The Ten Commandments...

Here are the Ten commandments that the Lord gives unto Moses and the Israelites:

•          Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
•          Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image.
•          Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord they God in vain.
•          Remember the Sabbath day, to keep is holy.
•          Honour thy father and thy mother.
•          Thou shalt not kill.
•          Thou shalt not commit adultery.
•          Thou shalt not steal.
•          Thou shalt not bear false witness.
•          Thou shalt not covet.

In Matthew 22: 36-40 Jesus is asked by one of the Pharisees “Master, which is the great commandment in the law?” This question was posed more to trick the Savior, but His response brought more insight to all the commandments of the Lord. Jesus said “thou shalt love the Lord thy God…this is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”  Jesus’ last sentence shows us the simplicity of all God’s commandments. If we truly love the Lord and our neighbor, we would never break any of these commandments because they would ultimately hurt the Lord or our neighbor or both. If we truly love our Lord, we will have a desire to do whatever He asks and love all of His children as He loves us.  If we were to break up the Ten Commandments, we see that the first five have to do with loving the Lord and the last five have to do with loving our neighbor. 

Our world today struggles with every one of these commandments and I think that is why we have so many problems in our world. If I were to pick which three the world struggles with the most I would choose these:

•          Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image
•          Thou shalt not commit adultery
•          Thou shalt not bear false witness

“Modern idols or false gods can take such forms as clothes, homes, businesses, machines, automobiles, pleasure boats, and numerous other mater deflectors from the path to godhood.” (Elder Spencer W. Kimball) Today many of us base our whole life around acquiring these goods for our happiness. If we focus too much on our desire to obtain these worldly things, they ultimately replace God as the forefront of our worship and deter us off our track to worshiping the Lord. 

“The covenant of marriage, this sacred thing which was to go on eternally, was the heavenly institution which God provided under which his mortal children on earth were to reproduce themselves. There should be no human sex relationship outside of marriage.” (Mark E. Petersen) This is such a problem in today’s world. The family unit is being degraded by the choice not to follow God’s commandment to have no sex relationship outside of marriage. Think of how many children today are born in a home with only a single mother or are aborted before they even have a chance of life because bad choices were made. The divorce rate is at a staggering 50% in this country. Much of it is attributed to spouse’s infidelity and non-commitment to a marriage. This can have very negative effects on the family and the whole world. 

“Whereas murder involves the taking of human life, bearing false witness centers in the destruction of character or its defamation. It reaches to the ruin of reputation.” (Adam S. Bennion) I feel like everywhere I turn there are lies being posted on the internet, TV., news articles, etc. It is becoming more and more acceptable to lie and tell half untruths in our society and because of it no one wants to believe anyone anymore. There is so much dishonesty around that people question a lot of what people say and their motives behind what they say. This is so sad because it degrades people and their reputation. 

Our world would be a completely different place if people were to keep even just the Ten Commandments. All the thoughtless impulsive murders would stop. People would be able trust each other’s words and be able to leave their doors unlocked and not worry about someone breaking in.  People would have more love and understanding for their neighbors and the people around them. The world would be such a peaceful and loving place if everyone loved the Lord and their neighbor.

How we can be saved by water and fire...

In Exodus 14 we learn of the miraculous journey that the Israelites took when they walked across the dry bank of the parted Red Sea to escape death or capture by the Egyptians.  This experience ultimately saved the Israelites’ lives and took the lives of the Egyptian’s who pursued them. This story is very applicable to our own lives showing us the importance of going through the waters of baptism.  The process of baptism is required because it cleanses us of all our sins and saves us from a spiritual death.  Just like the Israelites, if we harken to the commandments of the Lord and trust him by taking that step through the water, we can be well on our way to receiving life eternal. 

We must not forget the gift of the Holy Ghost that goes right along with baptism. Without the Holy Ghost, we would wander through this world being exposed because we would not have that added protection of being prompted when we are in harm’s way or when we need to act upon something. The Lord gave this protection to the Israelites as well when he placed clouds and fire between the Israelites and Egyptians. This cloud provided light to the Israelite’s side and darkness to the Egyptian’s side. If we go through this life without the Holy Ghost, we too will be walking in darkness and confusion. With the Holy Ghost as our companion though, our path through life will be illuminated and we will be directed by the Lord to safety and eternal life. 

I know that baptism is an importance ordinance that each of us must perform so that we may return to live with our Heavenly Father again. Once we are baptized, we must stay true to the covenants we made and make sure that we stay worthy to always receive the promptings of the Holy Ghost. With these two essential elements, we will be lead to safety just like the Israelites were. We too will be able to escape those who pursue us and be able to live a peaceful eternal life!

