Repentance

The word "repentance" is intimidating. When I was younger I always thought of repentance as being in trouble and being reprimanded by my parents. However I have learned that repentance isn't something to be nervous about, it's a good thing! It's how we become better and draw closer to God.

None of us are perfect. We all do stupid things. We all have regrets. We all need to be better. "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God"(Romans 3:23). None of us can return to live with God in our sinful state. It's a good thing our loving Heavenly Father provided a Savior for us! Because of Jesus Christ, we can be forgiven of our sins and return to live with God again!

As we learn more about Jesus Christ, we can increase our faith in Him. You can read my post about faith to learn more about that. When we have faith in Jesus Christ, we will want to follow Him. Our faith in Christ and our love for Him lead us to repent, or to change our thoughts, beliefs, and behaviors that are not in harmony with His will. As we repent, we improve ourselves and become more Christ-like. 

We can return to live with God the Father only through Christ's mercy, and we receive Christ's mercy only on conditions of repentance. It is only by grace that we are saved, but we are still expected to do our part in order to access that grace. 

So how do we repent? It's very simple. Actually it's as easy as ABC...and D. Here are the steps of repentance in their most basic form: 

A. Admit. We need to recognize and admit to ourselves that we have sinned. 

B. Be sorry. We need to feel remorse or godly sorrow. We shouldn't feel bad just because we may have gotten caught or have negative consequences. We should feel bad because we know what we did was wrong. This is true for any sin -- big or small.  

C. Confess. Next we confess our sins to God. We also confess very serious sins to God's authorized Church leaders, who can help us repent. We ask God in prayer to forgive us.  

D. Don't do it again. Finally we need to commit to not do that sin again. We also do all we can to correct the problems our actions may have caused; this is called restitution.  

And there you go! Now you have successfully repented of your sin(s). You may have noticed that for Confess I mentioned that you only need to confess to Church leaders if it's a serious sin like a crime or adultery. Repentance is between you and God and you have every right to go directly to God to ask for His forgiveness. You will know you are forgiven when you feel His love and peace come over you and you no longer have guilt.

Repentance brings a change in us. As we repent we can feel God's forgiveness and His peace enters our lives. We realize that we really our His children and that He loves us and is always waiting for us to repent and turn back to Him. Our guilt and sorrow are swept away. We feel the influence of His Spirit in greater abundance. And when we leave this life, we will be more prepared to live with our Heavenly Father and His Son.

We never need to feel like we aren't worthy of His love or can't go to Him because that will never be true. We can always go to our loving Father in Heaven for forgiveness, direction, and love. "And how great is his joy in the soul that repenteth!"(D&C 18:13) 

Even after we have accepted Christ and repented of our sins, we may fall short again. We should continually repent and try to correct these transgressions. That means repenting every day. I think most of us don't commit gross sins every day, but we all need God's help to become better. As we repent every day, we will find that our lives will change and improve. Our hearts and behavior will become more Christlike. We will find joy in repenting daily. 

I'm grateful for the opportunity that I have to repent. Repentance has allowed me to overcome some of my bad habits and helped me to feel relief from my guilt over past wrongs. Repentance allows us to be cleansed from sin and become even more like Jesus Christ. Repenting is awesome. 

The Prodigal Son

"Behold, he who has repented of his sins, the same is forgiven, and I, the Lord, remember them no more"(D&C 58:42).

Amen. 

