Missionary Preparation

My best friend D is the most awesome guy around! He is always challenging and teaching me. He got his Elders' Quorum Presidency to help me put together a plastic cup activity as a visual for me to be able to teach the Restoration. It is very similar to the following picture:

D and his presidency then taught me the restoration as if I was an investigator--church video, cups demonstration, questions, and testimonials. It was a little weird for me to be on the pretending side. For me, it was an "Oh my gosh, this is really happening--I'm really going on a mission" experience. Sure, I knew I was going on a mission, but in my mind that is (currently) 66 days away and I don't want to rack up any nerves until the week I leave. So, I pretty much did not want to think about it too much because I have a tendency to psych myself out over things. Well, with friends like mine, I really have no choice in the matter. For example, D's latest challenge is this: to learn to teach the restoration and to teach it with him to a friend of ours in 2 weeks. Okay, I was given more time than that but, to be honest, I hadn't focused on it as much. 

Well, here I am--ready to focus, using Preach My Gospel as my guide. 

God is our loving Heavenly Father

• He wants a relationship with us
• We need to communicate with Him
• Central to His plan is Jesus Christ's Atonement: Christ's suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane and His suffering and death on the cross
• Alma 22: 18 King Lamoni's father, in prayer, says "I will give away all my sins to know thee"
• The Atonement allows us to repent and to give up all these sins
• Scripture Study Question: What is the nature of God the Father and Jesus Christ?
• In Hebrews 12:9, Paul wrote "We have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?
• Interpretation: We have earthly fathers, but God is our spiritual father. If we would obey our earthly fathers, why would we not likewise obey our spiritual father? Because it is through Him that we may have eternal life
• In John 3:16-17, John wrote that God gave up Christ--His Son--so that we may obtain everlasting life. He also said that "God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved".
• God is merciful. He will sacrifice on our behalf. Christ offers salvation, not condemnation.
• In 1 John 4:7-9, John wrote "every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love...because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live throuogh him"
• God=love. Love comes by God. Because God loved us, He let Christ die so that we can have eternal life--salvation
• In Romans 8:16, Paul wrote "we are the children of God"
• In Acts 17:29 it is said "we are the offspring of God"
• God is a father of children. We are those children.
• Matthew 5:48 "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect"
• We are to strive to be like God. God is perfection

Other scriptures about the nature of God and Christ:

• 1 Nephi 17:36--the earth was created for God's children to possess
• 2 Nephi 9:6--because of the fall there will be resurrection
• Mosiah 4:9--God created everything; thus, we cannot understand everything
• 3 Nephi 12;48--we are to become perfect like God is perfect
• 3 Nephi 14:9-11--God is charitable. God answers prayers
• 3 Nephi 27: 13-22--Christ came to do God's will. The way of Christ is the way to salvation
• D&C 38:1-3--Christ knows all things
• D&C 130:22--God has a body of flesh and bones. As does Christ. Holy Ghost has a body too but of spirit
• Moses 1:39--Christ's purpose is for us all to live again

Dream of Provo

Personal Ad:

Provo is a magnet for young Mormons across the globe. Many parents send their children here to cultivate in the strong LDS atmosphere. The Provo/Orem area offers great educational opportunities and caters to those attending BYU and UVU. The social life is vibrant and contrasts that of the rest of the world--it is clean, moral, and safe fun. There is no boredom on a Sunday afternoon after church--there is always something going on that is Sunday-appropriate. There is no boredom on school nights--there is latin dancing and night hiking to be done once studies are over. There is no boredom on Saturdays either--there is long-boarding the canyon, tubing the river, hiking to the waterfalls, outdoor paintballing, and pool parties to do and attend. And, of course, winter is a time to spice all that up with snowboarding, extreme sledding, broom hockey, and good old-fashioned snowball fights. Provo is absolutely amazing! I will really miss it when I am on my mission because it has become my home to the point when I visit my home city I am homesick for Provo. It is the best!

Anyways, if you know of anyone interested in coming to live on the "Mormon Mothership" please see this ad and pass it along. Provo awaits!

My Christmas Card To The World

Hello People!
Hola gente!

I would just like to tell you all that I love Christmas! In the past, I never cared much for it. It wasn't because I was so ungrateful for the sacrifice of our Lord and Savior. No, it had nothing to do with religion at all. In fact, I didn't care about Christmas or any other holiday except for Halloween. Who can pass up free candy? Certainly not I! 

Me gustaría decirles a todos que me encanta la Navidad! En el pasado, nunca me importó mucho para el día. No era porque yo era tan ingrato para el sacrificio de nuestro Señor y Salvador. No, no tenía nada que ver con la religión. De hecho, no me importa la Navidad o cualquier día de fiesta, excepto para Halloween. ¿Quién puede dejar pasar caramelos gratis? Desde luego, no yo!

Christmas is about Christ. He was born to die for us all. My feelings for the Savior are depicted in 2 Nephi 4:30: 

"Rejoice, O my heart, and cry unto the Lord, and say: O Lord, I will praise thee forever;

yea, my soul will rejoice in thee, my God, and the rock of my salvation."

Nevertheless, Christmas has still never been one of my favorite times of the year. It is a stressful time--a time for family and a time for a lot of chaos. This year, I want to look at it differently. I don't want to reflect on the stress or the drama. I want to reflect purely on the Savior, The Christ. He lives! He was born to die and He died to live again; He died so that we all may live again with The Father. 

La Navidad es acerca de Cristo. Él nació a morir por todos nosotros. Mis sentimientos por el Salvador se representan en 2 Nefi 4:30:

"¡Regocíjate, oh mi corazón, y clama al Señor y dile: Oh Señor, te alabaré para siempre! Sí, mi alma se regocijará en ti, mi Dios, y la roca de mi salvación."

