the form of this Testament of Jesus Christ-- it was fitting for God to have laid it down unto the people here today, so that they may be happier than they are now and know their eternal purpose.

 

In Maslow's pyramid/hierarchy of needs, this book hits the very top of it.  We can fulfill ALL of our needs through this book.  Ask me how it's helped me-- I'll be more than happy to share it with you!



Zoinks!

Inside a large, open room filled with acoustic potential, a man steps up toward his instrument.  He taps his hand on the white key-- a rich, high-pitched E note resonates out of that shiny black piano.  At the same time, the vibration of the highest-pitched guitar string is felt by another musician.  What does this mean?

Let's put it this way: when someone or something seems to be exactly what you think is right, "it clicks."  Two individual concepts, one of yours and the other of another person or another thing, come together in complimenting form.  It can be coincidental.  It can be purposeful.  However, it just "clicks."  The same goes for the musical instruments I just described-- try it!  If you play a note on a piano, for example, the D key closest to middle C, the D string on a cello will vibrate as the tone of both strings, piano and cello, are of like frequency.

The Holy Ghost-- it works in a very, very similar way.  It's commonly referred to as the Holy Spirit, and no, its not a scary thing!  If you happen to come across something profound (and understandable), you have something stir in your heart, telling you, "oh, that's deep stuff."  In addition, if you hear something profound AND potentially truthful, whether it be of philosophical or religious value, you can noticeably feel it.  When we as missionaries teach, we teach the truth.  We teach so that those we teach may have that same feeling in their hearts.  If our message doesn't come across like that to you, that either means we didn't do our job correctly.  We teach with the Holy Ghost-- with it can feelings like this occur-- this is how the stirrings of the hearts come to be.

This is what I felt as I talked to my very first Mormon people.  The things that they said really stuck out to me, especially about family.  It's like an invisible hand touched your heart, confirming of the reality of the truth.  So if you want to know what that exactly feels like, with an open mind and an open heart, inquire about it with your local missionary!

Adversity

To the poor soul who had a tiny little accident while cutting up some veggies--

To the poor soul who has the hardest time getting up in the morning to proselyte--

To the poor soul who needs to lose those extra pounds through rigorous dieting and exercise

To the poor soul who's day was ruined by a marauder jumping on his vehicle while coming home from work--












     There are many MANY challenges that we as individuals face on a daily basis.  Some may come and go with the least amount of effort.  Others may take a physical, emotional, or spiritual toll on us.  However, challenges will be there whether you like it or not.  Whatever it may be, there's always something good you can see out of it-- as I mentioned earlier, because of the experiences that individuals like Jesus, Job, and even Nephi (from the book of Mormon) had, they were able to fulfill their roles as lovers of God.

      Joseph Smith, while he was pretty much rotting away in a tiny little basement of a prison with his buddies, he received this word in his prayer to God:

" And if thou shouldst be cast into the pit, or into the hands of murderers, and the sentence of death passed upon thee; if thou be cast into the deep; if the billowing surge conspire against thee; if fierce winds become thy enemy; if the heavens gather blackness, and all the elements combine to hedge up the way; and above all, if the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son,  that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good" (Doctrine and Covenants 122:7).

     Facing such adversarial challenges and obstacles, I would as well say "there's worse," but that probably won't help anyone hurdle anything.  Rather, these challenges, as the days pass and you eventually hurdle them with your own might, they'll help you in the long run; you'll be stronger.  You'll be more knowledgeable.  You'll be experienced.  If you haven't overcome such challenges yet, know that time has an infinite capacity to heal.

Have You Ever..

     You're working in your cozy little cubicle and you know your boss is right behind your shoulder, breathing down your neck, monitoring your every action.  What would you do?  Would you quickly x-out of that social networking site you've been using to stalk your friends?  Would you clean up your desk the night before in anticipation of your boss' coming?  Would you change your vernacular whenever he's around?

