winter blues

Although I've been told that people read this, it never feels as though any one is truly reading, I know that its probably because I don't have a whole lot to say these days. I seem to be caught in a rut of sorts, a sort of depression. I was listening to a talk on my way to one of the buildings I work in, and I heard the man say how everyone gets into that stage of depression every once in a while. Reviewing my own personal life I realized that I'm in one of those places. I don't know exactly when it began but I do know that its been going on for at least several weeks now. I don't feel very spiritual and I've tried increasing my scripture studies , and I realized that I had not been praying as often as I should , But even still, I don't feel that I am in tune with the Spirit the way I should be. Times between Hope and I have seemed kinda ruff lately and money always seems tight, even when there seems to be enough. I cant seem to shake the feeling of not caring much about too much , and for me that's a bad thing. I love my job and it truly is a huge blessing in my life , without it who knows what I would be doing. I enjoy being at church most of the time but get very tired of all the worrying about everyone else's problems. I think that maybe I need a break from some of the responsibilities included in my calling , but if I tell anyone that there liable to release me, thinking I'm not doing a good enough job, and I definitely don't want to be a slacker! So I'm kinda caught in a strange place , the Lords work never ends and to do it to the best of my ability is difficult , to give up is not acceptable and to go half way isn't getting results. So where do I go? I will try my best, but I need to pray that I do it with the correct frame of mind, It is to easy to get into the bluesy feelings about things. I don't want to let people down , but honestly I don't feel strong enough at this time to bare the burdens I'm already toting. Hopefully things will take a turn for the better soon, maybe someone out there will be able to give me a fresh perspective on ways to handle this funk that I'm in.

Why do some people have to be so mean?

The last post I had, I made mention of how Christmas and Christ need to be a separate thing. Now my reasoning behind that is that sometimes I feel that all to often we forget the real reason for the season. That does not mean that I don't think there should never be any talk of Santa!

I spoke with my sister in law today about the plans for this up coming next 2 days of what we are going to do and during our discussion some how we began to talk about Santa and the commercialization of the whole season, I expressed my opinion, as I always do , and I told her that I don't like all the hype that Santa gets and not Jesus..... So she informed me that my brother and I are on the same page that he feels like I do. Well at the time I thought nothing of that comment, Until I found out later by my Mother " who supports Tom completely" that not only does he not like the hype attached to Santa, but that he told his children that there is no such thing as Santa and that the whole Christmas story about him is one big lie and that the only thing they need to be thinking about is Jesus! His kids are 6,4,2.5, 1!!!!!! Give me a break! That is probably the most idiotic thing I have ever heard, I would never tell my kids that there is no such thing or tell them its all a lie. I don't like the commercial end of things , but I was dressed up as Santa last night for dear friends of mine for the enjoyment of many wonderful children who so patiently were awaiting Santa. It is up to each of us to share with our children the true meaning of Christmas and celebrate the birth of Christ, but I can't see crushing little children's hearts like that,, Frankly it makes me sick to my stomach to no that people are so wrapped up in there own personal religious beliefs that there own selfishness allows them to justify crushing a child's imagination and dreams. How can people be so mean?

It will be a rough couple of days, I feel that we will be on are way home sooner than original planned, If the cat gets out of the bag, so to speak, about Santa at there house and my kids hear anything out of line ....its gonna be ugly!
Santa may not be real but he is in the hearts of children every where, I asked Connor this morning " Hey Connor" I said " what is Christmas about?" His response " Jesus " !
Enough said............................................

http://blacknright.wordpress.com/2008/12/17/a-mormon-mom-looks-at-jesus-vs-santa/

Check this out.

Jesus Time instead of Christmas time

With all the hustle and the bustle this time of year, we can if were aren't careful lose site of the miracle of it all. I am not one for the Christmas season....Santa and the toys department don't have my vote this time of year, oh sure I go along with things for the kids, but believe me if I had it my way you would never hear ho ho ho from me. I do however love the fact that this is the time that Christians around the world have chosen to celebrate the birth of the baby Jesus! That's our miracle for the hustle were in. I wish we could all be ever mindful of the true reason for this season of giving and remember that He came and gave us the best gift ever, Himself! Now I know that all those out there that read this that are Christian know the real reason and we all choose to be kind and generous and be helpful to the needy, but maybe just maybe there are one or two people that read this that haven't thought about why we need to remember Christ at the holidays.

To start off Jesus wasn't born on December 25, no that was the celebration day for the pagan sun god Saul, and when the Romans had adopted Christianity they chose to replace that day with the recognition of Jesus birth. If you read in the four Gospels in the New Testament you'll see that it talks about the Angel that visits with the Shepard's out in the field that are watching over the sheep, there aren't any sheep out in December because its cold out there also this time of year and the grass doesn't start growing until mid March, so they were probably out there in April. Any how the announcement was made that the Savior of the world had just been born and that the prophecies of old had been fulfilled, 600 years has passed since the writing of the Old Testament at this time and so those waiting were so over joyed that here at this time 4000 years after Adam now comes the Christ, the Holy redeemer of all of Israel. The scriptures in the four gospels say that it was such a glorious occasion , that the Heavens could not be held back and the Vail was torn and the angels sang so loudly that the Shepard's heard them as they say" peace on earth and good will toward man" . Now the important part is that He was born, the time doesn't really matter but the fact that He was born that was a big deal. Now we have our freedom to the ability to get back to our Heavenly Father. This is the part for me that mean so much, Christ being the Son of God could have came at any time , he could have chosen to come now a days when there are more rights that protect people's beliefs or values and non-values, He being the Son of God could have chosen to not come down here to face the persecution that He endured, but He knew it had to be that time. It was important to come unto a people that would be sure to disown and even kill him. Without the death there could be no life for any of us, it was all part of the plan from the beginning , in the creation period of the world, Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ knew it was necessary, and so did we. After being sent here to earth we as people loose that memory of knowledge of life with the Father, so as we are sent here to our probation period of our lives we forget the reasons we were created to begin with, so Jesus had to come down and show us and teach us so that we would remember and learn . So the reason for the Birth of Christ was a saving gift the Gift of life.

Through his eternal example we have been given the gift of life and the knowledge to do marvelous things in the name of God. We as Christians have a solemn duty to spread the gospel to every end of the earth, He did. We are blessed to belong to a Heavenly creator that loves us so much that He sent His Only begotten Son to be our savior. I am thankful to God that my real Christmas present this and every day was and is Jesus the Christ . I am thankful for his mercy, His grace , and His endless love for all of us. Out of all the people good and bad in this world, He loves us all the same, not one more than the other. The scripture tell us that He even loves the sinner , that's me! I don't know about you but I sure am glad you don't have to be perfect in order to have God love you.

Take this time of the year and tell the people around you how much you love them, then show them by making sure there where they need to be with Christ, pray with your family this holiday season, Love one another, and be kind to all you meet. Share the gospel of Jesus with someone who might benefit from the Good news of great joy that the angels proclaimed at His birth. Try to remember that it isn't Santa its the Savior, and that he is watching all the time to see if your naughty or nice.

To those of you out there that read this ...Merry Christmas, and may God bless you this holiday season and may He bring you joy as you remember His Son. I love you

How can I forget.

I spoke to my dear friend via email chat last evening and after, I took a few minutes to pray, sincerely pray and ask the Lord for His grace and mercy, strength and understanding. With the words still fresh upon my lips I felt of the Spirit of the Lord, How sweet the tender mercy of a loving Heavenly Father. I realized something that I am sure I am not alone in last night, while I talked with my friend and pondered the conversation I realized that I forget to remember those spiritual experiences that have been defining moments in my relationship to God. As I got to thinking about all the time that prayers have been answered and how many times He has forgiven me in the past for my transgressions, I began to realize that once again a prayer had been answered! I sat at this computer and with a fear and doubt filled heart posted a blog of desperation as I plead for prayers....not realizing that it was not just to those that would read the blog but to a loving Heavenly Father as well. My friend chimed in to chat with me and in the course of a few minutes , I had begun to feel better,as I thought it over more today this very morning as I traveled to work I was praying and felt the Holy Spirit testifying of the love that the God-head possessed for me. I felt renewed in Christ and realized that prayers were answered. I can't help but think how wonderful and merciful He is to all of us, In Genesis 6:6 the Bible states that God looking down at what men had done it, "grieved the heart of God" and yet he loves us anyways. I got to thinking about the fact that He loves us so much that He is willing to have pain in His heart in order to have us learn, I learned that when I start forgetting what it is that He truly wishes for me to be doing, I need to stop my whole life and ask " Father what can I do to more pleasing unto you?" As my day went on today I was able to feel of the Spirit more and know with a sure knowledge that my Savior lives and He did die for my sins, and that no matter what , He has a place in His heart for me. I sometimes need to remember that His yoke is easy and light and that He can carry my burdens if I can learn to swallow my pride long enough to ask.

