Snowboard for Freedom!!

Among other things, one of my favorite feelings of freedom is speeding down a mountain of fresh powder.  There is a feeling of being invincible with the cold air rushing past you and the weightless feeling as you fly over rises in the snow and carve back and forth in the powder.  Thinking quickly but staying relaxed is when I'm most successful on the slopes.  It took me many hours to be able to handle the more advanced runs.  There were many bruises and a few concussions.  On one occasion I had more confidence in myself than I should have had.  I was racing my good friend and we were approaching a bridge we were supposed to go under.  The next thing I know I'm laying on my back and he is hitting me across the face to get me to wake up.  I had caught edge and slammed into the snow which knocked me out.  It was a painful lesson to learn.

Agency (aka 'free will') is our ability to make choices.  Just like I had the choice to overstep my bounds, each of us get to choose what we will do in our lives.  There are laws in heaven that are unchangable.  When we use our agency to choose to comply with the laws we gain more freedom to continue to act as we will.   Because I had put in the practice, I eventually was free to snow board down the more advanced runs.  Another example I love is the piano.  Because a person complies with the instructions to practice they eventually are free to play just about anything they want.  Those of us who choose not to comply with those laws are not free to sit down and produce beautiful music, however, the choice is ours. Every choice we make can be placed in one of two categories, to follow Christ or Satan.  We choose who we follow each day.  May each of us choose to follow Christ and save ourselves the spiritual concussions and free ourselves spiritually to play beautiful music.  By choosing Christ, we choose freedom.

Zion and Glacier

Glacier National Park is beautiful. I had the opportunity to hike to Hidden Lake up in Logan Pass.  The majesty of the sheer cliffs is hard to put into words.  A feeling of insignificance is all that accompanies each who journeys there.  As we proceeded with our hike I was reminded of a beautiful place much closer to home.  Zion National Park is the desert version of Glacier.  IN Zion there is a popular hike called Eagle's Landing.  The hike begins low in the valley and ascends up the side of the mountain.  In the final stretch of the hike the trail narrows until it is only a few feet wide with a thousand foot fall on either side.  There is chain to hold on to so you don't fall.  This hike has claimed many lives.  This difficult hike is often like our journey as disciples of Jesus Christ.

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland says it well. "Obviously as the path of discipleship ascends, that trail gets ever more narrow until we come to that knee-buckling pinnacle of the sermon of which Elder Christofferson just spoke: “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” What was gentle in the lowlands of initial loyalty becomes deeply strenuous and very demanding at the summit of true discipleship. Clearly anyone who thinks Jesus taught no-fault theology did not read the fine print in the contract! No, in matters of discipleship the Church is not a fast-food outlet; we can’t always have it “our way.” Some day every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is the Christ and that salvation can only come His way."

Often the path is not easy but we need to remember to stop and look around and appreciate the beauty of it.  The end of Eagle's Landing puts you on a safe pad of rock to overlook the rest of the canyon from a unique perspective and a sense of accomplishment. So too will be our final embrace in the arms of our Savior. When at the end of this life we can hope to hear not only "You're done" but "Well done, thou good and faithful servant."

Children...Children of God

I grew up with 3 younger sisters and a little brother. I remember being one my mothers helpers to baby-sit and care for my younger siblings. I remember how tiny they were when mom and dad brought them home for the first time.  I can't say I have any idea what being a parent is like but I'm grateful for the glimpse I had of taking care of a little one.  As a missionary I don't have that privilege.   The other day as I was trying to catch the eye of 7 week old baby that hadn't had his eyes open for long, and it hit me that this little guy was in the presents of our Heavenly Father just weeks ago. I was humbled at the thought.  As I pondered about this I thought about the plan of salvation and our important role in having families to move this plan forward.  Children are pure and clean.  Children are to whom we should look for a reminder of what we are supposed to become. Not childish but childlike. We will become more like our Savior Jesus Christ as we strive for the innocents of a child that can be found daily through the Atonement.

Twice a Year

It's that time of year again when the weather is cooling off and we are all ready for another renewal of our spirits.  Each of us has a spirit.  Our spirit needs nutrients just like our physical body does.  You wouldn't go weeks or months without eating or drinking, so you probably shouldn't go weeks or months without feeding your spirit either.  We get our spiritual nutrients from daily scripture study, personal prayer and weekly sacrament meetings.  We have a 6 month check up on our spirits just like we have regular check ups on our bodies.  Our spiritual check up is at the General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  At genereal conference we hear from a living prophet, a modern-day Moses.  We can be instructed on current issues and feel the spirit of the Lord as we listen to the beautiful music.  All are invited to attend or tune in to hear or watch.  As you approach general conference, come with questions and see if they aren't answered.  I testify that we have a living prophet on the earth today.  Let us all listen to him so we can maintain and achieve peace and safety in this world and keep good spiritual health.