     The behavior I've seen between friends, coworkers, and higher-ups have been astoundingly different-- if I were to invited my friends over to my house, it would definitely be different from inviting my mission president over for sure.  Don't take me wrong-- I respect my friends just as much as I respect my mission president (which is a LOT, by the way-- no sarcasm) and I love them all, but you just get a different feeling when you're with a superior than with your buddies.  I'm guilty to say that my place would definitely be noticeably speck-free with my mission president coming over.

     However, does that seem right?  Does that seem fair?  Shouldn't my friends be treated to the same environment just like my mission president?  The simple answer to that question would be an affirmative "yes."  We think that we should be casual around a group of people and not toward another.  If you ask me, this is the epitome of discrimination.  We shouldn't discriminate one another just because someone may be higher or lower than you in the social (spiritual, economic, etc.) ladder.

     So next time you're talking with others, whether they be friends, missionaries, bosses, coworkers, or what say you, think about this-- would Jesus look down upon the low and exalt the high (people-wise, not God-wise)?  Language.  Behavior.  Attitude.  Mindset.  Perspective.  These, and more, can be affected by how we think.

Oh! That's what you meant!

      Maurice Sendak-- many aren't too familiar with that name.  William Faulkner-- a few more people will know who he is.  Now, Jesus Christ-- oh, I know that one!

     In 1963, a man published a rather obscure children's picture book that nobody really had any interest in.  The storyline was just too confusing (for little children) and the monsters and illustrations just didn't appeal very well universally.  Therefore, the book had very shoddy reviews.  A bit discouraged but not very unfazed, the author continued to write until his death in 2012.  By then, he had received world renown for his works.

     Now another man existed in the early parts of the 20th century.  He wrote many, MANY works of literature that have now come to critical acclaim.  This man, too, had his fair share of critics and judges.  He had worked hours upon hours to write the things that he did to no avail.  However, after his passing were people then able to realize the magnitude of his writing-- and his history.

     Sounds familiar?  Yes, Jesus Christ ultimately began his ministry of misunderstood truth LONG before any poet, author, or laureate.  Let's look at his chat with a man named Nicodemus. 

     Jesus had told him that "except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God" (John 3:3). 
     Baffled, Nicodemus followed up "How can a man be born when he is old?  Can he enter his mother's womb a second time and be born" (John 3:4)?
     In many ways, the peers of Jesus, including his own disciples, had misunderstood Him throughout his Earthly ministry-- "What do you mean the temple [of Herod] is going to be built back up in 3 days?"  "How will cannibalism give me eternal life?"  "How will faith save us from this raging storm in the middle of the sea?"  These are the many questions the Pharisees and Sadducees and His Twelve Apostles had in regard to the teachings of the Messiah.

     The book published in 1963 was known to the public as Where the Wild Things Are.  The many writings of that author included A Rose for Emily and Absolom! Absolom!, receiving critical praise later on in history (and now, even).  These often ignored authors in their present-days have been spat at and looked down upon because many of the things they were writing were obscurely new-- uncomfortably contemporary.  Jesus-- in His heyday-- had taught nothing but the truth, which the mass, both the Jew and the Gentile, had thought it incredibly revolutionary.  Now, even now, the church that He had set has seem the growth to millions and millions of adherents.  His teachings has universal and spiritual purpose and blessings to the world today.  Maybe now we may better understand the extent of the teachings of Christ to our own lives.  Misunderstood then and praised now, come see why from your local missionaries!  The kingdom of God awaits you, starting with a rebirth of a spiritual you!

Be of Good Cheer-- Again!

     Branching off of the movie watched previously, there was another thematic significance that I realized-- those pioneers have trekked and toiled to reach the promised land.  In a way, aren't we like that too?  Aren't we like those pioneers, living like that every day?

     Of course, we didn't walk across 20 miles a day, dragging a wooden handcart with very little to eat, but spiritually, we toil equally as hard.  Life is one big trek to the promised land.  Many will think it too hard and abandon the journey prematurely.  This is the wrong way that we exercise our agency, or free will, that God gave us.  Now others may get there quicker than others, but the choices we make-- our decisions-- will ultimately destine us to Zion, however you may think it to be.

