Discouragement

Discouragement. Discouragement is a powerful, negative force. Discouragement can kill motivation and prevent a person from acting. Discouragement is a dark, unyielding state of mind. Discouragement is a tool Satan uses to keep us from reaching our full potential.

In a recent family home evening, I cautioned my family against discouragement. I counseled them to not let discouragement prevent them from working towards their goals. Sometimes we miss an assignment, fail a test, get a bad grade on a project. Sometimes it may seem that these failures will ruin all of our plans. Sometimes they make the future look bleak. These are the times we must pick ourselves up and not let discouragement prevent us from continuing our journey.

Even after relating this to my family, I have found myself discouraged recently. You see, I have very high expectations of myself. For years, I have been somewhat complacent in sharing my testimony of Jesus Chris with others. But, recently, a fire has ignited in my soul.

I began pondering on who I want to be and what Heavenly Father would expect of me. That quickly changed to what would I expect of myself. I realized that I probably have higher expectations of myself that He has of me. I realized that my expectations are that I would work as hard as anyone else in sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I began to think of the spiritual giants who accomplished so much during their life here on earth. Enoch preached the gospel at a time of great wickedness in the world and was able to build a city so righteous that the Lord eventually took it up unto Himself. Melchizedek helped turn the entire city of Salem from wickedness to righteousness and was referred to as the Prince of Peace. There are many other such examples in the Scriptures. How could I ever measure up to these individuals?

The desire to do something burned within me. I may not be able to accomplish what they did, but I can do something. However, I had no idea what to do. Where could I start? My sphere of influence is so small. Would it be possible to increase that sphere of influence? I decided that I could at least share my testimony and thoughts on the internet. I already had a blog that I have neglected. I also have a Facebook account and can make posts there. That's where I decided to start.

It felt good to have an outlet for the things that have been swelling in my heart. I don't write all that well, it's too difficult to find the right words, but it was still a way to share what I have come to know. I was actually quite pleased with some of the thoughts I shared. But then, the discouragement came. There are so many others already doing the same thing. They have many more followers that I do. They have a much larger sphere of influence. What can I offer that is any different that what others already do? It is even worth it? Such have been my thoughts in recent days.

In that state of discouragement, I was reading an article in the January 2015 Ensign this morning. The article is titled "The Road to a Forever Family" and written by Garth and Sandy Hamblin. In the article, Liu 'Akau'ola is quoted as saying,

“I learned that the more we try to get closer to the Lord’s house the more Satan tries to get us to give up before we get the blessing.”

She was referring to taking her family to the Temple, but it was just what I needed this morning. I realized that the discouragement I was feeling was just Satan's attempt to get me to give up, to keep me from doing the Lord's work and from realizing the blessings that come from it. Discouragement. Isn't that what I warned my family about? It seems that lesson may have been for me.

I may have to be content with my small circle of influence, and nothing grand may ever come from my efforts. But, I believe I need to press forward and not let discouragement prevent me from at least trying.

This time, Discouragement, you lose. I prayer such will be the case the next time we meet as well.

Source of Hate and Evil

This is a difficult topic, but it has been on my mind for a while. Events of this week have amplified the need to address this topic. I don't know how to express what is in my mind and my heart, but I hope I can put something meaningful into words. And, I hope in some way, my words can impact others to help spur a change in the world. Our world is currently filled with hate. We see the effects of it everywhere. As I mentioned, events of this week have shown to a degree how much hate is out there. On the other side of the world, there was a group that murdered many children in a school. Just tonight I read that 2 police officers were murdered in New York and people are celebrating their execution.

I don't know about you, but I have been very blessed in my life such that I have not had to deal with the hate that exists in this world. I have a great family, live in a nice community and have great co-workers. I have been greatly blessed that I have been isolated (or protected) from the evils that come from all of this hate. I believe I have been oblivious to it for a long time. Unfortunately, I think too many of us are either ignorant of it or are in denial of it. Well, if recent events have not convinced us of the growing hatred in the world, perhaps we will never see it. But it is there. And it is growing.