A dear and marvelous man passed away last evening Elder Joseph B. Worthlin, an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ. He will truly be missed.....and remembered. I will say that he is very fortunate to have been blessed to be part of the greatest Churches ever to be on Earth, And I know that Elder Worthlin is with the Savior now. I am almost jealous.
http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/news-releases-stories/joseph-b-wirthlin-oldest-apostle-dies-age-91
God bless you all.

Prayers please

Finding the strength to do the right thing isn't always easy! I have been privileged in my life to have many opportunities to do the thing that our Father in Heaven has asked, many times I have come up short. Lately I seem to be struggling quite a bit, I wont go into any details but I have been facing the same challenge over and over and it seems as though I fall prey to Satan's temptations every time. I can't seem to get past the hurdle. I hope those of you that are out there, that do in fact read this, will pray that I get the strength I so desperately need to beat my demons. I realize that there have been some gaps in my blogging and I don't have time to write quite as often as I would like , perhaps if I got back into the writing habit again then maybe mind would be more spiritually fed.

No real worries, but I could use a few prayers.....I have been slipping a little too much back into my old ways of thinking and not focusing on the long term plan. I read my friends blog tonight and she really made me think about how much I am not putting what God wants first in my life at this moment. If I want to have that communication line opened to our Heavenly Father then I had better get back on track.

Sorry I haven't kept my promise to be consistent in blogging and thanks Ann for your inspiring words ......I miss you guys so much , I need Matt so bad it truly hurts!

Doesn' t seem right .....does it?

I read the blog of my dear friend Ann tonight and as I read I felt the Spirit speaking to me about the recent adversity that she faced and how we had gone through similar struggles. I read a long and seen several parts about how they had struggled to get to church and with every step forward , Satan managed to push them three back. Funny how people call adversity a struggle, but we refer to Satan as the adversary! I think that we as people allow are selves to be pushed around just a little too much. As I read on, my friend talked about the financial struggles and then the feelings of unworthiness....Now if you know Ann and Matt at all there is no unworthiness issue there ever, those two are pillars in spiritual excellence! I think it doesn't seem right, how Satan could whispered in her ear and she listened for a minute.

A fact of the matter is that we as people don't view Jesus and Satan as tangible individuals, we don't see them as if there able to be right there. We think all too often that they are just vapors that float around or story's told in books and that neither really has any effect on the mind. Sad part is Satan is able to be right on top of us at all times, and if we don't cry out to our Savior to come help, well then we stand and listen to the devil tell us lies.I have been in situations plenty of times in my life were the thoughts I was having were not in conjunction with what the Savior would have me be thinking about and if I festered long enough in my own thinking and let Satan keep picking at me, then I started to believe the lies he was spreading.

I kept reading on down further in the blog post and Ann had took a new perspective on things , Just as she always does. She is truly a Saint in all aspects of the word. As I continued, I read that they had success and were able to make new friends and as I read further down I began to see something that I found hard to come by myself....humility! It took pushing me hard several times to get humility out of me and I didn't have nearly the faith my friends here have. As times got harder though I realized that as I called upon the name of Christ , every time He would come and save me, oh how sweet our Savior is. I know that every time I have been in a situation where I have been given opportunities to change something, God allows me to be tested if you will just a little to kinda make me earn it. I told my friend that perhaps there was something our Father in Heaven wanted her to know or learn, He always seems to teach me this way.

I try to listen to three very special hymns daily.........." I need thee every hour" " Love one another " and " Keep the commandments" With those songs in my thoughts all day, I seem to do quite well with any obstacle.

Don't it Hurt?

I find myself in an awkward position from time to time. I get caught up in the things of this world and let them drag me down to the point of not feeling worthy of God's grace. Grace and forgiveness go hand in hand you can't have one without the other, but for me I have a hard time dealing with feeling as though I've been forgiven of a sin . I struggle so, trying desperately to be as good as I can be and without warning ...there I've done something again. Does it hurt for you too? Is it hard to feel worth the forgiveness, even when it seems to be a reoccurring sin? I struggle to do what is right in the eyes of God, and yes we are all our own worst critic,but for me it seems to break my heart when I do something wrong.

I found myself listening to a Christian radio station.....something I do often, when I heard a preacher speaking on the topic of having to have faith in grace. Not faith alone mind you, but faith in grace , then he went on to describe how our Father in Heaven gave His only begotten to die for the transgressions of man. How we need to be able to accept that grace from Jesus Christ and realize the purpose of that which He had suffered so greatly for. I began to think to myself , How do I feel when I repent?. Then it occurred to me that yes I was heart felt in my prayers , and yes I truly was meaning the words which I spoke and yes I was humble. So if all those things were in check....then was I having faith in grace? No , I believe that when I pray to ask for forgiveness I believe that He hears my pleas and forgives the sin , but if I don't forgive myself and don't have that faith in the grace of a Father who loves me so much then I never really get forgiven now do I.

I would admonish all who read this to pray on the topic at hand and ask this very hour .... Lord do I have sin that I am in need of repentance? I do I'm sure, If you say you don't then your a better person then I could ever be and if that is so then would you please leave me a note at the comment box and tell me how perfection feels. I , we have got to come to terms with every wrong we have ever committed , even those that lie in the darkest part of our memories. I feel as we aspire to be more forgiving of ourselves, when we have humble asked Father in Heaven for forgiveness, then we must have faith in grace and know that his mercy and grace is sufficient to all.

So with that I leave you , begging to have His mercy and grace, praying for faith in His grace, and believing that it is sufficient for me ...just like it was for the Apostle Paul.

Christians and Politics

I always have wondered when the country was going to be prepared to have a person of another race become president. I never thought it was going to be in my life time, I must say even though he ( Obama ) does not stand for the same moral values as I do, I was impressed with the general public in there ability to vote in an African American to the office of president! Some say that this will bring about terrible things...me personally I feel it is a step in the right direction as far as loving our fellow man as our brother. Perhaps we as people can get rid of the racism we have so long suffered from in this country. I had the pleasure of reading an article written by my brother Tom which I will post in the next paragraph , but the funny thing about his article is that I heard the same comments on a local christian radio station and had thought on the very topic earlier this week.

Tom says......

"Our country has spoken and elected a new President. Pray that during the upcoming days and weeks, over the next crucial months in our nations history, pray for our outgoing President and our incoming President. Pray that Mr. Obama would appoint people in his administration that will hold the values of God. That the name of God would be re-established in our great nation and the name of Jesus would be exalted above all things. Pray that Mr. Bush would make decisions that the transition between them would be smooth and successful. Pray that the upcoming changes would be made in a way that will glorify God and bring His name to the world. He is what our country was founded on, lets pray that one day it will be again."

Good stuff from other opinions other than my own! I have taken to prayer in these past few days as to how the Spirit will guide Mr. Obama as he takes seat in the desk in the oval office. Much like that of so many more in this country are doing , I heard a striking number of more than 6o million people had voted for the McCain administration , so that means alot of us out there still have good moral values. At a breath taking 48%-52% overall voting polls , I would say that it was close .We have the ability to pray and lets face it ....no one , is out side the reach of God's hand!

Enough on the political field , I made mention of it because we as Christians need to stand for the things we believe in, this is not the end nor a reason to give up hope. We must stand fast in our efforts to still instill in our children what is right and wrong, I know that its hard with all the influence of the media we are exposed to these days , but honestly we are the ultimate ones responsible for the teachings of our children. It is still our job as Christians to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ to the ends of the world especially to our next door neighbors , but really to keep building His kingdom up on Earth today. Even in spite of struggles we must press forward...When Job in the Old Testament had asked of God why must he struggle , why must he be tempted so greatly....the answer " The Son of man hath descended below them all; art thou grater than He?" With that thought in mind I would ask you ..... are you willing to still stand for what you believe in. Of course you will !!! So lets not look at our current situation as one that is bad but embrace it as a time to pull together as believers in Christ from all walks of life and pray that the things we are in need of will come to pass. He already knows what it is we need ..... He wants us to ask for it , its called humility. Funny how that works.

I have spent a great deal of time these past few weeks thinking about my own spirituality, and sometimes there is alot of struggles and sometimes there aren't many. Its the times when I"m not in tune with the Spirit that I don't have the struggles, why you would ask? Because that's when Satan doesn't have to work as hard because I'm listening to the wrong side! Its been my experience that when I am doing as good as I possible can and am trying to be as Christ-like as possible that I'm faced with opposition! I know that it is because Satan tries to break those down who confess the name of Jesus, so stand fast brothers and sisters. We are not alone in our fight for what is right .... He is ever mindful of the world around us.

