The Way to Happiness (2/24/2010)

The years after Christ visited the people in the Americas had to have been a wonderful time to live. It is recorded of this time:

"And it came to pass that there was no contention in the land, because of the love of God which did dwell in the hearts of the people. And there were no envyings, nor strifes, nor tumults, nor whoredoms, nor lyings, nor murders, nor any manner of lasciviousness; and surely there could not be a happier people among all the people who had been created by the hand of God. There were no robbers, nor murderers, neither were there Lamanites, nor any manner of -ites; but they were in one, the children of Christ, and heirs to the kingdom of God." (4 Nephi 1:15-17)

When I read these verses, the thing I take from it is that everyone truly loved their neighbor. All of the sins that were not present in these years are sins, I believe, that come from the individual worrying more about themselves than they do about others. When people take the time to care about others, however, those sins and all their negative consequences abate, and people can be truly happy.

Outward Appearances (2/23/2010)

Last week I was preparing some potatoes for baking to go along with our dinner. As I scrubbed them and cut off the blemishes, I found one large potato with a small blemish. When I removed the blemish, however, the potato split in my hand and I discovered that the entire center of it was rotten. Had I not taken the time to remove this blemish, it would have been too late before we realized that someone would be without a potato to accompany their dinner.

It reminded me of the story of David, and how Samuel felt that there was no way that David was suited to be king. "But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart." (1 Samuel 16:7)

Even though I know that most, if not all, are familiar with this story, the potato served as a good reminder that I need to rely less on outward appearances and try to discover the good that lies within others. Better stated, it took a potato to remind me that I need to do a better job of practicing the principle of looking beyond what I see and focusing on who an individual really is.

Inspiration (2/22/2010)

As baptized members of the Church of Jesus Christ, we have been given the gift of the Holy Ghost. This unique gift allows us to receive inspiration in all that we do when we are living in accordance with the principles of the Gospel. This morning, I would like to share with you a quote from President Marion G. Romney of specific things we can do to have the Spirit with us.

"If you want to obtain and keep the guidance of the Spirit, you can do so by following this simple four-point program.

"One, pray. Pray diligently. Pray with each other. Pray in public in the proper places... Learn to talk to the Lord; call upon his name in great faith and confidence.

"Second, study and learn the gospel.

"Third, live righteously; repent of your sins by confessing them and forsaking them. Then conform to the teachings of the gospel.

"Fourth, give service in the Church...

"If you will do these things, you will get the guidance of the Holy Spirit and you will go through this world successfully, regardless of what the people of the world say or do."

Choices (2/17/2010)

Last night, I played a game that I recently purchased with my children. It is called "Blokus," and the objective of the game is to lay as many of your different shaped pieces on the board and prevent your opponents from laying theirs down. The strategy I employed was to lay down my largest and most strangely shaped pieces first so that my smaller and more conventional shaped pieces would be left as the board filled up. My children, however, did not quite grasp this strategy, so as the game progressed I still had pieces to play after they had run out of options.

This game made for an easy transition into a discussion about choices. Most individual choices we make will have little to no impact at the moment in which they are made, but with each additional decision made, the aggregate effect is one of establishing patterns that direct what future choices we make. In the case of the game, using the easy pieces first left my children with difficult choices to make later on, and in the end it meant that there were pieces they were unable to play.

In life, the choices we make on a small scale largely help shape the more critical decisions we will have to make. In other words, making the correct choice at the moment of crisis will be far easier if we have made a thousand smaller decisions to choose the right before that time. So while it was just a game we were playing last night, it helped me teach my children a much more valuable lesson about character and the importance of each decision, no matter how small.

You Are Important (2/16/2010)

This past weekend, I had an idea that I have had before, though the magnitude of it really struck me this time around. In the scriptures, it is revealed to us that our Heavenly Father has created "worlds without number." (see Moses 1:33,35) When He explained to Moses that He has created so many worlds and heavens that they are innumerable to man, that really made me stop and think.

In this history of this Earth, experts believe that roughly 100 billion people have lived here. Now, if I take that number and multiply it by even a comparatively paltry 10,000 (a number to which I believe I could count) worlds, and if each of those worlds has had a similar number of individuals on them, that would mean that our Father in Heaven has an unfathomable amount of children. But the greatest miracle to me in all of that is that with so many children my Father in Heaven is still mindful of me, one of His children, and provides for my every need and many of my wants.