As I was driving this evening after having read about the execution of the police officers, I was pondering on how awful this was. It was bad enough that they were killed, but for Americans to celebrate the murder and congratulate the killers was beyond my belief. As I was thinking on this and the hate behind it, the Christmas Carol, O Holy Night, began to play on the radio. I was immediately caught up in the contrast between the hate exhibited in these murders and the love of our Savior, Jesus Christ. My heart ached as I remembered that He had suffered for all sins and considered the anguish He must have suffered because of the hate that is in the world today. I can't express in words how I felt as I considered it, but it was powerful. I am pleading with you, with all the energy and feeling of my soul to please take a few moments and reflect on your life as well as the state of the world. Please take some time to consider what I write here and give these words a chance to grow within your heart and mind. I ask this because I fear for all of us. If this hatred continues to grow, it will spread everywhere and will destroy the lives of many. The only way we can stop all of this hate is to recognize it, identify its source and fight back to replace it with love.

There is an enemy behind all of this hate. First, we must accept that there is evil in the world. I know that for years, popular opinion and moral relativism have been preaching that there is no absolute evil. Well, there is and we must come to accept it before we can begin to combat it. I am going to explain the origin of this evil and who this enemy is. Many may say that this is just my belief or what my religion teaches me. But I am telling you that I know what I am about to write is true. I have personal witness that it is true and I know that if you will take the time to consider it, something inside of you will recognize this as truth as well.

Our existence did not begin with our birth on earth. We all lived before, but we did not have physical bodies in our life before birth. We existed as spirits. In this existence, we were limited in our potential for growth. We had (and still have) a loving Father who had progressed much farther than any of us. As our Father, He desired that we would be able to progress, even as he had, and to have all of the joy that He has. However, in our state as spirits, this was not possible. So, He presented a plan that would allow us to progress. This plan included birth on earth. In order for us to grow and progress, we would need the ability to make our own choices. We would need to be able to make mistakes and learn from them. It is a good plan and I am sure we were all very excited to participate in it.

However, there was an alternative plan proposed. This alternative plan would take away the ability to make our own choices. Instead, we would be forced to make the right choices so that we did not make mistakes. This plan threatened to take away our agency, or the right to choose for ourselves. This alternative plan was rejected by our Father, which should have been the end of it. But, the author of this other plan, did not accept that decision and he rebelled. In his rebellion, he convinced many to follow him and he commenced a war against all those who did not agree with him. This war, that was started before any human lived on earth, was waged to destroy our souls.

In the first phase of the war, Satan, the author of the alternative plan, lost and was cast out. Again, that should  have been the end of it, but it was not. He continues to fight that war and he is raging it now harder than ever. He is the source of evil and all the hatred in the world today. His goal is to make us as miserable as possible. I am sure he still hates everyone who rejected him previously and wants nothing more than destroy as many as he can. Satan uses many tactics in this war. The key for us to defeat him again is to recognize those tactics and fight back. It should be very clear that one of his most successful tactics today is to instill hatred in the hearts of men and women.

Some of you who read this already know this. Others may not believe it or even question why it matters. I believe it is extremely important that we remember who the enemy is. Often, when I read of the heinous acts being performed these days, I wonder why would someone do that? What could possibly be the motivation for doing something so awful? If we want to turn the tide of evil and hatred in the world, we have to get to the root of the problem. We cannot just keep treating the symptoms. It should be obvious to us now that treating the symptoms is not working. The world continues to tail-spin into more and more hate and evil acts. This is why I believe it matters to identify where the evil and hate stems from and why it is important that we know that it is a continuation of a war that started long ago.

I often feel like we are like frogs in a pot of water. The temperature continues to rise, but we don't notice it because it changes gradually. This hate and evil did not come upon us all at once. But, it's here now and if we don't recognize it, we'll be cooked soon. I am trying to raise the voice of warning: the pot is just about to boil, let's get out.

So, how did Satan wage this war and get us to this state of danger? I'm not going to go into that in detail now, but suffice to say that I'm confident he has been waging the way on multiple fronts. One is to remove God from our lives. Another is to create counterfeit religions so that he can use belief in false gods to lead people into evil acts. Which then helps take the true God out of our lives because if we see that some religions are bad, then maybe we'll believe that they all are. There are many ways he is conducting this war and I believe if you take some time to think about it, you will recognize many of them yourself. One key you can use as you try to discern his tactics is to remember his original intent: to take away our ability to choose for ourselves.