Big Difference

Walk down the street and observe how many people you see that are happy and or smiling.  You won't find too many.  The Lord has said that all people are responsible for their own motives, attitudes, desires, and actions.  Thoughts are ideas, concepts, and images in a person’s mind. The power to think is a gift from God, and we are free to choose how we use our power to think. The way we think greatly affects attitudes and behavior, as well as our standing after this life.  Therefore you can have a pretty good idea of what kind of thoughts a person allows into their mind by observing their outward countenance.  It is amazing to me how accurate this is.  So much hinges on our thoughts and attitude.  Make those two things positive and light will flood other aspects of your life!  All of this is possible only because of Jesus Christ.  Let us use it for good.  "Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference."-Winston Churchill

Can We Get Out Of Debt??

Debt, economy, and government are some of the main topics of discussion in our media.  We have a hard time finding anything positive on the news.  With all the talk of debt, my thoughts were turned to the personal debt that each one of us have.  This is not a debt we have to anyone we interact with on the streets.  It is not that we owe any sum of money to any organization.  I speak of the debt that each of us has to our gracious God for the very breath we breath.

King Benjamin said it best when he was addressing his people:

19And behold also, if I, whom ye call your king, who has spent his days in your service, and yet has been in the service of God, do merit any thanks from you, O how you ought to ^athank your heavenly ^bKing!

 20I say unto you, my brethren, that if you should render all the ^athanks and ^bpraise which your whole soul has power to possess, to that God who has created you, and has kept and ^cpreserved you, and has caused that ye should ^drejoice, and has granted that ye should live in peace one with another—

 21I say unto you that if ye should ^aserve him who has created you from the beginning, and is ^bpreserving you from day to day, by lending you ^cbreath, that ye may live and move and do according to your own ^dwill, and even supporting you from one moment to another—I say, if ye should serve him with all your ^ewhole souls yet ye would be ^funprofitable servants.

 22And behold, all that he ^arequires of you is to ^bkeep his commandments; and he has ^cpromised you that if ye would keep his commandments ye should prosper in the land; and he never doth ^dvary from that which he hath said; therefore, if ye do ^ekeep his ^fcommandments he doth bless you and prosper you.

 23And now, in the first place, he hath created you, and granted unto you your lives, for which ye are indebted unto him.

 24And secondly, he doth ^arequire that ye should do as he hath commanded you; for which if ye do, he doth immediately ^bbless you; and therefore he hath paid you. And ye are still indebted unto him, and are, and will be, forever and ever; therefore, of what have ye to boast?

 25And now I ask, can ye say aught of yourselves? I answer you, Nay. Ye cannot say that ye are even as much as the dust of the earth; yet ye were ^acreated of the ^bdust of the earth; but behold, it ^cbelongeth to him who created you. (The Book of Mormon, Mosiah 2:19-25)

I love the perspective brought by these words.  We are so indebted to our Father in Heaven and yet all he asks of us is to keep his commandments.  This debt should not feel heavy to us nor should it be a burden, but it should be a debt paid by gratitude and obedience.  Let us deal with the realities of life in a way that we do not lose the big picture and forget Him who created and owns all things.

A Heavy Burden

The Flathead valley and lake are breath taking!  I recently traveled up to and am privileged to live on the Flathead lake.  There is such beauty here.  Tall green trees cover the mountains which reach high into the sky making a wall around the lake.  The Flathead is a foreshadowing of what can be seen in Glacier National Park.  It is places like this that testify to the existence of a supreme creator.  More than a testimony, the vision of such splendor

                                                                                  offers a moment of peace in such a chaotic world.

Knowing what i know now about the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, it weighs on my soul when I see others allow apostasy to enter into their lives.  I often see those who face great challenges in their lives.  Tragically, instead of allowing the Atonement of Christ to bring growth and peace, some turn to unknown paths and dark corners where they allow anger, jealousy, and pride destroy them one day at a time.

Like the warmth of a spring and summer sun heal the earth from the cold winter, let us allow the light and truth of the Atonement to heal our hearts and minds.  The Son of man hath descended below them all, and we are not greater than Him.  Jesus Christ is the way, Repentance is the access, and we have the choice.

May the beauty and splendor of this earth open our minds and hearts to accept the creators plan into our lives.