     This theme is universal.  It doesn't just apply to going to heaven or literally going to Utah, but it's a theme that we can see in our own lives in whatever aspect it may be.  There's a challenge, we overcome it, and we become happy.  That's it.  As simple as it may be, it's one of the hardest things to understand in a depth where we can apply and explain each process.  That in itself is thematic of this trek.  Because of its paradoxical nature, I won't delve too much into it.

Food for thought.

Talents

     The mission field, at times can be a little bit ennuyant, especially during the mealtimes.  There, in the comfort of the apartment, I was able to experiment with a few (scarce) food items to cook up and make things that would get my spirit (and fullness) up.

This is a little thingy made with some ground chicken, pepperjack cheese, seasoned rice, and some sauteed veggies.  The blackberry gave it a nice little touch-- and a sweetness mixed into the spice.

Ending the day, a few chocolates with a gingerbread cookie and some nice tea soothed away worries about the mission.  Definitely a great way to wind down for the night.

This was a fun little experiment that I thought was suitable for the Halloween season of 2013.  As immature and humorous as it looks, it has a rather deeper meaning.

• Pumpkin = The Kingdom of God
• Magazine = The materialistic world
• Magazine contents = Materialistic wealth (those houses were REALLY expensive..)
• Contents spewing from the pumpkin = Displeasure and un-acceptance

I think this is the very first home-cooked meal I made when I first got to the mission field.  A simple spaghetti and marinara sauce garnished with some fresh basil leaves and Parmesan cheese.  It's a fun thing to make and VERY convenient, seeing that you don't have much time to eat and clean up.










     We all have talents, every one of us.  It may not come to us as blatantly as to some, but still, we have to accept the fact that we do.  Being nice to people to being super good at sports, there's at least one that we probably do well-- better than others.  Mr. Rogers summed it up really well, I think, and how he phrased the human talent:

"As human beings, our job in life is to help people realize how rare and valuable each one of us really is, that each of us has something inside that is unique to all time.  It's our job to discover that uniqueness and to provide ways of developing its expression" (Rogers 73).

     It's a special thing to have and God has given us a world that we live in to use it-- so that we can get the most out of it.  Heck, we could get a few more out of using the one that we do use!  Jesus said so.

Awe!

      In a Roman army, there are plethora of different types of soldiers-- from the legionary to the centurion.  It's well organized and if well-managed, can defeat just about anything (of its time).  Now, there may be a leader in every army, but just as important is the guy who tells the other side where the army comes from-- an ensign to the mass.

 

      In the Roman legion, there are multiple soldiers who bear the insignia of the Roman army-- these people are called Vexillarii (Vex-ill-arr-ee-aie; Vexillarius  as a singular).  These standard-bearers march inside a unit of troops wearing a backpack-looking thing that holds banners that protrudes up, showing the said insignia-- Roman initials, usually.

 

     As important as the actual leader is, he's not responsible for proclaiming who he and his army represent on the battlefield.  It is the job of these Vexillarii to do so.  Look at Christianity and even the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints-- our leader (below Jesus Christ) is Thomas S. Monson-- a superb fellow, but many people don't realize who he is.  Rather, people know who Latter-day Saints are from the missionaries!  These guys hold up the banner, declaring God's Word to the mass.  They come bearing either good news to the open-hearted or a warning to the hard-hearted.  Before you meet or see anyone else from the LDS church, you'll probably see one of these guys (or women) with their shiny black name tag, declaring unto you the word of God.

 

     Heed their warning.  Embrace their happiness.  It is they who will bring about all things regarding spiritual matters to those who aren't of the Church.  For those who are, just contact Thomas S. Monson and/or his apostles-- they'll take good care of you.; after all, we are all part of a great big army of God.

Be of Good Cheer!

     Down in Irvine, with a church member's family and my missionary companion, I watched a church movie that I kind of wanted to see for a very long time.  It was a movie about the pioneers who toiled through the American plains to get to their promised land.  Through thick and thin, these astoundingly brave men and women threw virtually everything away to keep their covenants with God.  The movie is called 17 Miracles and to be quite frank, it was very lacking cinematically, but the point it conveyed went very deep in my mind-- so much so that it brought some memories of friends back home.