Book of Mormon Stories - Nephi and His Family Cross the Ocean

Time: 600 BC
Place: The wilderness, the ocean, and the American continents
Reference: 1 Nephi 17, 18
Characters:
Lehi: Father of the family and a prophet.  He enjoys fearlessly preaching repentance to the Jews, receiving death threats, reading books obtained in strange ways, dreaming crazy dreams, trekking through the wilderness, and dwelling in tents.
Sariah: Wife of Lehi and a worried mother.  She enjoys spending time with family, bearing children in the wilderness, matchmaking, and gardening.
Nephi: Legendary younger brother and heroic prophet.  He enjoys archery, playing with swords, building ships, hiking to high mountains, writing poetry, and confounding his brothers.
Sam: Faithful but sometimes forgotten middle child.  He enjoys long walks through the wilderness, campfire stories, sailing, and playing with God's compass.
Laman and Lemuel: The two peas in a pod rebellious older brothers.  They enjoy antagonizing their brothers, eating raw meat, making new friends, dancing with hot women, and uttering tribal cries.
Zoram: Promise-keeping servant of Laban. He enjoys playing hide-and-seek in the dark, hitch hiking, reading in the libraries of Laban, and skinning beasts.
Ishmael: Adventure-seeking Jerusalem father. He enjoys playing matchmaker, listening to stories, going on trips with his family, and building camp fires.
Sons of Ishmael: Strong, rude, party animals. They enjoy bullying, building alliances with others, practicing robe knotting, and arm wrestling. 
Hot daughter of Ishmael: Sweet, spiritual, beautiful woman. She enjoys shopping for clothes, saving people's lives, and being married to Nephi.
Writer: Nephi
Background information: Nephi and his family were commanded to leave Jerusalem before it was destroyed by the Babylonians. After traveling in the wilderness for 8 years, they arrived at the ocean. In this popular story, Nephi builds a ship, confounds his brothers again, and they sail across the ocean and arrive in the promised land despite Laman and Lemuel's attempts to stop their progress.
Previously on Book of Mormon Stories: After Nephi and his brothers brought back Ishmael and his family, Laman and Lemuel and some of the sons of Ishmael tried to rebel and turn back. Thanks to the power of God and Nephi's hot future wife, they were all able to return to Lehi in the wilderness and the day was saved. Lehi had a dream about the Tree of Life which he relayed to his family. Nephi was confused about the dream so went and prayed and an angel of the Lord appeared to him and explained it to him. Now we all know that we need to find this delicious fruit and I graciously let you know that it's right here in the gospel of Jesus Christ ready for you to enjoy. You're welcome. (Click here to read the full story.) 


Our story continues as Lehi and his family continue their journey through the wilderness. We learn that the children of Ishmael marred the children of Lehi which was one thing that Laman and Lemuel did't complain about. Unfortunately, Ishmael died along the way and was buried in the land of Nahom. (To learn about evidence for The Book of Mormon that comes from this, go to this post, point number 5.) 

As they took their journey into the wilderness, Nephi tells us that their women bore children.  They also lived off of raw meat but the Lord blessed them with strength "and they began to bear their journeyings without murmurings." Yuck. I think if this was written from a woman's perspective instead of a man's it would've said: "And it came to pass that my husband is making me eat raw meat while I'm pregnant and breastfeeding in the middle of a wilderness and I'm supposed to be grateful and feel blessed by the Lord. And I esteemeth my husband as crazy and I gave him the silent treatment for 2 weeks."

Eventually they arrived in a land they called Bountiful, "because of its much fruit and also wild honey." Yummy. They pitched their tents there and were "exceedingly rejoiced" to be there at the seashore after their many difficulties. 

After many days, the voice of the Lord came to Nehpi and told him to get into into a mountain. He obeyed and went up there to converse with God because this is now a normal thing for him. The Lord said to him: "Thou shalt construct a ship, after the manner which I shall show thee, that I may carry thy people across these waters." And Nephi, bless his heart, said: "Lord, whither shall I go that I may find ore to molten, that I may make tools to construct the ship after the manner which thou hast shown unto me?" He didn't even question the Lord but just right away was like, "k cool, tell me what to do." What a stud. 

The Lord then told Nephi how to construct the ship and he right away got to work. Unfortunately, Nephi has some really annoying older brothers. Laman and Lemuel found out what he was doing and started making fun of him, saying: "Our brother is a fool, for he thinketh that he can build a ship; yea, and he also thinketh that he can cross these great waters. And thou art like unto our father, led away by the foolish imaginations of his heart;"

 

"And thus my brethren did complain against me, and were desirous that they might not labor, for they did not believe that I could build a ship; neither would they believe that I was instructed of the the Lord."

Nephi then testified to his brothers that he had been instructed of God and that they are being thick-headed: "Ye are swift to do iniquity but slow to remember the Lord your God. Ye have seen an angel, and he spake unto you; yea, ye have heard his voice from time to time...but ye were past feeling, that ye could not feel his words...O, then, why is it that ye can be so hard in your hearts? Behold, my soul is rent with anguish because of you, and my heart is pained; I fear lest ye shall be cast off forever."

Surprisingly, Laman and Lemuel weren't happy about being accused of doing iniquity and being cast off forever. They were "desirous to throw [Nephi] into the depths of the sea" but "as they came forth to lay their hands upon [him]" Nephi said to them: "In the name of the Almighty God, I command you that ye touch me not, for I am filled with the power of God, even unto the consuming of my flesh; and whoso shall lay his hands upon me shall wither even as a dried reed." That scared them.