Once we recognize that Satan is the enemy and the source of evil and hate, the answer on how to fight back and turn the tide of hate in the world falls into place. We must bring God back into our lives. Satan was originally defeated and cast out because we accepted our Father's plan and decided to follow Him. We need to make that decision again. He knew that Satan would continue to wage this war on earth, so He provided a means for us to overcome Satan here as well. God sent His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ to show us an example of how we should live and to provide an Atonement for us so that we could overcome evil and sin. The only way to combat Satan and begin to rid the world of all the hate that fills it today, is to live the teachings of Jesus Christ. He summed up His teachings by saying that we must love God with all our hearts and love our neighbors as we love ourselves. Love for God and for one another can change the world.  But it means we all must act.

I don't know if you and I can change the world, but I think we need to try. I know that we defeated Satan before by standing together and I know that he will be defeated again. But, I fear that his defeat this time will only come after he has destroyed many more lives here on earth. If we begin to act together to push back, to share the knowledge of our Father in Heaven and His plan for us, to expose Satan and his evil designs, to spread the love of God and our fellow man (and woman), perhaps we can make a difference and slow the spread of hate in the world.

I don't know how well I did in expressing my thoughts. I hope that the meaning and message I have felt in the deepest places of my heart can find at least a small place in yours. Please think on these things; consider them. I, for one, am deeply saddened by the hate I see in our country and the world and want to do something to fight back. If I can do nothing more than help expose the source and convince a few of the solution, then at least that is something.

Is there a God?

I heard that someone recently said that faith is the belief in something for which there is no evidence. I don't believe that is correct. Belief in something with no evidence is just wishful thinking. Faith requires that there is evidence. I've heard people say that they do not believe in God because they cannot see him. Or, they say there is no evidence of a God. These are weak arguments because, I can assure you that my faith in God is based on evidence.

I find it interesting that many of these same people who do not believe in God have a lot of trust in the scientific method. Don't get me wrong, I also believe in the scientific method. In fact, I think a parallel to the scientific method can be used by every individual to also come to the knowledge that there is a God. Before I get into that, let's consider some recent science. The scientific method usually begins with someone making a hypothesis about how things may be. Then, the scientist forms experiments to find evidence that the hypothesis is correct. If the experiments give the expected results, the scientist concludes that the hypothesis was correct. Let's consider the Higg's particle. This is a tiny particle that scientists believe exists because it fits their current models. No one has ever seen such a particle, nor will anyone ever see such a particle. However, we have built very expensive, very large equipment to conduct experiments that will give evidence that such a particle exists. In fact, a group of scientists believe they have done just that. Here is a particle that cannot be seen, cannot be touched and yet most of the scientific community is convinced that it exists. Now they believe they even have evidence of it. At least a small group of scientists who conducted the experiments have the evidence. Everyone else just trusts that the information was obtained correctly and is accurate.

So, how does this relate to being able to know there is a God? We can follow a similar process. There are experiments that everyone can perform. In this case, it is even better than the experiments to find evidence of the Higg's particle because everyone has access to the tools needed to conduct these experiments rather than just a select few. Of course it takes effort and work on our part to get this evidence, just like it takes work to apply the scientific method for any other reason. If a scientist is not diligent in conducting the experiments and he fails to get results, that does not mean the hypothesis was wrong, just that the proper work was not done to verify it. 

Here are some simple steps to know that there is a God. First, learn about him. Read his words. This can best be done by reading scriptures. I highly recommend the New Testament or The Book of Mormon. Second, ponder on the scriptures that you read. Think about them and try to understand them. Third, try to live some of the principles you learn from reading the scriptures such as treating others as you would like to be treated. Fourth, prayer and ask God if he is there and ask Him to make Himself know to you. If you sincerely follow these steps, you will receive your own personal evidence that there is a God, that He love you and that you have a purpose here on earth. I have received this evidence for myself. My faith is not just wishful thinking, it is based on the evidence that I have received in my life that I cannot deny. 