     Thinking upon the examples of these pioneers and their sacrifices, it oddly came to me to think of Mariah*, Amelia*, and Rochelle* while I drove back home from the movie.  These are good friends of mine and even now, I do miss them a lot.  They shaped the person who I am and I am forever grateful for that.  As much as they've shaped me, the things that they're doing are shaping their own experiences to be unique and different from any other person that they or I know as well.  I am doing things that will shape my experience to be different from others. 

     However, the choices that they make may at times worried me and filled me with a sort of resentment toward them, wondering "did they do this because of me?"  Upon that time, I realized that I think too much.  Obviously, I cannot control what they think and my resentment for them is only a fragment of the grandeur of my imagination.

     Regardless of anything they have done or will do, they're still my very good friends.  Because of that, I found that I must continually show them that I think that way-- that I care-- without resentment and without murmur; just like Levi Savage.  I will at times will be a bit down for many of the things that they do, but it is no concern to stop loving entirely.  They're there because they have done more good to you than they have done bad. 

     So, if you're like me and you worry your time away whether or not they're going to end up like the hypocrite that you are[were] and then get sad about it, I have 2 words to say to you that one of our church leaders talked about way back when:

"Stop it."

     Now live life; friends exist to help, not hinder!

     Food for thought.





*names altered

Brick by Brick

     Faith-- what comes to mind when one hears that word?

     My church defines it as a steadfast belief in something that you can't see, but is true-- something like that.  I believe it; it's not like it's wrong.

     When I think of faith, I can't think of anything but my relationship with religion and how much it has tied into my life.  The first time I saw it was when I attended Catholic church growing up.  I would enter the large chapel for Missal (mass) and see in front of me marble steps leading to a pure white altar, two wooden pulpits on both sides of it.  Directly above was a statue of Jesus Christ, outstretching His arms to the congregation.  From going to a holy place like that I realized that....... a bunch of Korean people believe in a giant statue of a dead guy with a beard and holes on his hands.  Honestly, I didn't understand religion at that time.  I knew that a belief in something was good, but I had a hard time swallowing the fact that a single guy died for ALL of our sins.  With some issues like that and some others I won't delve into, I saw myself leaving this church.

     Now as I grew older, middle school and beyond, I attended Presbyterian churches-- English (my friend's) and Korean (my aunt's).  There, I did actually feel for the first time, what it meant to have faith.  I remember a service when the pastor there preached about Jesus and how much He had done to cleanse us and enable us to be saved-- because He was God incarnate, he was able to do all these things.  I thought to myself, "okay, I suppose that's incredible, but it's still a bit weird to me."  I read the Bible a ton and from there built my faith.

     Now in 8th grade, in my fourth period Civics class, there was this girl that I liked named Lynn (actual name withheld).  Throughout the year, I noticed that she was different from everyone else-- she acted different from everyone else.  She was soft-spoken, never swore, never wore anything revealing, and just kept to herself for the most parts.  Now, we shared some more classes as the years went on-- up to junior year of high school.  At that time, I was going through a LOT of confusion and self-discovery.  Yet, I see Lynn-- she doesn't seem like anything's going on with her life.  She's just there.  Content.  Happy.  Now, near the end of junior year, I discovered this church in my life and let me just tell you-- it changed my life; that's why I'm here-- and I was introduced to a lot of people in school who went to this same church.  It lined up with what I believed in and I was baptized on June 16, 2012.  It might have been a month, but it was then that I realized that Lynn was a Latter-day Saint.  She came to my baptism.

     Throughout the span of high school, I saw so many people fall through the grasps of iniquity, I being one of them.  Yet, there was this one girl, Lynn, who just stood fast in her faith.  Her example, had taught me the most about the concept of faith than anything else that I have learned-- even after baptism.  Now in college, I really do hope that she can be an example to so many others-- she has for me and I am grateful every day to have someone my age to look up to be that beacon of hope-- the light-- illuminating the dreary halls in the despairs of the world.