For the next couple of days Laman and Lemuel avoided Nephi out of fear. ("Our brother is insane, for he thinketh he can electrocute us.") The Lord then said to Nephi: "Stretch forth thine hand again unto thy brethren, and they shall not wither before thee, but I will shock them...and this will I do, that they may know that I am the Lord their God." Nephi gladly obeyed and shocked his brothers. Laman and Lemuel were adequately freaked out and humbled. They then acknowledged that God is with Nephi and from that point on they helped him build the ship. 
  
After the ship was finished, everyone loaded in and they set sail. After many days, Nephi's brothers, the sons of Ishmael, and their wives "began to make themselves merry, insomuch that they began to dance, and to sing, and to speak with much rudeness." When he writes "dance" and "sing" here, he's not talking about this:   

He's talking about this:

In a boat. With a bunch of men who haven't showered. Sounds like a party. Whatever they were doing exactly, it wasn't OK and it wasn't in line with the Lord's commandments. 

Nephi started to get nervous and was like "the commandments! the commandments! we need to keep the cOmAnDmEnTs!" The party-goers weren't impressed. "Behold they were angry with me, saying: We will not that our younger brother shall be a ruler over us." And then they proceeded to bind him with cords "and they did treat [him] with much harshness." Nice, right? 

After they bound him, their compass which the Lord had given them stopped working so they didn't know which direction to go. To make matters worse, a huge storm started. For three days they "were driven back upon the waters...and they began to be frightened lest they should be drowned in the sea." Laman and Lemuel threatened anyone who would help Nephi and not even the tears of Nephi's wife or children softened their hearts. 
 
Eventually, Laman and Lemuel realized that there was a higher power at work there and that they were going to die. They released Nephi and he grabbed the compass and started praying to God. "And after I had prayed the winds did cease, and the storm did cease, and there was a great calm."

Nephi guided the ship and after many days they arrived in the promised land (the American continents). There they settled and planted seeds and hunted. And that is how Nephi and his family arrived in Jerusalem. Cool story, right?

Although Nephi went through a lot of hardship, he never complained to the Lord. He trusted in Him and was willing to obey Him even when it seemed crazy or hard. Nephi is a prime example of keeping the commandments and we can all learn from him.

Next time on Book of Mormon Stories we will learn how the problems between Nephi and his brothers escalated until they separated and grew into two huge civilizations that battled each other for 1000 years. Talk about sibling rivalry.

"If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love"(John 15:10). 

Amen.

"Mormonism is Insane" and Other Accusations

I recently received a comment on my Facebook post where I was sharing my blog when I got a great comment from someone we'll call "Dane." He said, "Mormonism is insane. It's not really Christianity either (which is crazy enough as is). But Mormonism is far and away completely bonkers. You believe that God was once a person and that he's from a planet called Kolob, and you believe that everyone will get to be a god when they die. Also, you believe that Jesus came to America to visit a Hebrew civilization here that there is no evidence for (and every bit of evidence against). It's completely and absolutely nuts; the only thing Mormonism does is show just how much you can delude people in mass numbers." 

Wow I've never heard that before (sarcasm). I'm just going to cover each of these topics one by one if that's alright.

1. "Mormonism is insane." 

I get it, you all think we're a bunch of weirdos. We are all VERY aware of what the world thinks of us. The Lord Himself said: "For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God, and the Lord hath chosen thee to be an peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth"(Deuteronomy 14:2). God's people have never been very popular in the world. From the beginning the world has persecuted and killed them. They even thought Jesus was mad, called him "gluttonous" and a "winebibber," and killed Him. (Matthew 11:19)

I will let you all know that the Mormon church teaches its members that nothing is more important than family. Family is central to God's plan. We teach people to have good values, be honest, love one another, be self-sufficient, care for the poor and needy, etc. Next time there's a national disaster, check and see who some of the first responders are. American Red Cross, Mormons, and other religious organizations. Regardless of how "insane" people think we are, we do our best to follow Jesus Christ and love and serve everyone. 

2. "It's not really Christianity either." 

Oh Dane, if only you'd read my blog post found here. I explain why we are Christian but why some people think we're not. Our church is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. We worship Jesus Christ. Not Mormon or Joseph Smith or Satan or Mitt Romney.

3. "You believe that God was once a person... and you believe that everyone will get to be a god when they die." 

Correct.. mostly. The Bible teaches us many times about this concept: 

"The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if it so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together"(Romans 8:16-18).

"Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ"(Galatians 4:7).

"To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne"(Revelation 3:21). 

God's plan for His children is for us to come to Earth in families to gain a body, be tried and tested, and return to live with Him again if we were faithful. If we follow Him and do our part, we can one day inherit all that the Father has. Essentially we can become as He is, a God. Not everyone will get to become gods because not everyone will follow Him and qualify. So we don't believe that everyone will get to be a god, only the faithful will as outlined in the scriptures.