I will testify to you without a doubt that God lives, and I know from my personal experience that He loves each of us and is aware of our needs. He goes on in Moses 1:35 to state that "all things are numbered unto me, for they are mine and I know them." Christ expanded on that thought when he told his disciples that the Father is aware of even the sparrows, and that our value to Him is greater than that. When I consider all the other things upon which our Father in Heaven needs to focus, I find the attention and love He gives us to be an absolutely fabulous miracle.

Love (2/12/2010)

"There are many sources of power in the world. Recently we have been concerned with the shortages of some of those sources. But to me the greatest power of all is the power of love. I refer to love as proclaimed by the Savior in Matthew: 'Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind' (Matthew 22:37) and 'Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.' (Matthew 22:39) The development of this power to love God and fellowmen is, to me, the greatest power that one may possess here upon the earth. The power of love is the power by which great leaders lead. The power of love is the power by which great teachers teach. The power of love is the power by which one may achieve true accomplishment." - Elder Russell M. Nelson

In a world where there is so much focus on the individual and so much emphasis on immediate gratification, Elder Nelson's words show the only way to true happiness. As we love our Father and follow His commandments, joy comes into our lives. As we learn to love and serve our neighbors, that joy increases. When the trite happiness that comes from the selfishness the world advocates is held up against the joy that comes from service and obedience, it quickly becomes evident that there is a real and lasting difference.

Agency (2/10/2010)

This past Sunday, the Gospel Principles lesson we discussed was lesson 4, "Freedom to Choose." They used an analogy in the lesson that I shared with my children this week in Family Home Evening and wanted to share with you today:

"Imagine seeing a sign on the seashore that reads: 'Danger—whirlpool. No swimming allowed here.' We might think that is a restriction. But is it? We still have many choices. We are free to swim somewhere else. We are free to walk along the beach and pick up seashells. We are free to watch the sunset. We are free to go home. We are also free to ignore the sign and swim in the dangerous place. But once the whirlpool has us in its grasp and we are pulled under, we have very few choices. We can try to escape, or we can call for help, but we may drown."

With the diagnosis of my daughter, there has been a lot of discussion about my wife's father who also had diabetes. He was 15 years old when he was diagnosed, and he fought his parents and the doctors about the restrictions they were placing on him. His mother says that his attitude was one of "If my friends are going for burgers and shakes, then so am I," regardless of the potential harm it would cause his body. Now I am not entirely familiar with all of the medical causes behind his early death, but I have to wonder if he had chosen to take the advice of the doctors if he would have been able to be there when I married his daughter.

Agency is a great gift in that allows us to choose what path we will take. Unfortunately, we are not allowed to choose the consequences of our actions, so we must be careful and heed the commandments, as illustrated in the whirlpool example. The best part of having our agency, however, is that it will allow us to one day feel the satisfaction that will come when we recognize that we have attained perfection through our own good choices.

Finding Blessings in Adversity (2/9/2009)

I would first like to thank those of you who sent kind words and prayers. Just so you know, my daughter is doing fine (in fact were it not for the medical tests, there would really have been no way to know that she was ill). We are still working to understand what it will take to work with her diabetes, but for now things are going well.

One of the thoughts that keeps coming to mind for me with this new trial in our lives is that we will not be given anything beyond what we can bear. The scriptures tell us that our temptations will not be more than we can overcome (see 1 Corinthians 10:13, Alma 13:28), and based on my observations of the past few weeks, I believe the same is true of the challenges we face.

Above all, I have been able to see blessings in all of this. This probably sounds strange, as I think all parents would want their children to go through life unscathed, but where this did happen to my daughter, I think that there is good in the way that it happened. We caught it early, so the chance of the diabetes doing further damage to her has been minimized as long as we maintain it. Another blessing is her age. Had this happened to my 15 year old or my 13 year old, I am sure that it would be much more difficult for them to grapple with changing their lives, where my daughter's young age of 4 means that she will not require overcoming years of habits. She is also exceptionally bright and has a personality that will not let her quit, so I think that all of these things work in her favor.

It seems strange in the face of this diagnosis to speak of blessings, but again, knowing that we can overcome any trial with the help of our Father in Heaven has helped me to see that there is still much for which I have to be thankful.