Money Can't Buy Everything.

The Truth Is...Money can't buy everything. Especially not Eternal Families.

   Gina Rinehart just became the world's richest woman. In MSN news it states that although she has just reached 29 Billion dollars, she is in a court battle with 3 of her 4 children, debating whether they are suitable to manage the family trust or not. From an outsiders perspective they seem to be more estranged business partners than family. Sadly, even with all the money in the world she still cannot buy her family happiness.

  Families are ordained of God and need to be handled with the utmost care and concern. We are all part of a bigger family. A spiritual one. But to help us achieve our main goal in this life, we have been broken up into smaller, earthly families that have the potential of becoming Eternal.

  I'm going to leave it up the Elder Robert D. Hales to more fully expound on this subject, (he can say it better than me anyways).

"While our individual salvation is based on our individual obedience, it is equally important that we understand that we are each an important and integral part of a family and the highest blessings can be received only within an eternal family. When families are functioning as designed by God, the relationships found therein are the most valued of mortality. The plan of the Father is that family love and companionship will continue into the eternities. Being one in a family carries a great responsibility of caring, loving, lifting, and strengthening each member of the family so that all can righteously endure to the end in mortality and dwell together throughout eternity. It is not enough just to save ourselves. It is equally important that parents, brothers, and sisters are saved in our families. If we return home alone to our Heavenly Father, we will be asked, “Where is the rest of the family?” This is why we teach that families are forever. The eternal nature of an individual becomes the eternal nature of the family."

I know from experience that families are not perfect, but together we can become perfect. My family is still in the process and I expect we will be on that road for a while. Families that are struggling now can become better. Families that only have one parent are still a family.  Families that include only you, please know that you are still loved.

The things that are most important in this life do not come buy way of money, but by time, effort, caring and sacrificing the world for something greater.

   Gina and her family are struggling but I pray that one day they will realize (as well as for the rest of us) that the thing they have that is of the most worth...is each other.

The Truth Is...This IS the greatest speach ever given.

'The Greatest Speech Ever Made'

-Charlie Chaplin

The Great Dictator

I'm sorry but I don't want to be an Emperor, that's not my business. I don't want to rule or conquer anyone. I should like to help everyone if possible, Jew, gentile, black man, white. We all want to help one another, human beings are like that. We all want to live by each other's happiness, not by each other's misery. We don't want to hate and despise one another. In this world there is room for everyone and the earth is rich and can provide for everyone.

The way of life can be free and beautiful. But we have lost the way.

Greed has poisoned men's souls, has barricaded the world with hate;
has goose-stepped us into misery and bloodshed.

We have developed speed but we have shut ourselves in:
machinery that gives abundance has left us in want.
Our knowledge has made us cynical,
our cleverness hard and unkind.
We think too much and feel too little:
More than machinery we need humanity;
More than cleverness we need kindness and gentleness.

Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost.

The aeroplane and the radio have brought us closer together. The very nature of these inventions cries out for the goodness in men, cries out for universal brotherhood for the unity of us all. Even now my voice is reaching millions throughout the world, millions of despairing men, women and little children, victims of a system that makes men torture and imprison innocent people. To those who can hear me I say "Do not despair".

The misery that is now upon us is but the passing of greed, the bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress: the hate of men will pass and dictators die and the power they took from the people, will return to the people and so long as men die [now] liberty will never perish. . .

Soldiers: don't give yourselves to brutes, men who despise you and enslave you, who regiment your lives, tell you what to do, what to think and what to feel, who drill you, diet you, treat you as cattle, as cannon fodder.

Don't give yourselves to these unnatural men, machine men, with machine minds and machine hearts. You are not machines. You are not cattle. You are men. You have the love of humanity in your hearts. You don't hate, only the unloved hate. Only the unloved and the unnatural. Soldiers: don't fight for slavery, fight for liberty.

In the seventeenth chapter of Saint Luke it is written:
- "The kingdom of God is within man"
Not one man, nor a group of men, but in all men; in you, the people.

You the people have the power, the power to create machines, the power to create happiness. You the people have the power to make life free and beautiful, to make this life a wonderful adventure. Then in the name of democracy let's use that power, let us all unite. Let us fight for a new world, a decent world that will give men a chance to work, that will give you the future and old age and security. By the promise of these things, brutes have risen to power, but they lie. They do not fulfill their promise, they never will. Dictators free themselves but they enslave the people. Now let us fight to fulfill that promise. Let us fight to free the world, to do away with national barriers, do away with greed, with hate and intolerance. Let us fight for a world of reason, a world where science and progress will lead to all men's happiness.

Soldiers! In the name of democracy: let us all unite! 
(Taken from  http://luis.impa.br/chaplin.html)

A Williams Cheese Grater

 

     We all go through the cheese grater of life. Our lives are those blocks of cheese, shaped just the way we want them. We are satisfied with our block, but sometimes the Lord finds it needful to send us through the cheese grater. Piece by piece we feel our life is getting shredded, but those trials, the cheese grater, shapes us into some one completely different. Through those challenges the Lord changes us so that we can be instruments in His hands in another cause, just as important, but different than before.

(From Sister Williams' Blog)

For You

The Savior Suffers in Gethsemane

I've Found A Friend

I've found a friend, oh, such a friend

So kind and true and tender
So wise a counselor and guide
So mighty a defender.

I've found a friend, oh, such a friend
He bled, He died to save me
And not alone the gift of life
But His own self He gave me.

I've found a friend, oh, such a friend
All power to Him is given
To guide me on my onward course
And bring me safe to heaven.

J.G. Small

Saw this online. I thought it was very interesting.

The Washer and Dryer Effect

Baptism is like a washer and dryer.