Understanding our birthright...

“It appears that anciently under the Patriarchal Order certain special blessings, rights, powers, privileges -collectively called the birthright- passed from father to his firstborn son.” (Elder Bruce R. McConkie) This was the case in many situations, but not with Isaac and his two sons Esau and Jacob. In their situation we see that the birthright required more than just being the firstborn son, it also required righteous living in order to obtain such a noble blessing.

It was apparent that Isaac’s two sons were very opposite from the time they grew inside Rebekah’s womb. In Gen. 25:22-23 Rebekah wonders why “the children struggled together with in her.” She takes this problem unto the Lord and is told that “two nations are in thy womb…and the elder shall serve the younger.” When the two sons were born, Esau was delivered first and Jacob right after.  Even though they were brothers, twins at that, their differences were like night and day. Esau was “a cunning hunter, a man of the field” and Jacob was “a plain man dwelling in tents.” (Gen. 25:27). Because of his interest in more man related activities, Esau was favored by his father, where Jacob was favored by his mother. We further see the differences in how the boys favored sacred and spiritual matters. 

Because Esau was the firstborn son, he was set up to receive the birthright. One day, Esau came in after putting in a laborious day in the fields. He was very hungry and desired to eat some of the pottage that Jacob had made. Jacob was willing to give Esau a bowl of pottage if he would “sell me this day thy birthright.”(Gen. 25:31) Esau, being famished and feeling like he was at “the point to die” (Gen. 25:32) said “what profit shall this birthright do me?” (Gen. 25:33) Here we see Esau selling something of true value, his birthright, for a mere bowl of pottage. Jacob on the other hand, understood the birthright’s importance and how it would bless him in his life. Some may ask why Esau would be so quick to sell something of great value for something that will only satisfy him for just a second? In this story we see a very applicable principle to our own actions. 

Each and every one of us has a birthright given to us as children of God. We are promised a gift of eternal life, where we can live happily forever with our families and to one day be Gods ourselves. This birthright though has conditions of righteousness just like the birthright given to Jacob. We must live a good life here on earth, keeping the commandments, serving others, and enduring to the end. If we do this, we will earn the birthright promised to us, which is of such great value that we cannot even comprehend it. 

Just like Esau trading his birthright for something of immediate satisfaction, many times we are guilty of doing the same. We have been offered such a priceless birthright that there is nothing in this world that even comes close in comparison. Many times though, we trade our birthright by engaging in sin that satisfies are immediate wants, but puts us in peril of not inheriting our God given birthright. Looking at the story of Esau, we may judge him and say how could he do that, but many of us our guilty of doing the exact same thing many times in our lives. Like Esau, we are guilty of not truly understand the value of our birthright and therefore we trade it for something like a mere bowl of pottage. 

We must all gain a better understanding and appreciation for the birthright that we have been given.  We must keep an eternal perspective in every action and decision we make. If we do this, we can make choices that will move us closer to being worthy of our birthright, instead of moving us farther away. I know it is so hard to do in these evil and wicked times, but I know that it is possible. By keeping an eternal perspective, this life doesn’t seem pointless anymore and we are able to gain more comfort in knowing that there are better times ahead of us after we prove ourselves here on earth. None of us want to give away the glorious blessing of living with our loved ones again forever where there is no pain, sickness, death, heartache, etc. What a wonderful time that will be, we just have to hang on and endure to the end. 

I know these things to be true. I am grateful for the story of Jacob and Esau that helps remind me that I need to make sure I am doing everything I can in this life to be worthy to live with my Heavenly Father again. I know that if we strive to do everything we can do in this life to live righteously, that we will be rewarded for that. I know this gospel is true and I know that by living its teachings we will be blessed in this life and the next

Which way is your tent facing?...

In Genesis 13:13, we learn of a city called Sodom where men “were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly.” This city was wicked because of its immorality, idleness, pride, gluteny, refusal to help the needy, etc. The Lord was angry with Sodom because “their sin [was] very grievous.” (Gen. 19:20) These grievous sins ultimately ended up destroying the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. There are many lessons that we can learned from the actions and fate of Sodom and Gomorrah.

Just like in the times of Sodom and Gomorrah, we also live in a wicked and evil time where many people have the mentality of “eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die; and it shall be well with us.” (2 Nephi 28:7) At every turn we find ourselves in the face of immorality, corruption, dishonesty, and so much more. It is hard sometimes to find a safe haven where we can metaphorically “pitch our tent” towards something of safety and Godliness. It may not be easy, but we learn from the example of Abraham that it is possible.