One more parallel I think we can gain from the search for the Higg's particle. As I mentioned, only a few have access to the equipment to actually run the experiments. Everyone else relies on their word that the results are as they say. If so many are willing to rely on the word of a few on scientific matters, why can we not do the same when it pertains to God. In this case, unlike a particle no one has ever seen, there have been men that have seen God. Moses records in his writings that he spoke with God face-to face. In modern times, Joseph Smith testified that he saw God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. Many others have seen angels and have testified of it. We have witnesses that there is a God. They have seen Him and heard His voice. That is much better than experimental evidence of a tiny particle of matter. But, don't take my word for it. As I mentioned early, the great thing about this experiment is that it is available to everyone, not just the few who have access to a super-collider.

Pride Preceedeth the Fall

I’ve been thinking a lot and pondering on how I feel and what I think of all the controversy that’s been discussed recently regarding certain positions of the church. I’ve read many posts and comments and seen many different points of view and have considered each one that I’ve read. I believe that all this controversy can be boiled down to one thing; pride.

Let me explain why I believe pride is the reason behind all this contention. I’ll start with an experience I had while on my mission. While I was serving in Bilbao we would often come across Jehovah Witnesses or as we came to call them TJ’s (for Testigos de Jehovah). We would frequently get into discussions with them with each of us sharing our points of view. We even had some regular TJ’s that we would speak to and we would quite often frustrate them such that they always wanted to bring their leaders to our discussions. My companion and I even went to attend one of their baptisms ceremonies. After having a few of these discussions in which they would often bring up some very valid points I found myself one day questioning if perhaps they were right and we were wrong. So I went to my Father in Heaven in prayer for answers to know if the gospel I was teaching was correct. I had always had a testimony before of the gospel but because of these encounters I found myself questioning that testimony. Because I took the matter to my Father in Heaven in prayer, I received reassurance through the Holy Ghost that the gospel we were teaching was correct and it dispelled any doubts I had been having. I mention this experience because it illustrates an important process that each of us should go through anytime we question our faith. We should make it a matter of prayer and involve our Father in Heaven and ask Him to help us find the answers. But, we need to go in an attitude in which we would be willing to accept whatever that answer will be. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is a personal matter and is something that we must each discover for ourselves.

Recently I found myself again questioning aspects of my understanding of the gospel. These questions ate at me for days and once again culminated in me questioning some basic tenets of my faith. Once again I took the matter to my Father in Heaven in prayer and once again I received answers that helped reassure me. The current controversies helped solidify the answers that I had been receiving and strengthened my testimony and faith in my Father in Heaven.

Let me explain the answers that I received. We have a tendency as human beings to want to be able to understand the reason for everything. We want answers, we want to know why. When we don’t understand something or why something is the way it is, we try to find a justification. For example, in the early days of the church blacks were not allowed to hold the priesthood. Without understanding a true purpose for why this may have been, people tried to make up reasons to try to explain it. Such as, they were decedents of Cain. Currently, with the feminist movement people try to come up with reasons why women aren’t ordained to the Priesthood. The fallacy in all this is that sometimes we may not know why the Lord institutes certain policies. There are times when the Lord asks his servants to do things that to us just do not make sense. They may contradict our best reasoning. They may contradict previous commandments he has given.

For example, consider Abraham when he was commanded to sacrifice his son, Isaac. This went beyond all reasoning and made no sense. Abraham could have easily reasoned, “I just don’t understand this, it makes no sense. I don’t agree with it and I’m not going to do it.” But Abraham trusted in the Lord and was obedient and humbly did as he was asked. Another example; when the Israelites entered the Promised Land they were commanded to slay all that inhabited that land, including the women and children. This contradicts the commandment, “Thou shalt not kill.” One more example; Nephi, contrary to that same commandment was constrained by the Spirit to kill Laban. Each of these commands was given for a specific purpose known to the Lord but not known to those to whom they were given. I believe that each of us, if we are to receive the same blessings that Abraham will receive will have to go through our own trial of faith and obedience, just as Abraham did. The point in each of these examples is that sometimes we don’t understand why the Lord gives certain commandments and sometimes we just have to put our trust in Him and obey.