Be ever prayerful, ever mindful , and ever loving of those around us. They need us and we need them , tell your wife and kids you love them and show the world that your bigger than any color or any political party. Be a Christian. I love you all.

Troubled Thoughts

This is my thought on the ever controversial question of why it is so important to belong to the religion we as humans choose to belong to , I grew up Pentecostal, as many of you know and I thought about how important it was for me to share the truths of the restored Gospel to those whom I love so deeply in my life. My family , my parents , brother and his family, I tried so hard to explain things to the best of my ability as to why I knew they were true. I shared with them in the same fashion it had been shared to me in and the result was much like that of when the young Joseph Smith tested the verse of James 1:5 and the result was " shucks boy...That kind of stuff just doesn't happen any more ...it all of the devil" . My mother once told me she was concerned with my salvation, my father said I was going down the wrong road and my Brother after sending me anti-Mormon material dictated a letter that clearly stated his withdraw from wanting to ever hear what I had to say about religion anymore.

I 've been pondering lately as to the thought on trying so hard to bring others to Christ .... and you know I don't have to try as hard as I have been. Now I'm not saying I'm giving up, but I have come to the conclusion that the relationship with people around us needs to based off the principles of Love, the same love that the Savior had for each of us. Its not our job to judge someone on there religious preferences, does not the Bible teach us that we are to love everyone? Does God look at people as categorized as we do? We select what we think is right and we feel it is our job to tell others this is it and nothing else. I know, I grew up in it! I grew up with thought that only Pentecostals would be making Heaven, the rest well, they could try but they just weren't his pick......sounds like Jews and Jehovah's Witness doesn't it? My point , If God is the almighty and we as Christians ( That includes all that proclaim the name of Christ valiantly) ,are his chosen people then were does the statistics come in on who gets what? I believe that all ( I mean ALL ) churches have truths and all have good in them, I believe that there are those that are closer to the actual truth and some , unfortunately , that are way off. However I know that there is a church that does proclaim that they are built upon the very principles set by Christ Himself and that they follow , to a tee , the very instructions that are not only outlined in the Bible but all the standard text that are available to everyone. I would love to be able to share the restored gospel to everyone , unfortunately, persecution and the foul mockery of Christians , so called Christians, and non believers alike prevent the good word of God from speaking to man at this time in the world from being heard. Satan has such a powerful grip upon so many people that they are to blind to see truth when it slaps them in the face.

When I thought of this subject it was one that brought both good and bad feelings, I know that by sharing these thoughts I can upset some readers and honestly I'm ok with that. I am not here for a popularity contest, my calling is much greater than that! In the book of 1Corinthians 15:40-41 Paul teaches the principle of three distinct levels of glory, or heavens , One of the sun, one of the moon and one of the stars. In 2Corinthians 12:2 Paul talks of a man that was caught up to the third heaven, In the Doctrine and Covenants section 76 it outline the description of the three degrees of glory and as to there purpose, So if there is more than one account of reference to degrees of glory in the Bible alone wouldn't you think that that would be good enough to testify of truth, then if you knew or even were curious to know if there something else testifying of the same thing like section 76 , wouldn't you want to know? Ask in faith the Father on knee's is it true? He would tell you yes!

A man I value the opinion of, made a stupid statement the other day during a meeting I was in attendance in. We spoke loosely of other religions for a brief couple of minutes and to the simplicity of how some people come to believe they are saved was addressed. I shared the way I was brought up and shared how people believe that when they feel as though they would like to turn there life over to Christ they can simply say a prayer , some times directed by a pastor and following along in the prayer can then be saved after asking Jesus into there hearts. He said to me that was the stupidest thing he has ever heard. Now I will tell you from experience that when I struggled through life and had made attempts at getting straighten out that was a life saver and I felt of the Spirit of God. People that believe that concept are not stupid nor does it mean that they are not saved from the fall, it simply means that they are at the beginning of a great journey one in which we as Latter-Day saints should embrace and also try to help and nurture to grow. If we stood before our Creator and said that we didn't lend a hand, an ear, or our love because those people didn't belong to our Church , then Brethren we we ourselves are guilty of a grave sin, one in which I will not be part of! The degrees of glory were outlined because he knew not everyone would follow His Holy anointed Prophets, not everyone would be open to His true teachings because they weren't ready to commit to something that requires complete change of one's self, and especially to have to face the persecution of those that condemn the very thing they claim to stand for. I will no longer pass judgment upon someone of another religion , nor will I push someone into doing something they don't want to do. Satan's plan consisted of no agency and his plan didn't allow choices . And we all chose the plan of Christ , those of us with a body ....and that's a lot of us!

I will share a testimony with you that I know that the Church of Jesus Christ is the true church of God and that I am a Latter-Day Saint , That we have a Prophet that stands at the head of His church, The Book of Mormon is the word of God , that we have a Church that consists of Prophets and Apostles in these the latter days. Most important , because without him we would not have what we have today , I know that Joseph Smith was and is a Prophet of God and is at this moment involved in the great work beyond the veil. I have been able to stand in the waters of Baptism in the Holiest place in the world and by proxy , baptize for the dead and have a confirmation of gratitude over whelm me and testify to my spirit of the import of the work . I have been blessed to be part of a blessing that healed a very sick woman, instantly ! I have felt the Spirit of God so strong that it completely consumed my every sense , and with that was struck with a sure knowledge of the God head ,of Elohim, Jehovah , and the Holy Spirit. You can always voice your opinion, but I say to you ............. I know !

How important are other peoples lives, Written by my brother Tom Calton

I received this letter from my brother , Tom and felt inspired to share it with those whom read this blog may it lift you as it did me.

"So let us be thankful, because we have a kingdom that cannot be shaken. We should worship God in a way that pleases Him with respect and fear, because our God is like a fire that burns things up"-Hebrews 12:28,29

Before we start each shift at work we all meet in the break room so the boss can inform us of important items of safety and repairs that are happening on each piece of equipment. We also find out where we will be working for the next 8 hours. The other night I was asked to start cleaning the equipment because we had the board members of our Chinese plant coming in for a tour. I gladly accepted my assignment and headed out on the floor. The comment was made by several people that this was extremely important and "we needed to make everything look like we didn't even work there". Anyone serving in our armed forces has participated in an event like this when a high ranking commander or official was coming by. I myself was volunteered once to paint rocks along the main road of the base only to turn the rocks over and paint the other side so we didn't miss anything and make the rocks look as though they appeared from the ground perfectly white and they were just there when they built the Air Force base.

How often do we make our lives with Christ appear as though nothing is wrong or it is perfect? Do we go out of our way for fellowship? Obey every word in the bible? Do we reach out for help in our small groups? At church? With our closest friends? Do we pray every day? Why are we so afraid sometimes to tell our Creator the things we have done or what we are afraid of? Did He not hear or see us and we got away with it?

1 John 1:6,7 says "So if we say we have fellowship with God, but we continue living in darkness, we are liars and do not follow the truth. But if we live in the light, as God is in the light, we can share fellowship with each other. Then the blood of Jesus, God's Son, cleanses us from every sin."

So why don't we reach out when we are struggling? What about when we see someone else struggling? We should be reaching out to each other and the person on the other side of the sales counter, no matter if they are reaching back or not. We should be praying for the lost world and each other deeply from our hearts. He will hear us. But what do we do? We hide in our shell or take care of it ourselves, we can fix it right? No, let us reach out to one another for help and prayer. Isn't that what we are there for? "Now that you have made your souls pure by obeying the truth, you can have true love for your Christian brothers and sisters. So love each other deeply with all your heart."-1 Peter 1:22. I struggle with that, don't you? .......Sometimes I only want to care about myself..........I don't have time to listen, I have to be somewhere....... It's hard to love and care sometimes. We don't want to admit we can't fix it, our pride and arrogance takes control, instead of Jesus.

It's the start of a new week. Lets reach out and help each other, support each other, and strengthen and lift up each other. "Strengthen yourselves so that you will live here on earth doing what God wants, not the evil things people want."-1 Peter 4:2. Love. Compassion. Share our hearts. "But dear friends, use your most holy faith to build yourselves up, praying in the Holy Spirit."-Jude 20

Let God consume every square inch of your life with His holy fire! Trust Him. Obey Him. Talk to Him. Pray!! Stay focused on our Lord and Saviour so we can ask for help and be there for others. Read your bible, let God talk to you. Give Him all your praises and don't complain. Put God first in everything, He will never let you down.

"Here on earth we do not have a city that lasts forever, but we are looking for the city that we will have in the future. So through Jesus let us always offer to God our sacrifice of praise, coming from lips that speak His name."-Hebrews 13:14,15

Thank God for this day we have; He made it for us.