Abraham was a man of God and after separating himself from Lot, he “removed his tent and came and dwelt in...Mamre...and built an altar unto the Lord.” (Gen. 13:18) When finding himself in a compromising situation, Abraham was the ultimate example of what we need to do in our lives when faced with evil and wickedness. We not only need to turn away, but remove our tent and pitch it in a holy place where we can feel of the Holy Spirit. This may be to the temple, the church, or most importantly our home. Which ever place we choose to pitch our tent, we need to make sure it is a safe haven that we can rest from the temptations of the world.

In 3 Nephi 13:24 we are told that “no man can serve two masters.” This is the same with the way we pitch our tent. We cannot pitch our tent two ways, so we must choose whether to pitch our tent towards the Lord or to pitch it towards Satan. Lot is a perfect example of what happens when we choose to pitch our tent towards Satan. We are told in Gen. 13:12 that Lot “pitched his tent toward Sodom.” We are not told how Lot progressed to live in Sodom, but we find out in Gen. 14:12, that Lot “dwelt in Sodom” along with “his good”. From these scriptures we see that by facing his tent towards Sodom, he was eventually enticed by the lifestyle and moved into the middle of all the wickedness.

Many of us “pitch our tents towards Sodom”by certain actions and decisions we make in our lives. Many times we give into the temptations of Satan because they present the idea of fun, easiness, ways to avoid trouble, etc. When giving into these temptations, we submit ourselves to Sodom just like Lot did. If we flirt with temptation for too long, we will no longer be able to resist it and we will move right into living and thinking the same way the world does. There may be times of pleasure, but in the end it will destroy us just like it did Sodom and Gomorrah.

I know that we live in a time of great wickedness, but there is much righteousness as well. We need to make sure that we find those places of righteousness and cling to them so that we do not give into the temptations that are around us. We are blessed with God's true church upon the earth and I know if we follow it's teachings that we will be protect from the storm. It is not going to be easy by any means, but I know it is possible!

What we can learn from the story of Cain and Abel

**Here is my first blog post for my Old Testament Class**

Many of us know the story about Cain and Abel from the book of Genesis in the Old Testament. Have any of us actually taken the time to really dive into the story and find principles that we can apply into our lives? The important part of the story is not just the well known part of Abel being slain by Cain, but how Cain got to the point where he could actually take the life of his own brother.

In scriptures from both Genesis and Moses, we find that Cain had more sinful acts than just murdering his brother Abel. Cain's problems stemmed from the fact that “Cain loved Satan more than God.” (Moses 5:18). Because of his love for Satan, Cain did not respect the Lord and ended up giving an insufficient offering to the Lord. The Lord did not respect the offering that Cain presented and Cain “was very wroth” (Gen. 4: 5) with the Lord. Joseph Smith expounds more in the Old Testament Student Manual about why the Lord felt Cain's offering was insufficient. “[Cain's offering]... was not accepted, because he could not do it in faith” and “whatsoever is not of faith, is sin.” Why is that faith was required to be part of Cain's offering? Because one must have faith in the Atonement of Christ and their ability to be forgiven by the Lord in order to receive the forgiveness and blessings that come from an offering. Cain needed to realize that there needed to be a sacrifice on his part so that he could show that he understood the sacrifice that the Savior made by giving up his life so that we may all be forgiven of our sins and live again. Even though Cain lacked the faith to make a proper offering to the Lord, the Lord did not give up on Cain and told him to repent or “he would rule over Satan.” ( Gen. 4:7)

Just like Cain's unacceptable offer to the Lord, our own offerings can be unacceptable as well. Many times in our lives we are just “going through the motions” and “doing what we are suppose to be doing” but not actually thinking about why we are doing those things. From the story of Cain and Abel, we learn that the Lord requires us to have faith in our offerings so that he can accept them. We need to exercise more faith in every aspect of our lives whether it be our prayers, scripture study, service to others, fast offerings, tithing, etc. With that added faith and conviction that what we are doing is pleasing to the Lord, we will end up receiving more blessings that will help us in our time upon this earth. We will also receive more strength to resist the temptations of Satan so that we do not give into him like Cain did.

When the Lord did not accept Cain's offering, Cain “was very wroth, and his countenance fell.” (Moses 5:21) Instead of accepting the Lord's offer of repentance and forgiveness, Cain “listened not any more to the voice of the Lord.” (Moses 5:26). From that point on, Cain began to converse exclusively with Satan and secretly plotted out to kill his brother Abel. After seeking his brother out and slaying him, the Lord came to Cain and asked “where is Abel thy brother?” and Cain replied “I know not. Am I my brother's keeper?” (Gen. 4:9). The irony of Cain's question is that we ARE our brother's keeper. Many times in the scriptures the Lord tells us that we need to “love our neighbor as thy self” and that statement alone places a responsibility upon us to serve and love our family, friends, and neighbors.