Just as King Benjamin taught we must “put off the natural man … and be willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon (us), even as a child does submit to his father.” Which brings us to where we started: pride is the cause of the current controversies. If someone disagrees with current policy or doctrine of the Church and voices that disagreement and receives an answer from the leaders of the Church that is contrary to his or her position and the person then continues to advocate and push that position, it is due to pride. As members of the Church we sustain the Prophet and the Apostles as Prophets, Seers and Revelators. By doing so we agree to accept and support their decisions as the will of the Lord. If we continue to push an agenda or a position which is contrary to the direction of the leaders of the church then we are not submitting ourselves to the will of the Lord. We don’t have to know why they have taken the position they have taken, we may not even agree with it but just as Abraham, we need to be obedient and accept it. If we cannot, then it is due to our own pride.

As my thoughts were turned towards pride I also began to discern that these factions in the church are following the same cycle that we read about so clearly in the Book of Mormon. As the Nephites prospered and enjoyed peace they began to grow proud and then contentions would arise. I can imagine that these contentions weren’t much different than what we are experiencing today where the members of the church would contend with their leaders, and because they did not agree with everything their leaders, disputations would arise. Rather than humble themselves and accept the will of the Lord, many would fall away. This would then be followed by a time of great trial in which they would be compelled to be humble once again. If we cannot learn from the many examples we have been given then we are no better than these people of old who would stone their prophets while claiming that they would have followed the prophets before.

What saddens me the most is being able to recognize that all of this is just another tool used by Satan to wage his war against our Father in Heaven’s children. There are many tactics that he uses today to destroy our souls and to keep people away from the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is very disheartening to see him leading away those who have already found it. As I said before this was my answer that I have received over the last few days through the influence of the Holy Ghost. I testify that the Holy Ghost will help bring light to the darkness that many will face. As I’ve pondered on these things and thought upon the things I have described here, I could feel that light. But as I would direct my thoughts to trying to understand the contrary positions of the church, all I would find is darkness. I testify that if you will go to our Father in Heaven in prayer, humbly seeking for answers and willing to accept whatever those answers will be, the Holy Ghost will help you find the truth and the answers that you need. Once again, the Gospel of Jesus Christ is personal. I’ve shared with you the answer I’ve received. I hope in some way I can help others but ultimately, it’s up to each individual to find his own answers.

“O then despise not, and wonder not, but hearken unto the words of the Lord, and ask the Father in the name of Jesus for what things so ever ye shall stand in need. Doubt not, but be believing and begin as in times of old, and come unto the Lord with all your heart, and work out your own salvation with fear and trembling before him.” Mormon 9:27

 

For the Children, Save Sex for Marriage

There's so much to say, I don't know where to start. Perhaps with a small background discussion. I mentioned that there has been a war against marriage and families being waged for years. But, who is waging this war and why? Let me just answer that by saying evil is waging this war. Many would try to deny that there is evil in the world. Their moral relativism has allowed them to reason away good and evil. But, deny as they may, there is evil in the world, and that evil wants you, me and everyone to be miserable just like itself. It's war is actually on happiness. It will do anything it can to destroy happiness so we will all be miserable. Destroying the family is just one way to accomplish its design; a big one, though, because some much misery come along with the destruction of the family. Just witness our current circumstances.

This evil would like us to believe it's not there. If we don't recognize it, then we can't fight against it. Just like a frog in a pot of water does not notice the temperature rising, society has been oblivious to this evil for a long time.Well, the water is getting really hot and I'm telling you it's time to get out. I'm confident that many are aware of this. Some have tried to speak out. But evil has so much control right now, that anyone who tries to raise a voice of warning or go against the popular tide, is quickly demonized by a very vocal crowd who, ironically, by their non-tolerance of opposing view points completely contradict their own claims to moral superiority, open-mindedness and desires for "fairness". It seems that for them freedom of speech only applies if what you say and belief is in line with their views and beliefs. This intolerance has recently peaked with the farced resignation of the CEO of Mozilla and the attempt to force Condoleezza Rice from the board of Dropbox.

Despite this grip that evil has on our society, truth does not change and if we want to improve our circumstances, we must stand against this tide and stick to what we know is best for society.

One more word of warning before I continue. I will be very direct and not pull any punches in this blog. I will not sugar coat things, nor be careful to not offend anyone. In fact, I plan on using my freedom of speech and rights to offend, because the truth is hard for some to take, but it is still truth.