     There's a stake (comparable to a regional Diocese in Catholic jargon) young men's president I met on my mission who left a sacrament meeting with these words: "Many can see your light-- you may not know it, but they're silently cheering you on, wanting you to succeed."

     Thanks, BT, for what you have been for me.

Travaille pour-la

     Let me share with y'all a little anecdote- imagine there's a door in front of you.  It's a way to the other side which beholds all sorts of goodies.  As you open the door, there's something behind it that won't make the door budge.  The door reveals but a vertical beam of light, emanating at your side.  You put some more effort to pushing the door open, but it is "apparently too hard for you."  Because of this unknown resistance, you abandon the entryway, giving up, and move on to the next door.  You leave behind a door, partially open, yet too small for you to even squeeze through.  Next thing you know, you leave 5 more doors the same way.

     Back in the day, when I about five years old, my mom signed me up for all these activities-- basketball, ice skating, baseball, soccer, bowling, track, golf, musical instruments, etc-- because I wanted to.  I would have fun with friends and enjoy the things I would do, but quite frankly, I wouldn't take these things rather seriously.  Because of it, I never put the effort to follow through on these things-- when the going went tough, I got going-- and moved on to another fun-looking thing to do.  All of a sudden, I'm out here "in the real world" and I see all these different people seem to do so well on a wide array of activities like the things mentioned above.  I thought to myself, "hey, I can do that (i.e. cello-playing) pretty well!  Maybe I'll join in!"  Let's just say it didn't end so well.  Everyone who played was in some sort of regional symphonic orchestra while I had quit my class because "the teacher was crazy."  A humbling experience, I realized the importance of hard work and diligence-- no matter how tough things get.

     Now let's look at an example of how one may overcome such unknown resistance.  In the book I just so love to mention all the time, The Book of Mormon, there's a group of wicked people-turned-righteous people called the "Ammonites."  They made a promise with God that they wouldn't fight anymore because of the terrible things they've done while doing so.  As a result, their enemies, the Lamanites, didn't have too much trouble slaying them.  As these Ammonites start dying, they ask that their kids go off and fight their enemies for them-- they were taught righteousness by their parents and had not made that covenant with God, it was okay for them to go fight.  God gave them the okay, and these teens and young adults were on their merry way helping their allies fight the enemy.  These 2000 kids went off to war to defend a land that was in jeopardy of getting run down by a countless force. 

     First time out, these 2000 kids were lead by a man named Helaman when the Lamanites were chasing them down.  Their allies were struggling, on the verge of defeat, when Helaman asked the 2000 kids if they wanted to fight or flee.  These kids answered an emphatic "fight" because they said that "God is with us, and he will not suffer that we should fall; then let us go forth" (Alma 56:46).  With determination midst an uncertain circumstance, these kids and their leader went to a battle-hardened enemy, not fearing death, and fought.  With hard work and diligence, the 2000 kids, inexperienced in warfare and martial tactics, managed to defeat the Lamanites and suffer not a single death.

     They had pushed the door open with all their might; they got to the goodies.  If we work to get to the other side of that door, we too may be able to excel in whatever we might do.  Even if it may be harder than we can bear.  God doesn't put us here to fail.  As long as we do our part, He will do His part to help us succeed.

Salvation Infatuation

     A very long time ago, when I was not serving my mission, I came across a girl whom I was very fond of-- let's call her Michelle.  She was probably the only person I enjoyed talking to-- to be quite frank, I'm not one who has many friends.  We'd hang out almost every day and just being around her made my day.

     Whenever we went out, I would be the first to pay for our meals.  I would be the first to organize what we would do (with her consent of course).  If the stars above existed so that I could pick them out of the sky and melt it into a shiny piece of jewelry on her request, I would!  I was just so dedicated in this relationship, that I didn't think there would be anything getting in the way.  I would do anything for her, as cheesy as that sounds.  Infatuation or obsession, call it as you may, but this sort of perseverance came out of the fact that I adored Michelle.

     Now, let's look at something else, something you may not even think is related-- Salvation.  Many people I've come across with assume that salvation is going to heaven through God's tender mercy-- our only task is believing in Jesus.  To them, it's a physical manifestation in the bounds of one's mind.  Is it really just a thing that you can have?  Can we really just admit it (that Christ is our Savior  and Redeemer) and then relax? 

