Where Do I Stand?

 Many years ago I remember taking a trip with my family and some family friends to go camping next to a lake. We brought our boat and had plans to go skiing, tubing, and many other things. We were driving along the Columbia river which separates Washington from Oregon. This road drove along cliffs. It was a winding road and very dangerous. I was in the passenger seat of a truck with my brother driving. Our parents and two younger brothers were in a van just ahead of us. We came around a corner and saw a couple cars on the side of the road. I noticed something to the side that sort of looked like a trash bag at the beginning. We all pulled off to the side. As we got out I noticed that the trash bag was actually a motorcyclist who was severely injured. All along these roads they had cement barriers to protect cars from flying off the road.

The motorcyclist had come around the corner and went into the other lane and scraped the back bumper of a van and went head on into a jeep. Somehow he ended up sliding with his bike going head first into the cement barrier. My Mom along with others ran to the aid of this severely injured man. He was unconscious and he didn't have a pulse. The began to perform CPR trying to do everything they could to help this man. They called 911, but we were in the middle of no where and the ambulance wasn't able to get there for 30 minutes. Unfortunately this man was not able to make it. The rest of the trip to the lake we were all mourning for this man and his poor family who was probably waiting for him to come home. As I look back on the experience I had, I always think how grateful I am to be alive. It also reminds me that I never know when my life will end. I don't know when I am going to return to meet my Father in Heaven.

This passage in the Book of Mormon has brought peace, happiness, productivity, and urgency into my life.

"32 For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors.

33 And now, as I said unto you before, as ye have had so many witnesses, therefore, I beseech of you that ye do not procrastinate the day of your repentance until the end; for after this day of life, which is given us to prepare for eternity, behold, if we do not improve our time while in this life, then cometh the night of darkness wherein there can be no labor performed.

34 Ye cannot say, when ye are brought to that awful crisis, that I will repent, that I will return to my God. Nay, ye cannot say this; for that same spirit which doth possess your bodies at the time that ye go out of this life, that same spirit will have power to possess your body in that eternal world.

35 For behold, if ye have procrastinated the day of your repentance even until death, behold, ye have become subjected to the spirit of the devil, and he doth seal you his; therefore, the Spirit of the Lord hath withdrawn from you, and hath no place in you, and the devil hath all power over you; and this is the final state of the wicked.

36 And this I know, because the Lord hath said he dwelleth not in unholy temples, but in the hearts of the righteous doth he dwell; yea, and he has also said that the righteous shall sit down in his kingdom, to go no more out; but their garments should be made white through the blood of the Lamb.

37 And now, my beloved brethren, I desire that ye should remember these things, and that ye should work out your salvation with fear before God, and that ye should no more deny the coming of Christ;

38 That ye contend no more against the Holy Ghost, but that ye receive it, and take upon you the name of Christ; that ye humble yourselves even to the dust, and worship God, in whatsoever place ye may be in, in spirit and in truth; and that ye live in thanksgiving daily, for the many mercies and blessings which he doth bestow upon you.

39 Yea, and I also exhort you, my brethren, that ye be watchful unto prayer continually, that ye may not be led away by the temptations of the devil, that he may not overpower you, that ye may not become his subjects at the last day; for behold, he rewardeth you no good thing." Alma 34:32-39.

We never know what will happen tomorrow, or even in 5 minutes. Every night before I go to bed I ask myself if I would be worthy to enter into the presence of God if my life ended right now. It has helped me to remember what my goal is. My goal is to make it back to my Heavenly Father and to be with Him and my family for eternity.  I don't want anything to stand in the way of me getting there. I can't afford to take this lightly, this is talking about where I will be forever! And who I will be with, and how happy I will be.

If we have anything that we know we need to change. We need to do it now! We don't know how much time we have left. I know that Jesus Christ is there to help us. He has suffered everything! Have faith in Him and believe that He will relieve you of those burdens. Rely on Him. No matter what we have done, our Savior will be there with His arms open to us, waiting for us to return. And He will accept us! He loves us more than I can possibly imagine.

I know that as we keep the commandments of God our lives will be filled with peace and love. And we are never too far off the path of righteousness to get back on. All it takes is the decision to start making your trip back! There is nothing more important on this earth than each an every one of us, and our progression in the gospel of Jesus Christ. This needs to be our first priority. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

The Golden Rule

"The Golden Rule" is something I first remember learning in second grade in a music class. I remember saying something mean to one of my classmates. The teacher then told me about "The Golden Rule". She told me "Treat others how you would want to be treated." I have pondered that phrase quite often ever since that one day in music class. Is it a true statement?

I firmly believe that this statement is 99% true. I have had many experiences in my life where I have treated someone poorly and in return, was treated poorly. I have also had many instances where I had helped someone out through a trial and in return, I was treated with great respect.