Timing

Sometimes there is just not enough time to sit down and type out huge blogs, this one will be short.
I had the most peculiar phone call tonight one that trouble me so, my 13year old daughter the one that just got baptized, was calling from the neighbors house. Instantly my senses were enhanced and my adrenaline began to flow , I knew it wasn't gonna be good. I talked to her for a minute on the phone and found out that her mother and step-dad were fighting with her about getting home late from a church activity, ( if the kids gonna be late ...that's were I want it to be ) , any ways she was getting yelled at so much and they smacked her for back talk, so I had to call her mom and see what was going on. It turns out that Satan is up to no good as usual, now the reason I say this is because the moment I got on the phone the Spirit was with me.......I felt strong that there was evil a foot. Alex is going to go to the Columbus Temple on a youth temple trip on Saturday with me and several other members and old Satan is doing his best to keep that from happening, I instantly noticed by the way she began swearing at me and taking the Lord's name in vain, once she even referred to me and my Bible and how stupid it was. I new at that moment that the most important thing to do was play it cool and not let the situation get out of hand then all would be well and Alex will still make her first trip to the Temple.

Am I doing all I can?

Tonight we had priesthood leadership , to go over the principles of the Gospel that are in need of our support as priesthood holders. I noticed that a great deal of the topic matter was much like that of General Conference that just transpired this past weekend. I was asking friends of mine and discussing the topic of doing so much already in the church , and later this evening the thought came to mind ....Am I doing all I can? Not only as a Priesthood holder but as a Husband and Father? Do I aspire to be like Christ? I don't think so all the time. One of the topics we talked about was " The One " , for those of you not of my faith , the one is that person that you can think of that is in need of help, or maybe your neighbor when there out doing yard work , maybe they could use a hand . Maybe its the person that is latter in years loading there car at the grocery store ...do you offer to give them a hand. My thought turned about as to what I've done lately and to meet the needs of "the one" . I asked someone the other day if I could help them load a cart full of drywall, they thanked me and said someone was coming so I went on about my day . I could have helped though until the other person arrived ! I didn't do enough , does that make sense? I could have done more that's what I'm getting at , I thought about the weeks past and how I have had opportunity's to serve someone and have not . I also began to think that I , we could be more helpful to our wives and try to help her out more with the cleaning and the kids, You know they talked about that at both General Conference and Priesthood leadership ...treat our spouses better than we have been ! Even if we treat them good we can always do better , something I need to work on .I thought of my dear friend Matt and how I've never in my life seen a man as wonderful as he is with his wife and kids...he is a good example as to what we , I should be aspiring to be like .

Christ showed His service to so many ,We were asked tonight to give examples that we could think of for His display of service throughout the scriptures. Many examples came forward, the story of Lazarus , the story of John the Baptist , the story of the Woman who when being persecuted for adultery the Savior stepped in and said " Let he who is without sin cast the first stone" then He turned to the woman and said " were art thou accusers ? They have fled Lord because of Thee , arise woman for thou are forgive go and sin no more" The Savior not only rescued her from death but provided His Loving forgiveness and built her spirits up again before leaving her. That is the true power of the Priesthood ...service with unfeigned faith and love for the recipient. He went to the American continents among the Nephites and visited with them and He blessed each of there children one by one , that is a great act of kindness and compassion. Most important to me is the effort of the Atonement . Not any act of service can be greater than the offering He gave to me and you ! This is my offering ...I will give all that I have to Him for its all I can Give..My life is my offering .

Next time you see someone that might need a hand or hand up , give them a minute . I can promise you it will be worth an eternity.

Conference

I am so excited that this weekend is General Conference ! This to those of you that are not of my faith , is a chance for us Latter-Day Saint and the rest of the world if there willing with an open mind, to listen to A Prophet of God in this day and age , the very same as those from olden days , to share the message of God to the people . Also it is a great opportunity to listen to the Twelve Apostles of Christ of this dispensation as they address the general public and share the message that Our Father in Heaven has for us . Like those great Spiritual giants of today we are also blessed to be able to hear from other General Authorities and members of the Seventy and General Bishopric . It is a wonderful opportunity to learn of the lesson's that Christ has for us in the modern day.

If you look at the format of how we will be given inspiration during this General Conference , I would like to point out a very important point. That each of the titles given to those of whom I have listed are not something that Mormons have made up for our leaders but more importantly they are the very names by which Christ Himself had labeled His devoted servants. Commonly miss-conceptualized as a Church that founded itself on its own principles , the Mormon faith is truly in fact, based upon the very format of how Christ had set up His Church when He walked the earth and taught us His Law and His Commandments. This Church , His true Christian Church ( yes I say True ) is founded on His teachings not man's , it is not corrupted by the world nor does it base its decision on what is comfortable to popular opinion . We as Latter-Day Saints read from the King James version of the Holy Bible because it as close to the original writings as we can get in the English language , and it is one of the only copies of the Holy Bible in this day and and age that has not been interpreted a hundred different ways to make people more comfortable about what and how they read it .....In essence we as human have taken the words of God and have changed them so that we have them more befitting to this day and age , so that we can interpret what we think we are reading.

We have the Book of Mormon..Another Testimony of Jesus Christ , miss understood by most as the Mormon Bible , not the case at all . Yes it is a cannon of scripture , and yes it is included in all of are teachings, not because it is to be separate from the Bible but to go hand in hand with the very same teachings of the Gospels of Matthew , Mark , Luke , and John , to edify the very position that The Apostle Paul was preaching , to emphasize the ministry of Peter and most important to build up the Kingdom of God and testify of His Son , Jesus Christ .

I was told as a child and even as an adult ,when I began to investigate this Church, that what was being taught was wrong and that the Mormon teachings was a cult and not of God. That Satan had his hand in it all and they were trying to lead God's good Christians away . Well I have to say that is not true at all! I believe that it is Satan telling people not to follow the Mormon faith because he knows the true identity of Christ's true Church and he can't afford to loose anymore souls than he already has. Satan has the ability to tempt not only the weak but especially the righteous , So to those out there thinking your protected from his influence just because you show up to church on Sunday morning and feel good about praying once or twice a week , I say beware !

If you really need to ask yourself how does one know of a true Church , I say unto you pray , pray that the Spirit of the Lord will testify to your heart the truth of all things and remember that the feelings of the Spirit are listed in Galatians 5:22 , if you pray to know and don't have those feelings ....good chance it wasn't God giving those feelings to you, pray again this time with real intent to know and an open heart.

I look forward to the chance to listen to The Prophet Thomas S. Monson give talks this weekend and to the Twelve and the rest of the General Authority's ,for I know that in my heart and by the Power of God and His Holy Spirit , that as I listen as do so many others , we will blessed to Hear from God himself speaking to us through His Ordained Prophet and Holy Priesthood. To better be prepared for the second coming of our Lord, Jesus Christ . To be armed with the Spirit of righteousness and be empowered to spread the good news of Christ.

God bless all of us ,and may we find peace and happiness in our fellow man , and learn to love one another and strive to be more like Jesus , I leave you with this and say this in the name of Jesus Christ , Amen.

Has our agency gotten in the way of principles?

I have thought much about the question that is presented here. I think that when we chose to follow Christ in the grand council before the world was and accepted our agency as a part of our lives instead of the slavery term based return policy that Satan had in mind, we took upon ourselves a responsibility to be steadfast in the work of God. If we allow ourselves to use the excuse that we have agency that allows us to not visit the sick or the needy , or if we simply don't feel like going to a meeting or attending an important church function , such as any of the conferences or leadership meetings that have come and are coming to pass , we simply are not following the idea of the agency that was truly given to us. I believe that the agency that our Father in Heaven had in mind for us when we excepted the plan was not to do wrong but to do right ! He never intended to have us say that we don't need to learn from his appointed teachers , He never said you already know enough , or would He ever say don't feed my hungry. Unfortunately we are all guilty of this , we often get so caught up in our own lives and the responsibilities that we feel are important to us that we forget that we hold a greater responsibility to those around us, that when the Savior gave a new commandment to the 12 He said " This new commandment I give unto you ,that ye Love one another as I have loved you ,then ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." John 13:34-35 Our agency was intended for this kind of grand design that we may choose to love each other and that we may choose to do good and be true and just with all men. That we would choose to full fill our duty to God.

This topic can be one of a touchy nature , and to those that don't feel that it is relevant to our salvation , I would challenge you to look deep into your own life and question yourself as to this important fact ...do I love my fellow man? Have I put things off because I found a greater excuse that justifies what I chose to do over what I should do ?I know I have in the past ! I think we need to go to great lengths to be strong at everything that is asked of us and that we should continue to strive to be like Christ in all things especially our agency...........yes I said like Christ , He too had agency , didn't He. He could have chose not to go through with it , The Atonement. When He cried out in the Garden, He was second guessing His decision , Satan was there he said to Jesus " you don't have to do it" He could have backed out at anytime but through that same agency that our Father in Heaven gave us, He gave to Christ as part of the plan of returning to Him!