Well, that was quite a rant, and I still have not gotten to anything of substance. So, let me get to the next topic: children. One thing our society does seem to rally behind is helping children, so, perhaps this appeal will reach some. Every child deserves a good home to be raised in. The best environment in which to raise a child is in a family with a loving father and mother. This is not always possible, but is the best situation. So, what is one of the easiest ways evil can prevent a child from being raised in such a family? Convince society that the sacred act that results in the creation of a child is just a means for pleasure. Demean it. Make it dirty. Turn it into just something to use for fun with whom ever and whenever we please. Extra-marital sex has destroyed more families, prevented more stable homes, and lead to more hours of counseling that anything else in this world.

Now, I know this is not going to be popular since our society has decided that there is nothing wrong with sex outside of marriage. No, not just that, but that it is to be celebrated and embraced. But, this is one of evils greatest tools in its war on the family and marriage. Look, this is actually very simple. Sex leads to pregnancy. That's it's purpose. You may think, but I use birth control. Guess what; no birth control is 100% effective. The only way to not get pregnant is to not have sex. So, if you are not ready to support and raise a child, don't have sex. It's not that complicated. Remember, we are doing this for the children. Every child deserves to be raised in a stable home. If you cannot provide that, don't have sex.

Society tells us that we can't control it. This is a lie. Society tells us that you have to have sex to show your love for someone. That is a lie. Society tells us that everyone is doing it. What are we, a bunch of lemmings following each other off a cliff? No, we are much better than that. We can exercise self control. It is possible to wait until marriage, and in fact, this shows much more love for someone when you are willing to wait.

Again, I could go on and on, but I think this is enough for now. The main point is that sex outside of marriage is a very powerful weapon used against marriage and the family. If we truly want to reverse the downward trends of our society, this is one of those root causes we must fix. Let's do it "for the children."

There is another topic very closely related that I purposely held off on in this entry, abortion. Maybe next time.

Reason for increasing violence

I think I was censored last night on Facebook. It's probably just as well, since I wrote it late at night and it may not have been well stated. But, I hate losing so many words that I typed. I will try to restate it here. Hopefully this will be easier anyways since I was trying to type on my 8inch tablet in bed last night.

I've remained silent for too long on this topic. We see increasing mass violence in our society. Many are shootings. Recently we've had outbreaks of mass stabbings. As we prepared to start Family Home Evening last night, my oldest son showed me a headline of another shooting with three killed in Kansas. We claim that we want to reverse this trend and find ways to stop these things from happening, but we seem only willing to put band aids on a bleeding artery. Are we as a society really willing to identify and accept the root cause of all of this violence? I am not sure that we are because it is contrary to the current trends and popular "enlightened" beliefs that frees us from all responsibilities.

In industry, where things are not as politically charged, when an incident occurs, we perform a root cause analysis. This involves many iterations as we dig deep to find the actually root cause. We do not stop at the initial, simple finding, but keep digging until we can identify policies and procedures that will help prevent the incident from occurring again. In our politically charged, political correct, easily offended society we can't get past the band aids. We blame guns, video games and mental illness, but we don't dig deeper to find the real cause.

Why? Because the real cause will offend many. The real fix will not be popular because it will require many to accepts truths they reject because they don't like them. Well, there comes a time when we must face the fact that the popular way of thinking is wrong and damaging. If we truly want to improve our society and reverse this trend of violence, now is the time.

So, enough preamble, I'll get right to what no one wants to hear and start offending. The root cause of the violent decay of our society is the deterioration of the Family and the relaxing of morals in recent generations. I will not state studies or findings in support of this (although any honest study would support it), but I base this on eternal, unchanging truths. There has been a war on marriage, the family and chastity for a very long time. Don't believe me? Look up the current divorce rate. Number of births to single, unwed mothers where the father has absolutely no involvement. There are far too many children growing up without the influence of a loving mother and father or other loving support. I would ask how we would expect anything less than unstable teens and adults when so many are growing up this way?

I could go on and on in this manner, but I will let the reader fill in more from his/her own experience. For now, I will just state that if we really want to end all of this violence, we must strengthen the family. We must reverse all of the popular trends that devalue the family and start building it up again. This will take a few generations because we already have too many people who have grown up without a good model for what a family should be; but if we don't start, we'll just continue to spiral downward.

So, done for now. I will discuss more specific topics in the future and really start offending the "enlightened, progressive" crowd.