 Have you ever washed a pair of jeans and didn’t put them in the dryer? Putting on wet jeans is next to impossible. But if you do manage to put them on…they are far from comfortable. We wash our clothes to make them clean and then put them in the dryer to finish the job.
Baptism is just the same.
There is no point is getting wet if we are not going to get dry later.
Christ said that if we want to enter the Kingdom of Heaven we must 'be born of the water AND of the Spirit'. John 3:5
What does the Spirit do? It is the finisher. The dryer. It sanctifies. The Spirit is what cleanses you.

But as you know, everything eventually breaks down and will need to be repaired. The Lord doesn't leave anything out in His great plan and He knows that we will need to eventually repair our spiritual 'Washer and Dryer'. 

How can this be done?

The Sacrament.

God has given us the best maintenance shop, with the perfect repair man. The Lord knows that we will not be perfect after we are baptized so he has given us the Sacrament to maintain the washing we have done at baptism, and to keep our dryer in check throughout the week. He really is amazing, and loves you so much! Don't give up when you realize you are not perfect, God always has a plan for you and THE way you can make it back to Him.

Indiana Jones

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusades

Faith is probably the most discussed topic throughout the world. Whether it's a casual question to a friend of what their faith is, or a deep conversation about what makes someone believe in a higher power. 

Faith can be used in many different topics. You may have faith that you will get to work on time despite how bad rush hour is. Or you might have faith that you will pass your final exams because of how you prepared. Or you might even have faith that someone is listening to you when you are pouring you heart out in a silent but fervent prayer. However broad or narrow the topic of 'Faith' might be, we all have it.

When teaching someone about faith I love to use one of my favorite movies to illustrate my point. 

Indiana Jones: At the end of the Indiana Jones saga Dr. Jones is faced with a life or death decision as he stands at the edge of a sheer cliff staring into what seems to be a never ending black pit. Not only is his life at stake but his father's life is in his hands with every step he takes. Dr. Jones is not only know for his book smarts but for knowing how to get out of sticky situations. But this time it seems that he is faced with no other option but to keep moving forward. If he goes back to where he was before, his father dies. If he takes one more step he falls in to the deep abyss. When all seems hopeless he remembers the book that his father had given to him. A book that his father held very dear, and studied often. Indiana had studied it as well and knew that his answer lie within it's stained and worn pages. He reviews it one last time and knows exactly what he must do.

He must take a leap of faith.

 As illustrated in the picture above it requires a lot more than just walking forward. You have to have a goal. Something you are reaching for. Something you desire. Then you must have faith. 

And it was with that faith that Indiana Jones takes his infamous LEAP OF FAITH. He puts one foot forward...and...to his surprise a bridge appears and his weight is supported. He is then able to run to his destination.

Just like us, we all come to a cliff where we know we must move forward but we see no bridge, just the ever expanding blackness beneath us. We know we can't go back to where we were before, but we don't see a way to make it across. It's too wide to jump across, so we must take our own leap of faith. 

Just like Indiana Jones, we too have the tools to give us the faith. We are not asked to step blindly. We have the Spirit. The scriptures. More specifically the Book of Mormon. It gives us what we are to do when we all come to our 'cliffs'. But ultimately it is us that must take that first step.

If you are at a cliff in your life now and you feel you are at a stand still, don't look back. Take the tools you have and decide to take that Leap of Faith. I promise you and the Lord has promised,  that WHEN you do there WILL be a bridge to support you. Weigh your options and then 

JUST DO IT!

I Will Rest in You

Lord I´m in the dark
Seems to me the line
is dead when I come calling
No one there, the sky is falling

Lord I need to know
My mind is playing games again
You´re right where you have always been

Take me back to you
The place that I once knew
As a little child
Constantly the eyes of
God watched over me

Oh, I want to be
In the place that I once knew
As a little child
Fall into the bed of faith
prepared for me

I will rest in you
I wiil rest in you
I will rest in you

Tell me I´m a fool
Tell me that you love
me for the fool I am
And comfort me
like only you can

Tell me there´s a place
Where I can feel your breath
Like sweet caresses
on my face again

Take me back to you
the place that I once knew
As a little child
Constantly the eyes of
God watched over me

Oh, I want to be
In the place that I once knew
As a little child
Fall into the bed of faith
prepared for me

I will rest in you
I will rest in you

I will rest in you

Native American Blessings

For a very long time I have had the Native Americans on my mind. What are their traditions? Who are they really? What are the blessing that have been promised to them, and when are they going to receive them?
I was thinking about this last question today right before my personal study. I prayed to know the answer to this and then I started reading in Alma chapter 9 of the Book of Mormon.

 16 For there are many promises which are extended to the Lamanites; for it is because of the traditions of their fathers that caused them to remain in their state of ignorance; therefore the Lord will be merciful unto them and prolong their existence in the land.

17 And at some period of time they will be brought to believe in his word, and to know of the incorrectness of the traditions of their fathers; and many of them will be saved, for the Lord will be merciful unto all who call on his name.

I have prayed very hard since I have been here in Ronan to know how to help the Natives. I feel that it is a very important part of why I am here. I know that one day they will come to know Christ and His gospel again. I know that they are God's children and he loves them very much. I know that he is preparing for the day when they shall call on His name and He will hear them!

Sister Berry and I tracted into a Native man today. We knew that we had a small window of time where we could talk to him, so we got right to the point. We told him that the Book of Mormon is for him. That he is a son of God and that blessings were waiting for him. The Spirit was so strong.

I know that this is the true church of Jesus Christ, and the day is soon at hand that the Native Americans will rise up to their potential and claim the eternal blessings that are theirs.

Ronan, MT

RONAN!  










I am here in beautiful Ronan! Life is good. Sister Berry is my new companera, (whoops I'm not a Spanish speaking missionary, oh well) she's pretty much awesome. I will keep y'all posted!