We must use our agency for the just cause and not for the excuse, else we shall have efforts in vain.

Stand

You see all the time on TV these days and hear about it on the radio , these kids that make a stand for what they believe! Whether it is about tobacco use or drugs or alcohol these kids stand for what they believe in not doing , ( I think its fantastic that we have youth that strong in this day and age) . Today I heard on a local radio station I listen to called K-love ( Christian Rock ), there were these kids who were going to meet all over the world tomorrow to stand for what they believe in, Jesus ! They are going to meet at flag poles for prayer at 7:00am and show there faith by joining this cause.

When is the last time we stood for what we believe in . I bare the name Mormon proudly on the back of my truck with its .org behind it hoping that those behind me in traffic just might be brave enough to find out that the thing there so quick to persecute is the very thing they base there faith on ! Jesus the Christ! I have thought often on this subject sometimes even voiced my opinion a time or two, the thing is its kind of a touchy subject for people so I'll say it like I do most things ....the way they are.

Peter the first disciple of Christ and the leader and Prophet of Christ's true Church after the ascension to Heaven occurred for Christ, even faced this problem. When asked on 3 different account , He , Peter denied the Christ , he could not bare the thought of persecution at the hands of the Romans. Peter walked with The Son of God , he talked with Him, he ate with Him , slept next to Him and knew with his whole soul that Jesus was the Christ and still He denied Jesus! That is powerful to me , it shows the true strength that Satan has over us, that fear and doubt is not of God!

We as Mormons , Christians , Jews , Gentile, Muslim , Ect. why do we not stand for what we believe? Is it not our job to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Doesn't our Scriptures teach us that God is no respecter of person's and that we are all His children? Didn't we all choose to be here on this planet at this time ? We sided with Christ in the Grand Council before the World was, and we fought at that time for what we believed in ! That Jesus would be our Savior and that we would fight against Satan at all cost and would try our best to return home to our Father in Heaven that waits there for us . My point is if we cant stand now ....we wont stand later ! We must be diligent in our efforts to spread the Gospel , not for gain ( to those who pay there preachers) not for body's in the seats , but so that those that don't remember Christ may have a chance at redemption.

God loves us all! He wants each of us to Love one another, unconditionally. We don't have time to bicker about religious preferences , we are at the sifting of the wheat . Those who are strong in faith will be strong when they need to be , those who are luke warm or riding the fence .... you will fail!

I put the name Mormon on my truck because I hope it will help someone .......It has if nothing else helped me , when I am about to get angry with someone because the way they are driving and I go to pass , I think about that sticker and think to myself , That's not very Christ-like behavior, I probably should be a lot more reverent than this! If we all had a sticker on us what would yours say?

Distance

Tonight I said goodbye to one of the greatest people I've every known, He and his family are moving so far away.I touched on the subject not long ago but felt inspired to write something again. My friend said to me as we broke from a hug " Keep building up the Elders Quorum and don't stop blogging" , Matt you're the best!!

A million times in my life it seems as though things are lost , friends, loved ones , tools , and toys, they aren't all the same but it feels the same when things you love come up missing, I can't express the feelings of joy that Ive had since being a member of this church . I lost a lot entering those waters of baptism ! Not the same kind of loss as my friend and his family moving away because this loss was terrific. I lost a part of my life becoming a member of the Christ's Church and for the better. Many times throughout my new found life in Christ I have wanted or have been able to relate to problems that members have been struggling with, because I've been there .There is not to much before baptism that I had not done , Ive been on both sides of the tracks and have seen and experienced things I pray someday I will forget. That kind of loss I embrace . You see I always knew deep down that God loved me , and that He had something special for me , As we have , but I wasn't willing to accept that . As I grew older in my age I began to forget that God loved me ( I lost my desire to do good ) I began to feel as though He couldn't love me and surly I wasn't worthy of anything He had to offer. I found myself listing to the Adversary and He spoke smoother than that of those trying to help me. I found that the less I thought of God the less guilty I felt about the decisions I was making , you want to talk about losing...... I just about lost everything, including my life!

Our Father in Heaven has this great plan laid out for each of us , things he would like us to aspire to complete , choices He would like us to make (correctly) ,But most importantly He wants us to lose something.........US ! It is important that we lose the mortal capacity of what we should do or be like. He wants us to " Put off the things of this world and take upon us the righteousness of Christ" , to lose can be looked at many different ways. I lost everything that I thought was good and found everything that was really important in life. We as a couple , faced some of the hardest times in our married life just in the past year and a half , But it was by His grace that we managed to survive it . We didn't do it on our own , there is no way we could have , logically and financially there is no way without His mercy could we have survived the challenges we faced .

Some loss is good , Some loss is bad, some is just plain Hard. He has given me and all of us the strength we need to endure to the end. The loss isn't anything if you look at the glass as half full. I found that in every opposition I have had to bear , God has presented a reason or solution , it just needs to be recognized. Old habits , Bad habits ........good loss ! Losing faith.........very bad loss.

Do you have the Faith to look at the glass Half full?

I love you Matt & Ann , Thanks for all you've done , all your help, all your love,and most of all your friendship!

Still Searching

After the last entry on the Atonement and a promise of more I thought about the nature of the topic I had chose to discuss.I realize that for anyone reading this you may ask yourself , why does this person write these topics as if someone had asked to know or was inquiring to a specific question. Truth be told , I write them for myself ! I love to sit and ponder on the deep waters of doctrine and as to why such things are as they are. My Savior gave me a chance by becoming the Christ as He gave up his Ghost that great day on the cross , on that hill . You see He was born a child just like you and I and had the same Vail drawn over his eyes as we have upon our eyes, our amnesia doesn't allow us to remember the grand counsel before the world was , and at the time when Jesus was a boy He didn't know any different than us . It wasn't until a visit from a heavenly messenger that He came to know who He was, He wasn't the Christ until He had went that extra mile of suffering for us that misery we can't fathom . It was in the garden of Gestamine that He plead a prayer with His Father the Great Elohim , Our Father , Please Father He begged let this cup pass from me, How He must have been afraid......Sound silly doesn't it? To think that Jesus was afraid. He was still a man was He not? Perfect in every effect, there's no doubt of that , but never the less still a man , who had feelings and was suffering even then by great drops of blood from his pours . He suffered when he was taken from Pilate to be Chastised and think of the pain..Lacerations over your hole body from cataninetails ( whips made of leather usually containing pieces of metal, and bone, sharp enough to rip flesh from bone ) . I can't even imagine. But I'm thankful......So greatly appreciative of the strife that He endured so you and I could live as free men , children of our Father in Heaven. I wonder if I can ever aspire enough to be good enough as a person to be worthy of the debt that was paid that I might breath! I think not , so I say that I must strive to be the most effective in all that I do in the name of Jehovah, I must be diligent in my scripture studies and pray with the most sincere heart , and not forget to count my blessings in doing so. There will never be enough time in this dispensation to make up for what the Son did for us. I will pray that all that think on this subject will begin to ask the question of themselves......Do I strive to do the best I can at being thankful for the breath I take ? Am I willing to lay down my life for His cause? Would I go to the end of the atmosphere to prove to Him that I love him with my whole Soul? Brothers and Sisters out there I would. He is my Savior , My God, My King, I would tell Him over and over if He were here on the earth still today, I love you Jesus and Thank you , My spirit thanks you , my soul thanks you .

Search for the Truth

I never in my life had thought about the Atonement of Christ as much as I have been here in the past few weeks. The word Atonement, for those of you that are not members of my Church, is the word that tells of the sacrifice that Jesus made for us, that in its self made Him the Christ , the Savior of the Universe. For those of you wondering it is a Christian term and does come out of the Bible as well as the rest of the Canonical books of scripture , it is more comely used by people that read from a more traditional set of scriptures rather than those that are re-translated like so many are these days. In any case the point I make is that if we as humans were to dig deep within the scriptures and search diligently with an open heart we may be able for a small instance to begin to understand what it is that Jesus the Christ suffered so greatly for us for. Not throwing any stones to those out there that don't follow my faith , but simply being " Saved" isn't enough , and frankly I don't believe a person can say a repetitious prayer that was said the week before in Sunday service and be truly saved , such as the ones I was raised saying growing up in the Pentecostal church. I'm not trying to hurt feelings , its just I can say that I KNOW by the still small voice of the Holy Spirit that struggles I make in effort to please my Heavenly Father are fare greater recognized today than that of the feelings I had back when I followed a different faith. I believe that God does recognize those prayers of others as commitment, just as those who get baptized without proper Priesthood authority , I believe that He smiles upon those people and accepts there prayers and their honest intent for whats its worth , but I also know that there is an order to the plan of Salvation and to simply say I 've been saved and to do nothing more is really not aspiring to follow the commandments of God. He is a mercifully God and His Son Jesus is very mercifully to us all , He , Jesus , said there is only one name by which ye can come unto the Father that name is Jesus Christ. A friend of mine and I were talking on the subject of how it feels to truly know the amount of suffering that Christ had to endure, I related to the movie " The Passion of the Christ" , if you haven't seen it you should , you can get an enormous amount of understanding from watching that movie , we discussed how it wasn't really relevant to have to watch a movie like that to understand, and I feel that if you have the spiritual capacity to comprehend the scriptures enough then you can fully understand the suffering . I did some digging and reading from the different "Gospels"of the Bible and looked through the epistles of Paul and there is more underlying there than what one truly knows. Then the funny thing was that on this past Sunday a Friend of mine came up to me at Church and gave me a CD to listen to titled " The importance of the Atonement"I could go on and on for hours to get all the point across that I would like , but honestly I don't have the time . I will save more for another day.Next time you read your scripture , Take time to pray first and if you have the Spirit with you.......Who knows you might find something you never seen before.