      Think of it more of a state of being than a free ticket-- like love.  When you know the Savior, you'll do all that you can to be with him.  That dinner you may pay for may be the commandments He has set forth.  The activities that you do may be missionary work! 

     John 14:15.  This is how one can attain this notion of salvation.  We need to think of Jesus as our Michelle.  We need to be infatuated to the Gospel and do all we must to return to Him.  It's all laid out for us, so there's nothing easier than to love-- love your heart out.

Eagles over Bogies

Not too long ago, my eyes stumbled upon a television screen turned on to ESPN.  There was a golf tournament in Hawaii-- the Palm Open, if I can recall correctly-- and there was this one guy named "Henley" who was just dominating everyone at that time.  In the last half of the open, I think he was 17-ish under par while everyone else was just barely in double digits.

Now, I don't exactly know who won the tournament, but I can tell you that if I ever got a 17-under at a professional open, I would cash out.  I would be very much content with even a 2 or 3 under par in something like that!

Although contentment does leads to satisfaction, it's the truly motivated-- the truly faithful-- who'll aim higher and win, not settle.  After His resurrection, Jesus could have gone back to heaven to live comfortably with His Father, but He didn't-- He went to minister unto his lost sheep; to save them from hellfire. Jesus was motivated. Jesus was faithful.

We strive to be with Him in His Kingdom. If we settle on just personal satisfaction here right now, we're not going anywhere. We need the desire, the motivation-- the faith-- to press on- to be with Him.  It's only then that our troubles are over and our work is done.

L'importance de la Famille

     I come from a family background of an estranged sibling and separated parents.  With that in mind, I thought to myself a lot: "Is this normal?  It seems like everyone I know has parents that are divorced or missing."  I went about life thinking that it was a norm to have a single parent and I thought it was a commonplace to discuss child custody-- but it's not.  It never was supposed to be.  In this day and age, the family unit is constantly under attack-- one of our church leaders, Boyd K. Packer, summed it up like a snake creeping into the nest of a lark. 

     Insidiously ingraining our minds, Satan tempts and tricks us to believe that the family unit is unnecessary to live a happy life; divorce is normal.  Illegitimate kids are results of a fun lifestyle.  However, the family-- that means mom, dad, brothers, and/or sisters all together-- is ordained of God.  There's a reason why Adam had Eve with him.  There's a reason why they begat children who started the human race (figuratively or literally, whichever way you want to believe).

     Idealistically-- this is how I think.  I believe in a mom, dad, a brother, and a sister.  Unfortunately, life doesn't turn out how you want it to.  However, with so much of the challenges in life, your family is a bastion of hope that you should be able to return to to find comfort and solace.  The dad is supposed to win the bread so that the mom can care for the kids.  Both responsibilities are tough as it is.  Doing so, there is placed an equality among the roles of the family members so that they may live in harmony.  Why is family so important?  Our family = us.

     Let's look at life like this: if a teenager storms into the place of his dwelling with not a mom in sight and a dad at work and his siblings too young to talk to, where is he going to turn?  He's going to find another father figure or a mother figure.  By doing so, family relationships become alienated and he may turn to other things for solace-- the smile of the blade, the influence of the girlfriend, the aroma of the substance-- bad things.  A family can prevent one from turning to such things that may eventually ruin one's life!

The family is ordained of God. Marriage between man and woman is essential to His eternal plan. Children are entitled to birth within the bonds of matrimony, and to be reared by a father and a mother who honor marital vows with complete fidelity. Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities (The Family: A Proclamation to the World par 7).