I remember one classmate during my freshman year of high school. This young man always had a smile on his face and always had something kind to say about everyone. And he never had anything rude to say about anyone. He was always uplifting people and making them feel better. I had a ton of respect for this classmate. He made an impact on hundreds of peoples lives just by smiling and being friendly to everyone. He made them happier. In return, how do you think he was treated? He was greeted by everyone with a warm smile on their face.

My favorite scripture in the Bible is in 1 Corinthians 13:1-3
"1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as a sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.

 2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.

 3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing."

My favorite scripture in the Book of Mormon is in Moroni 7:45-47:

 "45 And charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

 46 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, if ye have not charity, ye are nothing, for charity never faileth. Wherefore, cleave unto charity, which is the greatest of all, for all things must fail—

 47 But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him."

Whoever is found with charity at the last day, it shall be well with him. I love that! It also says "..Wherefore, cleave unto charity, which is the greatest of all.."  I know that without charity, which is the greatest of all, we are nothing. Jesus Christ gave us the two great commandments in Matthew 22:36-40:
"36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?

 37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

 38 This is the first and great commandment.

 39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."

The two great commandments both have a similar word in them, love! Show charity and love towards everyone, INCLUDING YOURSELF, and you will obey all the commandments of God.

If we show charity and love towards all of our brothers and sisters we will be received with love by our brothers and sisters. And we will be received with love by our Heavenly Father and our Savior, Jesus Christ. At the very beginning I said "The Golden Rule" is 99% true. Even if we have charity towards everyone, we will still encounter unhappy people. And even if we are treated rudely, we should still treat them with love. I know that if everyone in this world had charity towards everyone it would be a much better place.

Jesus Christ set that perfect example by loving everyone. We need to follow that example. I know that our Heavenly Father loves us. He sent his Son, Jesus Christ, to die for our sins. Jesus Christ willingly suffered tremendously so that He could live with us again. Are we going to reject that wonderful gift? After all he suffered? I love my Savior, and my Heavenly Father. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Meeting a Self Proclaimed "Prophetess"

Yesterday my companion, Elder Riggs, and I were walking to an appointment. We saw a lady and went to go talk to her. She then proceeded to tell us that she already knew Jesus. She walked straight up to me and said "A Prophetess". I think she was expecting me to be in aw at the fact that she said she is a Prophetess. I was a little puzzled with the way she said it as well. In clarifying what I understood I asked "you are a Prophetess?". She then proceeded to tell me she was indeed a Prophetess. I then thought to myself the scriptures in the New Testament which states "Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves." Matthew 7:15. "And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many." Matthew 24:11. I then asked her "How would I know you are a Prophetess?" She then told me that she could tell me things about me if God would put things into her head, but she said He wasn't at the time, so she couldn't tell me anything. We tried to testify to her about the restored gospel. She kept telling us she was a Prophetess. So we, seeing that she wasn't going to listen, decided to walk away and say "God bless you ma'am" after inviting her to visit mormon.org.

As we walked away I started thinking about it. I was thinking to myself, "I wonder what she thinks the role of a Prophet is?" So many people today are confused on what the role of a Prophet is. So many people think they just prophesy of coming events. But in reality, they have many more roles than that. "And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;" Jesus Christ's church is built upon the foundation of Apostles and Prophets. And Jesus Christ leading them as a chief cornerstone. So one role of a Prophet is to lead Christ's church. There is only one Prophet, his two counselors  and twelve Apostles at one time to lead Christ's church.

"And no man taketh this honour unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron." Hebrews 5:4. No man can make a decision to lead Christ's church. He must be called of God. So how do we know who is the true Prophet leading Christ's church through divine revelation? The Bible tells us to beware of false Prophets in the scriptures I shared before. The next verse to that gives us that answer. "Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?" Matthew 7:16. You can also pray and ask God! "And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." Luke 11:9.

As I think back at that lady who self proclaimed herself as a Prophetess. She said she was attending a church and she was currently trying to apply to be a minister. That shows me she isn't a Prophetess. She isn't leading a church and she is trying to give herself authority over that church by applying for it. She has not been called of God.

I know that Thomas S. Monson is a Prophet of God. He is called of God, he did not chose to be the Prophet. He was appointed and ordained. Just like Christ called the Apostles in the Bible. They didn't come and ask him to be Apostles. I know that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the Lord's kingdom on the earth. I know that Joseph Smith restored His church after being lost for many, many centuries.
You can find out this is true for yourself. Add me as a friend on Facebook and ask me how you can find out. Go to mormon.org and chat with missionaries online. I promise it    will bless your life.
                                                                                                   Thomas S. Monson