Sin embargo, la Navidad nunca ha sido todavía uno de mis momentos favoritos del año. Es un momento de tensión - un tiempo para la familia y un tiempo para un montón de caos. Este año, quiero verlo de otra manera. No quiero reflexionar sobre el estrés o el drama. Quiero reflejar exclusivamente en el Salvador, el Cristo. Él vive! Él nació a morir y murió a vivir de nuevo, Él murió para que todos podamos vivir de nuevo con El Padre.

Christmas is a special time of year. It is one to be celebrated with family and friends. Later today, I will travel home to my family so that I can celebrate the holiday with my family. I love them so much! They are amazing. As for my parents, they have sacrificed so much for me. In fact, I would go so far as to say that they have sacrificed more for me than a lot of parents sacrifice for their kids. They took me into their home and fought to keep me as their child. They fought a five-year custody battle, they won it, and then they adopted me. Their fighting for me didn't stop there. They continued to fight for me every day. They fought for my happiness and against my natural rebellious personality. Naturally, I reject the holidays. Often, my mind lingers on the past and all of the negativity that that entails. However, this year I want to make things work. I can choose to be happy, right? I can choose to think about the present rather than the past. I can choose to keep my emotions intact and mature. I can; thus, I will. 

La Navidad es una época especial del año. Esto se debe celebrar con la familia y los amigos. Más tarde hoy, voy a viajar a casa a mi familia para que yo pueda celebrar la fiesta con mi familia. Los amo a todos mucho! Ellos son increíbles. En cuanto a mis padres, ellos han sacrificado mucho por mí. De hecho, iría tan lejos como para decir que ellos han sacrificado por mí más que un montón de sacrificio a los padres para sus hijos. Me llevaron a su casa y luchó para que yo no como a su hijo. Ellos se enfrentaron en una batalla por la custodia de cinco años, lo ganó, y después me adoptaron. Su lucha para mí no se detuvo allí. Ellos siguieron luchando por mí todos los días. Ellos lucharon por mi felicidad y en contra de mi personalidad rebelde natural. Naturalmente, rechazo de las fiestas. Con frecuencia, mi mente se detiene en el pasado y toda la negatividad que ello conlleva. Sin embargo, este año quiero que las cosas funcionen. Puedo elegir ser feliz, ¿verdad? Yo puedo elegir a pensar en el presente y no el pasado. Puedo optar por mantener mis emociones intactas y maduro. Puedo, y así, lo haré.

So far, my Christmas season has been great! My best friend and I traveled to Southern Utah where we went winter camping at Quail Creek State Park and did some hiking at Zion National Park. It was amazing! 

Hasta el momento, mi temporada de Navidad ha sido genial! Mi mejor amigo y yo viajamos al sur de Utah, donde fuimos campamento de invierno en la Parque de Estado de la Cala de Codorniz y también fuimos de excursión en el Parque Nacional Zion. ¡Fue increíble!

We camped by a lake and set some really cool fires. There were no trees out there in the desert and so we used bushes for kindling.

Acampamos junto a un lago y hace algunos incendios muy interesantes. No había árboles que hay en el desierto y así que utilizamos los arbustos para leña.

We went on a couple good hikes. We saw a lot of frozen waterfalls and had to cross some icy paths. However, despite the cold and the small risks, it was worth the view.

Fuimos a un par de buenas caminatas. Vimos un montón de cascadas de hielo y tuvimos que cruzar algunos caminos helados. Sin embargo, a pesar del frío y de los pequeños riesgos, valió la pena la vista.

                                

I know that my Christmas has been good thus far. My hope is that all of you have a good Christmas too! Party hard, but just remember that the day is about Christ, not Santa Clause or presents :)

Yo sé que mi Navidad ha sido buena hasta ahora. Mi esperanza es que todos ustedes tienen una buena Navidad también! Celebre bien, pero recuerda que el día es acerca de Cristo, y no Papá Noel o regalos :)

Christmas Issue!!!

Christmas is coming. We all love Christmas! It is a season for celebrating with presents and decorated trees. but do we really know the true meaning of Christmas?

Journey Of Faith, a Christian (Not LDS Christian) group performed a "flash mob" in a mall. To me, this exhibited the spirit of Christmas:

The Piano Guys, an LDS classical band, performed "O Come, Emmanuel" as was depicted in this Mormon Messages which tells of the original Christmas story

Elder Oaks will be presented with a medal for his contributions to the cause of religious freedom.

Elder David Archuleta has performed a Christmas concert while on his mission in Chile. It is in Spanish and it is amazing!

Also, there is a new Christmas carol out, written by LDS composer Rob Gardner:

Of more somber news:

We live in a world where catastrophes are common. Every time we turn on the news channel it seems that there is yet another event to mourn over. In fact, this past week The United States experienced another such catastrophe: the shooting of 20 children and 6 adults at Sandy Hook Elementary in Connecticut. One of those 20 children was a young six-year old girl from Ogden, Utah: Emilie Parker. It has been said of beautiful Emilie that "you could see the Savior through her"

On non-related Christmas issues:

I, the blogger, am preparing to embark on a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. However, there are several things that I need to do beforehand---such as selling my housing contract! Therefore, I am posting my contract on this blog just in case any of you are interested or if any of you know anyone who is interested in buying it. It is a private bedroom located in walking distance to BYU. It has great amenities and an amazing social life! (and a totally awesome ward with a very active bishopric! PLUS!)

Please click here if you are interested!