     I believe in a better future for us.  I believe that we as a generation can restore the family as it was intended to be.  We can lead happier, fuller lives that way.  Centered on the teachings of Jesus, it can bring a sense of calmness and reassurance in an uncertain time.  I can't tell you exactly how you can raise kids and get hitched, but I know that in due season, you will feel the blessings of it.  Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

Top 10 Things People say to Missionaries

An aside from the usual discourses, I want to mention some common things that people have told me (and perhaps other missionaries as well) while I went around talking to people, knocking on doors, and in every way, bringing the Restored Gospel to the people of SoCal.  Some of what they say (and maybe what you say if you're not a church member) kind of goes like this:

1. "I go to church."
2. "My Jesus is different from your Jesus."
3. "You look too young to be called "elders.""
4. "I already know who you guys are."
5. "Go preach to a non-believer."
6. "I have a Mormon friend!"
7. "Are you a Jehovah's Witness?"
8. "Why do you guys look happy all the time?"
9. "Not interested."
10. "Jesus lives inside you!"

Contrary to popular belief, we have feelings too.  The words we speak, no matter how much we stumble or stutter, is the truth.  We have a firm testimony of it.  You might just learn something if you listen!

Eye for an Eye

     Driving around Santa Ana on a clear Tuesday morning, I pass by a rather disturbing scene-- a man sitting, leant onto the red brick wall of a restaurant establishment.  He had a disheveled appearance and a look to him that would softly speak "I need a friend."  Not too far away from him was a shopping cart with what looked to be his belongings.  The man was not begging, but just sitting there, idling his day away.  Where I live, I've only seen a homeless person once: and that was in Washington, DC, 20 minutes from my house.  Seeing someone so desolate pains my heart-- what has he done so to come to the situation he's in?

     Now, not too far way, around 50 feet in front of that restaurant, was another man.  He was waiting at a bus stop in his bright, vivid attire puffing tobacco every now and then.  He sees the homeless fellow, yet he just stands there, waiting for his bus to come.  In every possible sense, he had an opportunity to help such an unfortuned comrade, yet the ignorance seemed to envelop his behavior.  I was at a traffic light when I saw this scene-- for a good long time, it seemed like-- and it was a sight that made me want to get out of the car, give the homeless man something to eat, and rebuke that well-off smoker.

     How in the world have people become like this?  It's a rather tough fact to admit, but it seems to me that people have indeed become more and more self-centered than anything else.  We are all brothers and sisters under one supreme Being, yet it doesn't seem like we treat our fellow human beings like such.  Is it fear?  Is it shyness?  Is it ignorance, even?  If we look at first Samuel, chapter 2, verse 8, Hannah, Samuel's mother, sings about God's Grace being upon the poor, lifting them up from the dust.  God has compassion on these people; why don't we?  After all, they're going to be the ones who will be "set among princes and made to inherit the throne of glory" (1 Samuel 2:8).  We can also tie in a parable that Jesus had spoken about in the gospel according to Luke.  There was a rich man who would always see a beggar named Lazarus, begging the rich man for food.  After they died, the beggar had been lifted into heaven while the latter into hell.  Now as the rich man asked for relief from the hellfire, he was replied by Abraham that "in [the rich man's] lifetime receivedst thy good things and likewise Lazarus evil things: now he is comforted and thou art tormented" (Luke 16:25).  Essentially, ignorance is NEVER bliss.

     The moral of the little spectacle is that man must have compassion on his fellow man.  If not, both the poverty-stricken and the ignorant will both be laid to waste-- one in bodily form and the other in spirit.  This is the sadness that I have witnessed.  I know that I'll be putting evermore diligence to serve my fellow men.  Hopefully it may go likewise with all others.

Specks and Clusters

    Last Monday, I was helping out a family, let's call them the Kim family, doing service when one of the kids comes out of nowhere and suddenly crawls all over me. She then proceeds to tell me all sorts of things like "where's your sideburns," "you look funny," "your friend has weird glasses," "do you always have to have a shirt and tie on," and inquiries of the like. Although a tiny dent was put on my ego (albeit the girl is only 5 years old), I started to think. For a 5-year-old, she notices the tiniest, most insignificant parts of a person and then points them out to you like they're helping you. If it be from the mole on your relatively clean cheek to that renegade piece of lettuce wedged between your teeth, it's a funny thing-- as a younger person, one starts noticing these kinds of things.