The story of the Good Samaritan found in Luke 10 in a perfect example of how lots of people get wrapped up in their own judgmental and selfish lives. How many of us would have been one of the people that walked to the other side of the street to avoid the unknown injured man that was dying in the middle of the road? I hate to think anyone capable of doing that, but how many times in our lives do we do similar things? There are times in all of our lives where we have seen someone in need and should have reached out a helping hand, but we used the excuses of having no time, not knowing the person, being scared of rejection, etc. In those situations, are we not responding to the Lord's question that same way that Cain did? “ Am I my brother's keeper?” Instead of a question, it should be a statement that reads “I AM my brother's keeper.” I know that I need to do better to follow the Savior's example of charity and love for all and be better about reaching out a helping hand no matter what the situation. We all have a responsibility to be our brothers keeper.

In Alma 3:27 it reads “every man receiveth wages of him whom he listeth to obey.” We all have agency to choose who we are going to listen to and obey. We can either choose to follow the Lord or to follow Satan. Our purpose in this life is the prove the we are worthy to return to live with our Heavenly Father again. We prove our worthiness through the choices and decisions we make upon this earth. We have that opportunity to choose because of the agency that was given to us by the Lord. Cain had the same agency that we all have. He could have chosen to repent of his insufficient offering and reject Satan, but instead he chose a path of unrighteousness that lead to the killing of his brother and a life of sin. We all have the agency to choose what we want to do in this life, but just like the story of Cain there are consequences to every decision that we make.

I have a testimony that if we choose to serve the Lord and have faith in him, that our lives will be extremely blessed. Satan has nothing to offer except a life of heartache and misery. I know what it feels like to fall to temptation and the feelings and consequences that come along with it are not worth it. Choose to stay on the Lord's side. His side is one of true eternal happiness. I know that if we make good choices and focus on getting to know the Lord better, that we will will become better and our lives will be blessed because of it. I know this church is true and that the stories that we read in the Old Testament really did happen. I know that the principles taught in the Old Testament are still applicable to us today and if we choose to apply them into our lives we will be blessed. I encourage everyone that reads this post to make the choice found in Jos. 24:15 “as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

Niagara Falls, NY and Palmyra, NY Trip...

This past weekend Clint and I finally made it to Niagara Falls. Since moving to the East Coast we have wanted to go but there are so many things on our "want to do" list. We left on Thursday and drove half the way and then camped. The next morning we headed to the falls. What an amazing sight they were. They did not disappoint. Our favorite part was riding the Maid of the Mist boat right into the center of the Horseshoe falls which are on the Canada side. Being able to be right at the feet of the falls was absolutely amazing. We could feel the rumble of the waterfalls right under our feet and the mist coming off of the falls was so heavy that it literally drenched us (luckily they gave us some ponchos). That experience gave me more respect for the power and beauty that nature holds. If anyone visits the falls, I would recommend doing the boat ride to the base of the falls. There is no other way to fully experience them and their power! The trip was completely worth it and I am already planning another trip, but this time we will go over and experience the falls from the Canada side. ( My passport became invalid after we got married and I haven't gotten a new one yet so we couldn't drive over to the Canada side to view them). 

After Niagara, we headed down to Palmyra. We were able to visit the Peter Whitmer farm where the golden plates were shown to the three witnesses. We also visited the Sacred Grove again. The spirit there was so strong and it truly does stand as a witness of the restoration of the gospel and of Joseph Smith. Saturday night we saw the Palmyra Pageant. It was just as good as last year! I love seeing all the reenactments of the Book of Mormon stories. It bring them to life and radiates a spirit that testifies of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. The whole trip was amazing and renewed my testimony of the gospel and of the flawless design of nature by our Heavenly Father. 

My first time using our cast iron skillet to make breakfast over the fire.

Aren't they beautiful?!

Bridge into Canada

Right in the middle of the Horseshoe Falls!

Just a little wet...

Cooking biscuits over the fire. They got a little burned but they were still good.

Peter Whitmer home. This is in the upper room where the plates were translated.

Peter Whitmer Farm

Peter Whitmer Home

Awesome tree in the Sacred Grove

Smith Home

Palmyra Pageant

Lehi!!

Clint's favorite part of the trip... Deep fried broccoli.

 

{The first video is of us right in the middle of the Horseshoe Falls. Sorry for the loud screaming in the background. I got a little too excited. :) The second video is of the American Falls and the amazing amount of water that goes over them.}