This process is how God Himself became a God. He went through the same process we did on some other world. He overcame and was able to become a God. Lorenzo Snow, the fifth prophet of the Church today, said: "As man now is, God once was; as God is now man may be." This adds a whole new round of questions and for the answers to those I will direct you here.

4. "You believe... that [God is] from a planet called Kolob."

In case you haven't noticed, Mormons have two additional books of scripture besides The Book of Mormon. It's the Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price. We just learned about additional scripture called The Book of Mormon and now I'm throwing more at you? Yes. I think if we can use more of anything in the world it's more of God's word. God loves us and likes to speak to us through more mediums than just the Bible. Get over it. Anyway, in the Pearl of Great Price is the book of Abraham. This Abraham is the same one in the Bible. This is where Kolob is mentioned. Abraham says:

"And I saw the stars, that they were very great, and that one of them was nearest unto the throne of God; and there were many great ones which were near unto it; 

"And the Lord said unto me: These are the governing ones; and the name of the great one is Kolob, because it is near unto me, for I am the Lord thy God: I have set this one to govern all those which belong to the same order as that upon which thou standest.

"And thus there shall be the reckoning of the time of one planet above another, until thou come nigh unto Kolob, which Kolob is after the reckoning of the Lord’s time; which Kolob is set nigh unto the throne of God, to govern all those planets which belong to the same order as that upon which thou standest"(Abraham 3:2,3,9).

And that's about all we know about it. Kolob is a planet that is nearest the throne of God and the time of Kolob is after the reckoning of the Lord's time. So we don't believe that God necessarily lives on Kolob, we just believe that it is a planet that is nearest to God. You can read the rest of that chapter in Abraham for further information.

5. "Also, you believe that Jesus came to America to visit a Hebrew civilization here that there is no evidence for (and every bit of evidence against)."

Yes we do believe that Jesus Christ came to visit the Americas after His resurrection and appearance to His apostles in Jerusalem.  Jesus told His disciples: "And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold and one shepherd"(John 10:16). Jesus Christ Himself said that there are other people besides the ones in Jerusalem that He's going to visit. It's possible that the Americas were one of many other civilizations He appeared to. The account of His visit to the Americas can be found starting in 3 Nephi 11. 

As for evidence for the Book of Mormon. God of course doesn't give us evidence for everything He does because He expects us to have faith in Him. However, there is a bit of evidence for The Book of Mormon. For example, the idea of writing on metal plates was once ridiculed, but in recent years numerous examples of sacred writings on metal plates -- some hidden in stone boxes -- have been found. 

Linguists have noted Book of Mormon words and phrases that sound awkward in English but make perfect sense in Hebrew and related languages that would have been known by the people of the Book of Mormon -- languages young Joseph Smith did not know. 

In 1 Nephi 16:34, a man named Ishmael died, "and was buried in the place which was called Nahom." Cool. Where's Nahom? A group of Latter-Day Saint researchers found evidence linking a site in Yemen, on the southwest corner of the Arabian peninsula, to the name "Nahom." They located a stone altar that professional archaeologists dated to at least 700 BC. This altar contains an inscription confirming "Nahom" as an actual place that existed in the peninsula before the time of Lehi. Can you imagine Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdrey "writing" the Book of Mormon and Joseph says, "hmmm, let's have this guy Ishmael die. And we'll have them bury him in a place called 'Nahom'. Make the 'h' silent. Yeah, that sounds great. I bet they'll dig up evidence for that one day and we'll totally get them!"

Lastly, there are many small evidences found in the cultures and traditions of North and South American people. When Christopher Columbus came, the Native Americans thought he was a god because they had been told that a white god would come to visit them. Can it be possible this same "white god" they were thinking of was Jesus Christ who appeared to their ancestors 1400 years before? Many Latter-Day Saints have traveled to South America on vacation and learned that some of those people's ancient beliefs sound very familiar to our beliefs about the Plan of Salvation. 

Essentially, the Book of Mormon has been around for over 200 years and no one has been able to prove it's false. However, millions now can attest to its truthfulness. And that brings us to our last point made by our friend Dane. 

6. "It's completely and absolutely nuts; the only thing Mormonism does is show just how much you can delude people in mass numbers." 