     On the other hand, some time ago, my companion and I met with one of the people we invited to church; let's just call him Mr. Lee.  We had a very lengthy discussion on his reservations with our church.  Out of it, he told us that in one of the lessons we had with him, he felt rather uncomfortable that a church member we brought with us was bragging about his successful business rather than teaching him our doctrine.  Long story short, he was offended.  Mr. Lee told us that he could see from a mile away whether or not someone was a successful businessman or if someone was a normal middle-class breadwinner from the way they look and the way they act-- as an older person, one starts noticing these kinds of things. 
    
     Now these individuals do have a 45-year difference in age, yet still God's children nonetheless.  The thing I did notice, though was that the way people of others can be summed up in a simple, yet "what are you saying" sort of aphorism: "Immaturity notices many different specks of traits to determine a person.  Maturity notices clusters of traits to determine a person."  Like the picture, this is how I envision how a person judges others as they progressively get older.

     Now, why in the world would I bring this facet of knowledge to light?  Well, the differing perspective of man can be seen progressing as one gets older.  Just as a young'un's thoughts are different from my thoughts and my thoughts are different from Mr. Lee's thoughts, this perspective is progressive-- it's amorphous.  Now, what's going to happen to it once we kick the bucket?  Here's the meat of the lecture: it's only going to progress.  The experience will never die with you.

      You're going to ask me now, how the heck do I know that?  Well, your local missionaries can tell you that, but as you die, you will need to be judged on that day when Jesus comes back again.  Till then, if you don't have your memory and the way you think and the way you judge people, how can you be judged with no recollection of a thought process?  What is logical and what God has planned is that people will have an eternal progression of thought.  The things you notice now will slowly turn bigger and bigger-- the specks become clusters and the clusters will become chunks.  Until that day of reckoning.

"And if thou shouldst be cast into the pit, or into the hands of murderers, and the sentence of death passed upon thee; if thou be cast into the deep; if the billowing surge conspire against thee; if fierce winds become thine enemy; if the heavens gather blackness, and all the elements combine to hedge iup the way; and above all, if the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou <YOUR NAME HERE>, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good" (Doctrine and Covenants 122:7).

Food for thought.

Eye of a Needle

     Out on the nighttime roads of Orange County, I find myself seeing a good lot of two different types of  people:  youngsters who ride out with their 199-something Honda Accords, "decked out" with unnecessarily large spoilers and bright- almost illuminating-- chrome rims and the older folks toting around their BMW 567-series or Mercedes XYZ-class.  It just confuses me how on both sides of the spectrum that these individuals would pride themselves in displaying such instances of pizazz.

     Aesthetics is aesthetics-- "eye is in the beholder," as one aphorist put it.  The youngsters think of which to be gilding their rudimentarily transportable vehicles with such trinkets and the older people buying the most luxurious automobiles money can buy-- it really only has one purpose: to attract attention.  These displays are for show.  They are to simply catch the eyes of their peers-- a conversation starter.  This rather dangerous notion brings about a vicious trait that people may be prone to.  Pride.  No matter at what era and what income status, it's there.  It's dangerous.

     In the Book of Mormon, let's look at the book of Jacob-- Nephi's younger brother.  Jacob is told to write the legacy of his (both him and Nephi, dubbed "Nephites") people as Nephi is dying.  Jacob recounts of a time when the Nephites have sought riches to the point of condescending themselves above their counterparts, the Lamanites (the family of Nephi's older brother, Laman, thus the name's origin.  They were, from the start, a wicked and savage people).  This is what pride does to good person, in the words of Jacob.  When sin and iniquity overcomes the good, there is sure to be destruction and cleansing ahead.  Sodom and Gomorrah.  Noah's people.  Jericho.  Rameses' Egypt.  These people were filled with pride, the wealthy and the not-so-wealthy, but they have ended in the same place.

     What we can learn from this experience, is that pride can affect anyone.  It can lead to a fate you probably won't like too much.  There's definitely a lot of proof about that.  What can we do to avoid it?  I would just tell you to be more humble and repent of your sins, but I cannot; I'm not your mother.  However, I'd start by changing that Bentley you drive to a Volkswagen.