Friends

Holiday weekends sometimes make for the most long drawn out weekends ever. With the visiting of friends and family it can be some what burdensome from time to time. I had the opportunity to spend one of these days off with one of my best friends and his family, it was a great time to be able to have that time for memory sake. I ,unfortunately will be loosing this friend of mine and his family , due to a move that will benefit his family greatly, I must say that I am rather depressed about the whole thing, I know that that is selfish , but I hate to see them go. I know that I won't really be loosing them , but they will not be so easy to visit nor will be as convenient to talk with them . I will pray that they may always be safe and that when they get established in the new home that awaits them that it too, will bring such marvelous joy to them , I will also pray that the Lord will continue to bless them with good kind people and friends that can be there for them when they need it . I know that the Lord has magnificent plans for this man and his family and I believe that he is following the promptings of the Holy Spirit, that guides all that live righteously , and because of that , he and his family will be blessed again and again for his obedience to the word of God. You know who you are if you read this , and I want you to know that I love you and your family ! I will never forget the kindness that was shown to me and my family by you and yours. I will always remember the love that has been shown towards my children in primary, and your patience when I was new to the Gospel. Not very often in someones lives do you encounter people with such pure hearts as the ones these friends of mine have . Like friends of mine that not long ago moved away as well , they have blessed my life with great joy that can never be repaid. I will aspire to be as they were for I know that through them I became a better person . Thank you.

Prophetic Topic

Those who reject the living prophet will not progress and will bring upon themselves the judgments of God.

“Notwithstanding, literally speaking, that all knowledge comes from God, yet when it has been revealed, all men have not believed it as revelation at the time. …

“Noah was a perfect man, and his knowledge or revelation of what was to take place upon the earth gave him power to prepare and save himself and family from the destruction of the flood. This knowledge, or revelation, … was not believed by the inhabitants of the earth. They knew Adam was the first man, made in the image of God; that he was a good man; that Enoch walked with God three hundred and sixty-five years, and was translated to heaven without tasting death. But they could not endure the new revelation: the old we believe because our fathers did, but away with new revelations. And the flood swept them away. …

“The same principle … was signally manifest among the Jews when the Savior came in the flesh. [They] boasted of the old revelations, garnished the sepulchres of the dead, gave tithes of mint and anise, made long prayers for a pretense, and crossed sea and land to make proselytes, but yet when the new revelation came fresh from the mouth of the great I Am himself, they could not endure it—it was too much. It showed the corruptions of that generation, as others before, and they cried, away with him; crucify him! …

“Once more, the same course and language were used when the Book of Mormon came to this generation. The old revelation, the old patriarchs, pilgrims and apostles, were blessed. We believe in them, but the new ones we cannot abide.”22

“The world always mistook false prophets for true ones, and those that were sent of God, they considered to be false prophets, and hence they killed, stoned, punished and imprisoned the true prophets, and these had to hide themselves ‘in deserts and dens, and caves of the earth’ [see Hebrews 11:38], and though the most honorable men of the earth, they banished them from their society as vagabonds, whilst they cherished, honored and supported knaves, vagabonds, hypocrites, impostors, and the basest of men.”23

“I have not the least idea, if Christ should come to the earth and preach such rough things as He preached to the Jews, but that this generation would reject Him for being so rough. … Many men will say, ‘I will never forsake you, but will stand by you at all times.’ But the moment you teach them some of the mysteries of the kingdom of God that are retained in the heavens and are to be revealed to the children of men when they are prepared for them, they will be the first to stone you and put you to death. It was this same principle that crucified the Lord Jesus Christ, and will cause the people to kill the prophets in this generation.

“Many things are [inexplicable] to the children of men in the last days: for instance, that God should raise the dead; [they forget] that things have been hid from before the foundation of the world, which are to be revealed to babes in the last days.

“There are a great many wise men and women too in our midst who are too wise to be taught; therefore they must die in their ignorance, and in the resurrection they will find their mistake. Many seal up the door of heaven by saying, So far God may reveal and I will believe. …

“It always has been when a man was sent of God with the priesthood and he began to preach the fullness of the gospel, that he was thrust out by his friends, who are ready to butcher him if he teach things which they imagine to be wrong; and Jesus was crucified upon this principle.”24

“Woe, woe be to that man or set of men who lift up their hands against God and His witness in these last days: for they shall deceive almost the very chosen ones!

“… When a man goes about prophesying, and commands men to obey his teachings, he must either be a true or false prophet. False prophets always arise to oppose the true prophets and they will prophesy so very near the truth that they will deceive almost the very chosen ones.”25

“In consequence of rejecting the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Prophets whom God hath sent, the judgments of God have rested upon people, cities, and nations, in various ages of the world, which was the case with the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, that were destroyed for rejecting the Prophets.”26

William P. McIntire reported: “[Joseph Smith] prophesied that all those that made light of the revelations that were given, and of him and his words, would ere long cry and lament, … saying, Oh! that we had hearkened to the words of God and the revelations given.”27

To read the rest of this fantastic article click this link

http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=da135f74db46c010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=4c9720596a845110VgnVCM100000176f620a____&hideNav=1&contentLocale=0

Confirmation

Today , I was blessed to be able to stand with a magnificent body of men , all holding the Priesthood of God , and lay our hands upon the head of my daughter and confirm her a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and give unto her the gift of the Holy Ghost. This wonderful experience is something I am glad I was able to be a part of ! In our church we follow all the attributes of how Christ had set up His church when he was God in the flesh , so if you were to search your scriptures to find the truths of what I have been speaking of you will find that , the Apostle Paul taught that after Baptism by water , then comes the Baptism of the Holy Ghost by the laying of hands. How great it is that we are blessed to have the true church of Christ restored to us in this the latter days , and by the proper Priesthood authority we have been given the ability to perform necessary ordinances to be able to return to our Father in Heaven . I am pleased that I was given an opportunity to join the true Church of Christ, I think that some of us in this life have the opportunity pass before us but unfortunately we allow our own judgment to out weight the Spirits. Once I was told by someone close to me ,that they were concerned about my salvation, because I had joined the Mormon faith . I have thought about that statement so often and have inquired of the Lord through prayer to be instructed from the greatest teacher, and you know I can only say ....... It is unfortunate that someone with no knowledge of how our faith truly believes can make a statement that in its self limits the power of God. Think on that if you will. I believe in the truth that is witnessed by the Spirit , my mind is open to what He has to teach and my heart is receptive to the Love He shows by His warm touch when His Spirit testifies of the truth to my spirit. I love our Father in Heaven , I love my Savior Jesus Christ , and I love the Holy Ghost ...my companion. I am blessed and you can be too . I have had the hand of the almighty work in the life of my Family as well as in my own so much , I could fill this web page to its capacity with stories of how faithful works brought righteous rewards.

