How to know the truth of all things.

I will be talking about the third member of the Godhead. The Holy Ghost is a personage of spirit and doesn't have a body of flesh and bones. One role that the Holy Ghost plays is to testify of the truth. He is the Comforter, who the Savior promised would teach His followers all things and bring to their remembrance all things that He had taught them (See John 14:26). Sometimes when the Sprit of the Holy Ghost teaches us something, it can be difficult for us to recognize. Often, the whispering of the Holy Ghost prompts us to do something using quiet subtle feelings or thoughts that come to us in our mind and in our heart.
I have felt these peaceful feelings that come from the Holy Spirit when I have been to Church or when I have attended my nephews baptism. I've also felt the convincing witness that the gospel is true through the gentle feelings of the Spirit. It gives me a testimony of Jesus Christ and of his work and the work of his servants upon the earth. All people can know the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon through the power of the Holy Ghost. In answer to our study and prayer, the Holy Ghost will teach us truth trough our feelings and thoughts. Feelings that come from the Holy Ghost are powerful, but they are also usually gentle and quiet. The Holy Ghost will help you know that Joseph Smith was called by God to be a special witness of Christ. The Book of Mormon contains a promise to all who read it. The Lord has given us this promise through Moroni, the last prophet in the Book of Mormon. (See Moroni 10:3-7) (pg. 529)
(3) Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts.
(4) And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.
(5) And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.
(6) And whatsoever thing is good is just and true; wherefore, nothing that is good denieth the Christ, but acknowledgeth that he is.
(7) And ye may know that he is, by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore I would exhort you that ye deny not the power of God; for he worketh by power, according to the faith of the children of men, the same today and tomorrow, and forever.

To learn more about the role and mission of the Holy Ghost in our lives CLICK HERE.

How can you tell if something is true or false?

If you wanted to know if something is true or if it is false, how would you find this out? Would you try talking to someone who knows a little bit about it first? If there is only one true answer, you should be careful that you don't get mislead along the way. For example, what if the thing is true but your trusted family member or friend has had a bad experience with it in the past? You could be lead to believe that the thing was false and make choices that weren't based upon the truth? On the other hand, what if you approached the situation without any prior knowledge of it at all. You could be lead to believe in the truthfulness something when in reality it wasn't.
So, how are you to tell the difference between a truth and a lie without being confused? I beleive that there is a way to tell the difference between these two choices? So now..., let me share something with you that I believe to be true and you can find out for yourself weather or not it is indeed true or false. In this case, speaking only for myself, I feel that there can be only one true answer. The following article was written in 2002. I will end my personal remarks here and you can read a few of the words of Gordon B. Hinckley who recently passed away in 2008. This man was someone that I believe to be a Prophet of God.
"We declare without equivocation that God the Father and His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, appeared in person to the boy Joseph Smith.
When I was interviewed by Mike Wallace on the 60 Minutes program, he asked me if I actually believed that. I replied, 'Yes, sir. That’s the miracle of it.'
That is the way I feel about it. Our whole strength rests on the validity of that vision. It either occurred or it did not occur. If it did not, then this work is a fraud. If it did, then it is the most important and wonderful work under the heavens.
Reflect upon it, my brethren and sisters. For centuries the heavens remained sealed. Good men and women, not a few—really great and wonderful people—tried to correct, strengthen, and improve their systems of worship and their body of doctrine. To them I pay honor and respect. How much better the world is because of their bold action. While I believe their work was inspired, it was not favored with the opening of the heavens, with the appearance of Deity.
Then in 1820 came that glorious manifestation in answer to the prayer of a boy who had read in his family Bible the words of James: “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him” (James 1:5).
Upon that unique and wonderful experience stands the validity of this Church.
In all of recorded religious history there is nothing to compare with it....The instrument in this work of God was a boy whose mind was not cluttered by the philosophies of men. That mind was fresh and without schooling in the traditions of the day.
It is easy to see why people do not accept this account. It is almost beyond comprehension. And yet it is so reasonable....
As if that vision were not enough to certify to the personality and the reality of the Redeemer of mankind, there followed the coming forth of the Book of Mormon. Here is something that a man could hold in his hands, could “heft,” as it were. He could read it. He could pray about it, for it contained a promise that the Holy Ghost would declare its truth if that witness were sought in prayer.
This remarkable book stands as a testimonial to the living reality of the Son of God. The Bible declares that “in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established” (Matt. 18:16). The Bible, the testament of the Old World, is one witness. The Book of Mormon, the testament of the New World, is another witness.
I cannot understand why the Christian world does not accept this book. I would think they would be looking for anything and everything that would establish without question the reality and the divinity of the Savior of the world.
There followed the restoration of the priesthood—first, of the Aaronic under the hands of John the Baptist, who had baptized Jesus in Jordan.
Then came Peter, James, and John, Apostles of the Lord, who conferred in this age that which they had received under the hands of the Master with whom they walked, even “the keys of the kingdom of heaven,” with authority to bind in the heavens that which they bound on earth (see Matt. 16:19)....
This is the restored Church of Jesus Christ. We as a people are Latter-day Saints. We testify that the heavens have been opened, that the curtains have been parted, that God has spoken, and that Jesus Christ has manifested Himself, followed by a bestowal of divine authority."
To find out how you can know what the truth is for yourself CLICK HERE.

Ice cream in January!

