Accepting God's Will in This Month's Trials

The last few weeks have been a struggle for me. Normally, I'm able to get basically everything done in time for my classes, but it hasn't worked out so smoothly during the month of March. As usual, I've been praying to my Heavenly Father, expressing that I know that all things are possible in Him and that I'm willing to accept whatever His will may be.
He let me struggle for a while, and last Thursday I think I figured out one of the main reasons for my trial. In my New Testament class we just studied the chapters in the four Gospels that cover Christ's suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane, and my teacher did a wonderful job of bringing the Spirit into the classroom for the lecture. At one point, Elder Jeffery R. Holland (a member of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles) was quoted saying that as the Savior approached the suffering He knew would come in Gethsemane, He pled with the Father, "All things are possible unto thee, remove this cup from me, but nevertheless not my will but thine be done." The similarities between my prayers and his shocked and somehow comforted me.
There's no way that I'll be able to ever understand just how badly my Lord suffered as He took on all the pains of the world's sins and afflictions, but I felt like I could empathize with the Savior's plea. I understand better now that we have to allow our will to be swallowed up in the Father's (as Christ exemplified) in order to learn, grow, and accomplish the things the Father knows we need to do. Often, growth and change are very uncomfortable, but Heavenly Father knows the end from the beginning and He loves us enough to stretch us now so we can grow eternally.

Learning to Love Right

For the last few weeks, I have spent a lot of time thinking about a certain girl. I started rearranging my schedule a bit so I could see her a little more often, and I wanted to take every opportunity to impress her a little. Sadly, I also had a day last week where I felt rather distanced from Heavenly Father, and I had a hard time interacting with people as freely and energetically as I usually do. I realized that I had taken my primary focus off of God, and I was feeling the consequences.

I have often heard and agreed with the advice to love Heavenly Father first and foremost and keep Him in every relationship you enter. I think I went too far, focusing on my friend as much as I was. I could feel a distinct lack of the Holy Ghost for a while last week, and to be frank, life was terrible without it. It was ironic that by putting this girl on such high priority, I reduced my ability to appreciate, care for, and love her because I let my love for God grow lax.

I'm aware that because Heavenly Father has blessed me with so much in this life, I am a target for Satan. As soon as I let my guard down, he struck, and I found myself distanced from those I truly love (Heavenly Father and my friend included). The scary part is, I didn't realize what was going on until today. Thankfully, Heavenly Father led me to see what was happening. I started realigning my priorities, and life quickly became sweet again. The Holy Ghost has returned as my companion, and I understand more fully how this relationship should progress.

Love is the greatest force in all existence and eternity, and Christ Himself taught that the two greatest commandments are to "love the Lord thy God with all they heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind" and to "love thy neighbor as thyself" (Matthew 22:36-40). I need to remember to keep the first at all times so that I can more appropriately and successfully keep the second.

Heavenly Father Shows His Love

I've been struggling a bit with making myself work on everything I need to for my neurobiology class. It was easy at the start of the semester, but I've been falling a little more behind each week for the last month. Last week, I decided to catch up and put in the time to learn everything I can in the class. Today I was feeling a little discouraged about my tendency to procrastinate and work halfheartedly, so naturally, I prayed for help. I went to work after my last class, studying from my textbook (and enjoying it thoroughly!). At some point, I got up and started walking back to my dorm from my study spot. I read something particularly interesting, and I looked up going "wow, that's really cool." Then I said that again about the magnificent view I got at the top of a hill. The sun was setting behind the mountains, and the clouds were lit up spectacularly. I could almost hear Heavenly Father reminding me that he's got everything under control and that everything will work out if I rely on Him.
Just a cool experience, thought I'd share.
Hope all's well with you Dear Reader! Happy March!

Who is My Audience? Who am I?

After listening to one of my favorite speakers (Elder Quentin L. Cook, of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) talk about the importance of not wearing masks, I realized that I should try to make myself more clear as a blogger-missionaray. Yes, that's what I'm trying to be. Though I'm far from professional, I hope that the things I write will help someone draw a little closer to my Savior, Jesus Christ.
Anyone who will read these words is my audience. I might be able to appeal most easily to religious, middle-class, every-day people who love truth in any form (whether it comes from religion, science, art, personal reflection... anywhere) because that's the background I come from too. However, I hope that people of any class, religiosity, or irregularity will benefit from the little tidbits of light that I hope to convey. I don't have a specific audience in mind, and right now, I'm not sure who I'm trying to appeal to. I just know that I'm trying to help my brothers and sisters (all the world, not just my immediate family) draw nearer to Christ.
But who am I? I'm bound to eventually advertise this blog on facebook so that more people will read it, but until then, I will have a small celebration in my heart every time I see that another brother or sister who I don't know has read something on here. Until then, I'm sure very few if any of you will know me. To you, I will sum up that I am a short 18-year-old with acne, a little experience in folk dancing, a love for science, a passion for music, a thirst for truth, and a conviction that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (sometimes nicknamed the "Mormon" church) is Christ's. I am studying neuroscience at Brigham Young University, and I recently received a call from the church to serve as a missionary for 2 years in Santiago, Chile. I speak a little Spanish, but I will learn more, and I am excited beyond words to go serve!
I hope this blog post finds you well, dear reader. God lives and He loves you, this I can promise you, in the name of His Son Jesus Christ. Amen.