Baptism

Never before in my life , other than her birth could I have been more please in being part of my daughter , Alex's life. Today she entered the waters of baptism and arose from them a new person , a refreshed body of Christ following flesh! I have encouraged my children to follow the precept of the Church in which we follow, but never have I forced it . Alex , like her elder brother Garrett, live with there Mother and there life in the Gospel is somewhat difficult from time to time . Being raised with two different set of standards can be confusing to a child and what is even harder is dealing with parents that don't even get along. My beautiful Daughter took the lessons from the Missionaries all on her own, that was hard for me , being the Elders Quorum President , I was always wanting to help with the lessons but felt that it would be best if she did them on her own. I must say that I was rather impressed by her ability to retain the information she was given, and what is even better is she chose on her own to be baptized. She really pushed the issue of Baptism with her mom and even though her mother felt it wasn't necessary , Alex pushed more to get her permission, she explained that even though she was baptized at birth it didn't count because children aren't supposed to be baptized when there little because there not accountable for there wrong doings . Also there has to be proper priesthood authority to baptize. Just as John the Baptist held that authority, that Jesus Christ set out to be Baptized by him , meant that He , John held a Hugh responsibility, The Priesthood of God. I am blessed to be able to hold that Priesthood , the very same that John the Baptist held , that very same that Jesus Christ held. With that Priesthood Authority I was blessed to be able to Baptize my daughter , some day I hope that I can baptize my son Garrett, and in two more years, if they choose , I will baptize my twins. How great a day that we had in the Lord , by his strength and all authority we were able to have a wonderful experience. Thanks to all who participated , the help was great and the talks were fantastic , my wife worked so hard on her talk to sound as great as it did . She truly has aspired to make Alex's life in this family like it would be if Hope was her mother, I will say that she impresses me with her love for those children!

Just A Thought

I see the loving, the striving, not the defects. I see the conquest of your particular battle and count it a victory.

GOD

Our Duty To God

Brethren,
I call upon each of you at this very moment as representative of the Lord Jesus Christ ,and your Your Heavenly Father calls upon you as the great Priesthood holders of this , the last dispensation, to go forth and proclaim the very Gospel in which we so fervently believe in. I was inspired to call upon you as the Home Teachers to go forth and teach, preach, expound, exhort, and baptize , Just as Doctrine and Covenants 20:50 directs as does 20:45-54 proclaims the very purpose of the Priesthood ,and the duty thereof.
I would exhort each of you to take this opportunity to look into your own heart as to that in which the Lord would have us do. We as Priesthood holders have a solemn duty to God , Our Families at home , And the Families in the Branch and Branch boundaries, to go forth and administer to the needs of all people through Home Teaching . It needs to be established that it is not about the number of families you manage to home teach in a month but how well you teach when you are with your families.Brethren, I know that it seems as though the only thing we seem to talk about is home teaching , I know that sometimes it gets repetitive , But we need not underestimate the importance of our responsibilities . We are not merely bodies that fill seats on Sundays but more so the pre-ordained Priesthood holders of a great majestic Power. And when wielded in righteousness we have been given the ability to move mountains , literally . Doctrine and Covenants section 121:34-37.Our Heavenly Father has extended a call to all men , We as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints have accepted that call when we entered the waters of baptism,took upon the name of Jesus Christ , and vowed with the Oath and Covenant established in Doctrine and Covenants section 84 . This promise we made is not to be taken lightly , but literally. It has been proclaimed in the beginning description of section 84 that "Men gain eternal life through the oath and covenant of the priesthood" . I pondered personally for some time the importance of what section 84 stated in its fullness and before accepting the responsibility of the priesthood I was asked if I truly understood that responsibility. With the promise of my unfailing service to Our Heavenly Fathers work fresh on my lips and the agreement to go forth abiding by its precepts instilled in my mind, I humbly accepted a calling to be part of the greatest work to ever unfold in our time, in this dispensation.
Brothers I would ask that you would take the time to review the scriptures listed here today, I would ask you to review the oath and covenant section of the Doctrine and Covenants , and apply these principles in our daily lives. I need to remind myself and need to be reminded from time to time that this work is the work of the Lord and not my own , I speak as a representative as do you of He that Atoneth for all mans sin. It is my understanding that we are to do all we can to be like the Savior, To try and obtain the very attributes of Christ Jesus. I know that with every ounce of my being that we as priesthood holders need to do all that is asked of ourselves in order to glorify the Kingdom of God. Since the teachings of the Holy Bible, The Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and The Pearl of Great Price , from the beloved Prophet Joseph Smith through the teachings of the inspirational Prophet Thomas S. Monson we have been taught to spread the Gospel to every nation, kindred, and, tongue. We are all missionaries in this great work.
Brethren I pray that you will look upon this ,that which has been laid before us this day and accept a call again in the name of Jesus Christ, to go forth and do the very best we can at magnifying our callings as Home Teachers and Priesthood holders. I can promise you without any doubt that if you will give your whole heart to the will of the Father and His work, You will be blessed beyond belief. It is my testimony to each of you that the Spirit of the Lord requests your attention in these the last days, and that you have been commissioned to fulfill an executive priesthood duty.
As your President of the Elders Quorum, I would like to extend my love to each one of you and to let you know that your Heavenly Father is mindful of us all , as I will also try to be . I ask that you would please accept my appreciation for all that you do , and for taking the time to magnify your callings. If there is anything I,or my counselors can do or anything you would like to see done, changes perhaps that you think need to take place, please let us know . I will be happy to speak with anyone, as will any member of this presidency.
I leave you with a word from the Doctrine and Covenants section 121:45 "Let thy bowels also be full of charity towards all men, and to the household of faith, and let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly; then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God; and the doctrine of the priesthood shall distil upon thy soul as the dews from heaven."
I say these things with love and with you in mind , and in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.



Sincerely,
President Jason M. Calton
Elders Quorum

"I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." Philippians 4:13

Perfecting The Saints

Perfecting The Saints

The thought had come to my mind as I was praying as to what could be addressed to you wonderful Brethren whom majestically hold the Priesthood , then it came to me , Perfecting the Saints. Brethren ,as a worn out record will play on and on in most cases even when the sound begins to distort we still listen. Imagine the words of the angel Moroni when he visited young Joseph Smith in his bedroom the night he was answered of his prayers . How diligent was the angel Moroni ? Could he simply have spoken once and the impression alone would have surely been forever burned into your memory as it was for young Joseph, But still the importance was so great that the words were spoken over and over . In our most recent copy of the Ensign, President Henry B. Eyring comments in his talk "Safety in Counsel" that and I quote " One of the keys to recognizing those warnings are that they are repeated. For instance , more than once in general conference , you have heard our prophet say that he would quote a preceding prophet and would therefore be a second witness and sometimes even a third." The Apostle Paul wrote" In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established"(2nd Corinthians 13:1), This is so true in this work that is laid before us this day.
Let me first start by saying how grateful I am of each of you for your undieing Faith in our Heavenly Father and His work , That you as Priesthood holders have not only stepped up to the plate when it comes to fulfilling our duties , but yet you've surpassed the expectations of the Stake goals . How marvelous is that when we ponder on how skilled we truly are in this work.
To start off with the topic of Perfecting the Saints one must ask himself , Is this truly necessary? Have we not already spent much time in quorum meetings and scripture studies? Haven't we spent a lifetime fulfilling the callings we have been given ? I would say to you yes you have ! I would then ask you is all well in Zion? Is the Lords work finished? Have there been all the souls saved needed to be saved? Have we shared the blessed message of the restored Gospel to all those we come into contact with on a regular basis? I would answer nay! The reason for the importance of perfecting the saints is not meerly another topic of discussion , but rather a lesson that needs to re-taught over and over . If the Lord taught the principles of the Three fold mission to His prophets to teach to us, and the prophet taught it over and over until one day it reached your classroom, I would have to say it was an important topic to expound upon. The reason for the need to talk about this goes far beyond what I can simply put into words , If I had the words of every man , I still would be tongue tied when it comes to speaking on the importance of our Heavenly Fathers work. You see if we are not skilled in perfecting one another and go forward diligently striving to be better saints , then we will not be able to do the other two parts of the three fold mission! It starts here, It ends here. We must be absolute in our determination to be as good as we can, Imagine if you will for a moment ........If the Prophet Joseph Smith was doing what ever he felt was the thing to do and hearkened not the Spirit ,he would surely not been able to Baptise for the dead or even preach the Gospel effectively, let alone build this great church up again upon the face of the Earth ,by the Hand of God. Think of all those great leaders and men that have gone before us they truly must have been trying to perfect one another as well as themselves.
We are taught the importance of trying to be Christ-like ,In fact in " Preach my Gospel " Chapter 6 is all about Christ-like attributes .Was not the Savior Himself the perfecter of all man kind? Doesn't His example alone make you want to strive to be your very best . He spoke unto Simon Peter and Andrew and said unto them " Follow ME , and I will make you fishers of men " , He himself was Perfecting the saints . The importance of this attribute and 1st fundamental of missionary work was evident from the beginning with the Saviour. In 3rd Nephi the Savior said " Become as He is". So my question to you today is are you trying to be like He is? Are we doing all that is needed so that we are worthy of being able to go forward with the other two parts of this plan.
We have been expounding on the topics lately of Missionary work , a great deal on learning how to "return and report" and the importance of fulfilling our duties to God. These topics are being addressed and taught because we are facing perilous times before us in these latter days. We must be fortified and edified with and by the Spirit of God so that we can go forth to help one another. This Quorum has been asked to do the very same thing that every other Quorum in this Great Church has been asked to do. The question I think we need to ask ourselves , me included , is that are we doing all we can to be the best we can be? Are we striving to do the best at Perfecting the Saints ? Are we striving to perfect ourselves ? I know that we are , I also know that like that old record , we must keep on playing even when the music gets distorted. That to me means that we must have repetition in lessons and even though these letters from the leaders of this quorum are meant to be uplifting and inspiring we don't all see it that way , nor do we all think the same way when it comes to understanding the Gospel , that is why it is so important to always keep an open mind and heart , This way the Spirit can directs us as to what we should do.
Brethren, it is my prayer that we can continue to grow as a quorum , in love and respect for one another , that we may be able to lean upon one another when there are times less than desirable . I pray that we can become closer as a brotherhood and grow to rely on each other for support . I love each of you ! I pray that you each may feel my love for you and that my words will be taken as I intended for them always to be heard , with compassion and charity in my heart. When these things can be achieved in this quorum I promise you that you will feel the Hand of the Almighty God working within our quorum and that His Spirit will speak to us just as I am talking to you to you now , and with that will come a better understanding of what is in store for us and then we can truly begin to appreciate the importance of His work.
I leave you with this and say these things in the name of the one whom saved us all from all sin , even Jesus Christ our Savior , Amen.