After church on Sunday, my cousin Steven challenged me to read the Book of Mormon from start to finish before New Years Day 2009. If I do, he said he would buy me a Blizzard from Dairy Queen. I asked him "what if I don't do it ?" To that he said that I wouldn't get a free Blizzard. It sounded too good to pass up to me so I took him up on The Book of Mormon Blizzard challenge. I can't wait! Reading the Book of Mormon is a good thing anyway but now that I have something to work towards I'm so exited.
There are approximately 65 days between today and New Years Day and the Book of Mormon is something like 531 pages long. That means I'll have to read about 9 pages per day between now and January 1st. I can do it! No problemo!
There is only one rule for now and it is this.
Rule #1 You can't listen to the Book of Mormon via Ipod unless you are reading along or unless you are driving somewhere in your car and obviously can't drive and hold a book at the same time. The main reason for this rule is that we don't want to have anyone listening as they are falling asleep (like my dad does sometimes) and forget what they've read about or heard.
So that's it. If anyone else wants to get in on this then let me know and we can meet up on New Years day for a blizzard from Dairy Queen. Or, if you are lactose intolerant or just don't care for ice cream for some reason, we could probably find something else you'd rather like. The main point is to get it read by midnight on December 31st.
***Ok, I am writing in a little note to everyone just to clarify something. I AM NOT BUYING EVERYONE FREE BLIZZARDS! I don't have a trillion dollars to spend on Blizzards for everyone in the world who wants one. Rather, you should challenge someone that you know to do it and then offer to buy them a Blizzard. Then get them to do the same thing for someone else. See how it works? See you in January!!***
For a free copy of the Book of Mormon CLICK HERE.

Mmmmm... leftovers.

About one week ago, I attended my nephews baptismal service. Besides being a necessary step to return back into the presence of God, baptisms are also a time for friends of the person getting baptized to get together and visit. My nephew's family and friends got together for some lunch after the baptism was over. Our family is a large one and we wanted to make sure everyone got fed. Everyone brought a dish of Lasagna to share. I guess that we brought way too much food because afterwards there was something like 6 or 7 trays of lasagna leftovers. I did my part and volunteered to take a lasagna or two home since there was so much. You see, I'm single and so if there is ever a chance to posses some homemade cooking besides my own then I'm happy.
I still have a half tray of lasagna leftovers to go after one week. I guess that leftovers on such a large scale like this isn't something I'm accustomed to. This is in a totally different category than the day after types of leftovers I usually deal with. Have you ever heard the expression "it is like eating an elephant."? That's the way I've been handling the situation. I usually just heat up a little bit for my lunch every other day or two, that way I don't get too tired of it. I like lasagna and all but after a while it gets boring to eat the same things.
To learn more about the importance of baptism CLICK HERE.

Awkward, but not treated that way.

I don't usually like to stand out in a crowd. For the most part, I like to blend in and go with the flow of things. I recently had a small taste of how it might feel to be different than other people.
Last night I attended two different parties. The first one was a Halloween costume party that a church group held in someone's front yard. I decided that this year I was going to dress up as Dracula. My costume was fairly spooky. I was careful not to sneak up behind any little kids because I didn't want to scare anyone or make any parents upset with me.
The second one was a backyard birthday party. I hadn't seen the people who were suppose to show up in quite some time. I came straight from the costume party in order to make it to the birthday party on time. I also didn't have enough time to change or wash off all my Dracula makeup before the birthday party. Needless to say, I was the only one at the party who was all dressed up. Most of my friends thought it was cool but I guess that I was still a little bit uncomfortable being the only one in a Halloween costume. I don't like feeling out of place or awkward. It was nice that my friends were so understanding and treated me normaly even though I was different than everyone else.

Many hands make light work.

My church group had a service project this morning. The flyer that I got on Sunday said the following.
"Service Project. Come beautify our community by pulling weeds around our local Post Office. Bring your shovels, rakes, gloves and any other weed removal equipment. Bring the whole family and invite your friends and neighbors. If you have a 5 gallon water jug, please bring it full of ice water."

The project was scheduled from 7 till 9 a.m. this morning. The mayor of Gilbert showed up to help too. It was a good opportunity to meet people in the community. I was a little surprised when I saw the field we were suppose to clear. The flyer said we would be pulling weeds and so I had envisioned small weeds. I was wrong. This was a field of huge sticker bushes that were taller than my head. They didn't mention that in the flyer.
I wasn't the only person in my ward who was surprised to be tackling sticker bushes. Some people showed up wearing short sleeved T-shirts and shorts. Fortunately, I wore sturdy jeans and a long sleeved jacket. After about 30 minutes, we hadn't made much progress. All those sticker bushes were actually what turn into tumble weeds. I thought they might come out of the ground more easily if someone were to just push on them from the side kind of like how the wind blows a tumble weed out of the ground. So that's what I did. I took my shovel handle and started walking right trough the middle of the field. In no time the field of tumble weeds was all cleared and everybody got to go home 20 minutes early.

I voted!!!!

I am proud to be an American and I love my country. The way I showed my love for this great nation was by voting in the 2008 general election via early ballot. Voting early is so much easier to do than standing in a long line on election day. Plus you even get an "I voted" sticker in the mail along with your early balloting material so if you really just wanted the sticker you are set. I hope everyone takes the opportunity to vote this election year. God bless America!