Another Start

Hello! I decided it was time to shake the dust off this blog and start up again. I've realized that the underlying reason for this blog is that I believe that I can change people's lives with words. I'm not very good at speaking or writing yet, but this is going to help me figure it all out. The whole reason I feel like I need to change lives is that I have been blessed to taste of the remarkable fruits that come from knowing and living the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ, and I want the world to be filled with the joy truth that I have witnessed in this Gospel.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is more than just another Christian church, it's not a Protestant denomination, and it's not a cult. It is Christ's original church restored in its absolute fulness to Earth after it was gone for hundreds of years thanks to deep-set and widespread iniquity. There's no way I can communicate to you in simple words the truth I know exists in this Gospel. I can only promise you that if you take the time to learn about the Gospel and sincerely (and often, patiently) seek for answers from God about the truth, you will know the truth.
I don't know if I know you, dear reader, but I care about you. Of course, Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ care about you so much more, and I hope that you give them a chance to reveal eternal truths to you.

Sweet Spirits

(This post is primarily addressed to single LDS males, but I think this opinion, as poorly voiced as it is, could lead to wonderful changes in the world's many societies)

I've noticed that an interesting phrase crops up in Mormon culture when guys talk about girls. If the conversation turns toward a girl that the men mutually recognize as very faithful and in perfect harmony with many LDS ideals but not so ideal in terms of physical attractiveness, they laugh to themselves and say "she's a sweet spirit." The phrase indicates an inner beauty, but they use it degradingly, as if temporal beauty were far more important than beauty of character and faith. I personally find this unwise (just as far as priorities go), but I'd like to go a little deeper into how purpose-defeating this emphasizing of physical over spiritual attractiveness really is.

Remember the scripture mastery in 1 Corinthians 15:40-42? There are bodies celestial, bodies terrestrial, and bodies telestial. The majesty and quality of resurrected bodies is evidently dependent upon the degree of glory attained. Celestial bodies will have greater glory and privileges than terrestrial or telestial bodies and that there are three kingdoms within the Celestial Kingdom itself, suggesting that there is quite a range of glory our bodies can possess. Would not the most marvelous of these belong to the most valiant? And is not eternity longer than the brief life one would have to enjoy the worldly and limited beauty of a socially ideal spouse? With an eternal perspective in mind, placing physical attractiveness so far over faithfulness as to degrade the valiant daughters of God--who will eventually be crowned as queens in all their splendor--makes no sense. If beauty is your goal, why sell yourself short for the temporary and temporal 'pretty' instead of seeking the eternal and exquisite 'stunning?' Why not give the Sweet Spirits a chance? The benefit would largely be your own.

This may be radical, but I meant to say it that way. We have been carefully trained to seek certain less-than-important qualities in a wife, and this encourages them sacrifice the best qualities in order to satisfy the demands the world (including us) places on them. It bothers me that the adversary took something as wonderful as beauty and, through manipulation of values and shortsightedness, perverted it. Let us shake off the chains with which we are bound and begin to truly appreciate people for who they are instead of just what they look like. You and I are unlikely to live this precept perfectly, but it is disgusting how often we cheer and run with arms stretched wide to embrace the lies that have been set up to catch us. We need to fight to lift the shroud from our eyes so we can properly see Eternity through the faith and virtue of the magnificent Sweet, Sweet Spirits around us.

A Fire [Re]Kindled

I just had the blessed opportunity to read Parley P. Pratt's sermon on spiritual communication in the Journal of Discourses, volume 1. I must say, after spending a number of weeks seriously detached from the spiritual connection I once felt, this was like staring at the sun immediately after waking from a long night's sleep and at the same time having a highly respected figure rest his hand on my shoulder and say convincingly, "This is truth James. Stay on this path." A wonderful experience, I feel renewed.
Toward the end of his discourse, Elder Pratt (an early and well-known Apostle in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) spoke fervently about the incomprehensible importance of the charge we as Latter-day Saints have to carry out work for those who have passed from this life. Throughout the sermon, he powerfully portrayed the agony of spirit prison, or hell, and his vivid, terrifying description gave me a surge of motivation to more actively fulfill my calling, which has to do with LDS work for the dead. So strangely passionate are my feelings toward extending my small hand to help those trapped in such a tormenting state that I felt the need to write how I feel in a place that I will be able to access again when I again feel lethargic and less than willing to go to work.
As an afterthought, here is a website that you can use to access this sermon--and many others if you wish: http://jod.mrm.org/1/6