President Jason M. Calton
Elders Quorum Wauseon Branch

Letters From The Past

STEWARDSHIP INTERVIEWS

Brethren , we as the Elders Quorum would like to express to you , our Brethren the deep sorrow that we feel as these interviews are not being done . To often , I feel as though the idea of having to stay after Church on Sunday is not appealing to most of us, and seems rather burdensome . It is my Prayer that you will examine a few points of Doctrine with us as well as a testimony or two on the importance of these stewardship interviews . Before we get into that though , understand that , this Quorum or Priesthood does not belong to this Presidency , but to you . We have been called to help in the Lords work not dictate it to you , It is not our intention to force you to do anything you don't want to do , But it is our responsibility to guide and direct you in the way the Lord would have His work preformed . So before we go on , let us be ever mindful that this work is not just expected of you , it is required by (OUR) Heavenly Father , who has set up this work the way He sees fit.
Doctrine and Covenants Section 72 : 3-4 "And verily in this thing ye have done wisely, for it is required of the Lord, at the hand of every steward to render an account of his stewardship in both time and eternity.4 For he who is faithful and wise in time is accounted worthy to inherit the mansions prepared for him of my Father" I feel as though this truly testifies of the importance of this work. We as Home-teachers , are we not stewards over those families we teach? Is it not our duty to report our findings in those families homes back to our district leader? Shouldn't the Leaders of the Church know of the welfare of those Members whom we visit? Doctrine and Covenants Section 51 : 19 " And whoso is found a faithful, a just, and a wise steward shall enter into the joy of his Lord, and shall inherit eternal life." Sounds like a great Promise to me !
The work of the Lord was never explained as easy or slothful , it requires devotion and love . Sacrifices seem so astronomical to those of us that view our beliefs as a religion. I am here to tell you that being a Member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , is not a religion , But more so a way of life . We have a huge amount of responsibilities, that most so called Christians can't even fathom , not because we simply feel like placing callings or responsibilities upon one another so that we have a task to do ,but because in this "Life Style" we all have chose to live, We are required to carry the Responsibilities of leading ever possible soul back unto Christ , and not just for Sunday but for all eternity. So let me ask , are the sacrifices we make to do the work and will of our Heavenly Father , are they as large as a Sacrifice as the Atonement of Christ? Are we being asked to lay down our lives for all man kind or are we being overzealous in our thoughts on our own responsibilities, thinking perhaps that we already do enough.
Brethren , please understand that it is not our intent to chastise you for your absenteeism to your Stewardship Interviews or lack of Home-Teaching , But rather our Duty to God . We have been told that "My house is a house of order" , I know for myself....I don't want to be the one not do the will of the Father when it comes time for Judgment. If the work , His work requires me to sacrifice some time, and I feel I could be doing something else then I believe I need to do some repenting.
Our Heavenly Father gave Adam , Our earthly Father Stewardship over all things ! Could you imagine if Adam would have decided to do something else besides report back to Our Father in Heaven and tend to the needs of His people.
Our stewardship interviews are an obligation of bearing His Priesthood. We took that responsibility upon us when we were ordained. It is our duty to render an account of our stewardship that we have because we hold the Priesthood of God. 'Return and report' is an essential and eternal principle...think of what we learn about the order of the Priesthood in the Holy Temple. Every Priesthood holder returns and reports his actions; and this applies to us as well, for we hold that same Priesthood.

The Elders Quorum Presidency
President Jason M. Calton
1st Counselor Matthew G. Richmond
2nd Counselor Jim L. Pratt

What I would Die For

The fact of the matter truly is that most of say we would die for something ,but I ask you would you truly die for that which you believe in? I know that with all that is within me that I would most certainly have laid my life before Pontius Pilate at the counsel before the Pharisee's to save His life .No time in my life have I been more clear of that statement than I am at this moment . I have come to understand that living a life full of vain ambitions and worldly affects mean nothing in the grand vision of things, My Savior gave me the breath that I breath , He made it possible to choose if I would stand for what I believe or would falter on those proud morals most of us use so loosely . I love Jesus the Christ , He is my advocate with the Father , the Creator of this world, and my Shepard . At the moment he was asked "are you this king of the Jews , this Jesus of Nazareth... His response , you say that I Am ,for this cause was I born , to this end came I into the world". With freedom at his fingers He spoke no more when they wanted His blood.So I ask do you know what you would die for? Would it be for the desire of your heart? The thing you have never been able to grasp? Would it be the center of your very moral fiber that is in jeopardy when you choose the wrong decision .........I pray you choose the right . I have thought deeply upon the subject of what I would Die for and the fact is I hope that most of the things I would list would be the same as yours , but the real question still remains in my mind .......Would you take the place of the Savior if asked ? Is your Faith strong enough to be there if Father calls on you? I question myself some day's , but I aspire always to be the very best I can be , I try to be like Christ as much as I can , I'm so human though that even though I aspire to be like Christ I fail. The trick is to learn from those failures and not repeat them again. I would die for my Family , I would ask to take there place if it were possible .......I only hope I will be able to be that strong when the day comes that I am asked " Do you know this Christ " " Are you a Christian "? I can if effect lay my life down for the things, the moral fiber , the Gospel of Christ in which I believe in therefore laying my life down for Christ to build up His Kingdom on the Earth today. So I say again ...Do you know what you would die for . If you can figure that out then the Gospel of Jesus Christ will fill your very soul!

What it is we live for .

I can't say when it was exactly when I first realized what it was that I lived for . I believe it was shortly after coming to be a member of this Church , with the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost , my senses were enticed to be more receptive to the Gospel. I have always loved the Lord, I just never realized that I was able to be loved as much as He wanted to love me ! I believe that there is a time in a persons life when they are more inclined to have an opened mind and a willing heart to listen to the promptings of the Holy Spirit , some sooner than others , some are raised within the walls of the LDS faith and even they have to still gain there own testimony of the truthfulness of the Gospel, But mostly if willing , Our Father in Heaven will knock at our hearts door. I spent alot of time pondering upon weather this was something that my family and I should get into , any choice that we make that requires a complete life makeover is scary and with Satan's help seems impossible ! As I began to read the Scripture more regularly , and my heart became more filled with the Holy Spirit , I began to feel a change taking place within me , a feeling that I had something more important to live for than just me . See the fact is that I know most of us out there are selfish , its ok to admit it ,we wouldn't have the word in our vocabulary if there weren't people to pin it on, My point however is that I was selfish in thinking that the only persons salvation I should be focused on was my own. I did not care about my Wife's relationship with God , and honestly being raised Pentecostal , I never thought much about others relationship to God either , I can't really remember being taught to worry about others relationship with the Lord . I don't even think I was concerned with what my Kids believed , as long as it wasn't Satan worshiping ! I found though through this lifestyle that I now live ( I call it a lifestyle because its so much more that a religion , I'll expound upon that at a later date) I can be free of the past and no longer am burdened with selfishness or more importantly what my Family does believe in , Because we believe in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints ! What do I live for ? I live for God the Father , His Son , my Savior Jesus Christ , and my companion the Holy Ghost, but I live for my Family so much , Because I'm blessed to have an Eternal Family. These things not only do I live for but also I would die for . When you can figure out What it is you would die for then you will truly begin to understand your purpose on this earth .

words to ponder

"To get something you never had, you have to do something you never did." When God takes something from your grasp, He's not punishing you, but merely opening your hands to receive something better. Concentrate on this sentence..... 'The will of God will never take you where the Grace of God will not protect you.'