In 2013 the Church had 282,945 convert baptisms. How do we "delude" people in mass numbers? Because it's true. There are thousands of missionaries that go out every day to teach people about the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and The Book of Mormon. Missionaries don't force anyone to believe. All they do is teach them and ask them to pray to know if it's true. Those who receive an answer to their prayers are baptized into the Church. That means that 282,945 people last year received the answer from God that this is true. The promise is there: "Ask and ye shall receive." God says it over and over again. He's not kidding. Anyone can know if it's true if you are willing to experiment to see if it's true. I promise that anyone who reads the Book of Mormon and prays and asks God with faith and real intent will receive an answer. 

I know it is true and so does God and 15 million others with that number growing every day. If it wasn't true, this church wouldn't have survived. How could a silly 14 year old with a crazy book and a band of destitute followers ever survive and grow into a church with millions of followers and 88,000 young adults traveling the world to tell everyone that it's true? It could never happen unless this is God's work. And I testify that it is.

And there you have it. Six arguments against the church laid out for you. Now are you going to take my word for it or some other guy on the internet or are you going to ask God if it's true? Here's the Book of Mormon. Read it. Then pray and ask God. Once you receive your answer, let me know. (:

"And by the power of the Holy Ghost you shall know the truth of all things"(Moroni 10:5).

Amen.

Faith in Jesus Christ

Faith is a word that gets tossed around a lot, but what does it actually mean? How can we have faith in something and why does it matter?

The Book of Mormon tells us in Alma 32:21: "And now as I said concerning faith - faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true." Faith does not mean that we know something. It means that we believe and trust in something. 

We can have faith in a lot of things. I have faith that the sun will rise tomorrow. I have faith that people will read this blog. But it is faith in God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost that are most important. The Lord has revealed Himself and His perfect character so as to enable the mind of man to place confidence in Him without reservation. 

Faith must be centered in Jesus Christ in order for it to lead a person to salvation. It is faith in Jesus Christ that produces miracles. Jesus said to His apostles: "If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you"(Matthew 17:20). Faith is a principle of power and it is by faith that our prayers are answered and that men are able to do things in the name of God. Faith is essential to our salvation.

Miracles do not produce faith but faith produces miracles. Many people say that if God will show them a sign then they will believe. If God always showed Himself to us to make us believe, then we wouldn't have faith. "Thou hast had signs enough; will ye tempt your God? Will ye say, Show unto me a sign, when ye have the testimony of all these thy brethren, and also all the holy prophets? The scriptures are laid before thee, yea, and all things denote there is a God; yea, even the earth, and all things that are upon the face of it, yea, and its motion, yea, and also all the planets which move in their regular form do witness that there is a Supreme Creator"(Alma 30:44).

Faith comes by righteousness and obedience to the gospel of Jesus Christ, although miracles often confirm one's faith. There are so many ways for us to increase our faith and God has given us all the tools necessary. He has given us the scriptures, prayer, the Holy Ghost, church, prophets, church leaders, and missionaries. At first our faith is small. It's like a tiny seed. But as we nourish it by reading the scriptures, praying, going to church, and keeping the commandments, it will start to grow. We need to be continually increasing our faith until we can one day have a perfect knowledge of the principles of the gospel.

Faith leads us to action. When we have faith in Jesus Christ, we'll want to act on it. Faith in Jesus Christ will lead us to wanting to come closer to Him. How do we do this? Repenting of our sins, keeping His commandments, and being baptized. Faith means we have confidence and trust in Jesus Christ which leads us to obey Him. 

Anyone can develop faith in Jesus Christ. Praying and reading the scriptures and going to church can help us grow our faith. Faith in Jesus Christ is the only way that leads to salvation. I invite you to take a step of faith and to learn more about God and the gospel of Jesus Christ. Read the Book of Mormon and Bible and pray about them. My faith in Jesus Christ is what helps me to get through the good days and the bad days.

"Now, as I said concerning faith - that it was not a perfect knowledge - even so it is with my words. Ye cannot know of their surety at first, unto perfection, any more than faith is a perfect knowledge.
"But behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words"(Alma 32:26-27).

Amen.

Manner of Prayer

God has commanded us to pray to Him. Prayer is how we can communicate with Him and receive guidance. Jesus Christ said, "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened"(Matthew 7:7-8).

2 Nephi 32:9 in The Book of Mormon reads: "But behold, I say unto you that ye must pray always, and not faint; that ye must not perform any thing unto the Lord save in the first place ye shall pray unto the Father in the name of Christ, that he will consecrate thy performance unto thee, that thy performance may be for the welfare of thy soul."

So how are we to pray to God? What is the manner of prayer? Jesus Himself gives a great example in Matthew 6 during his Sermon on the Mount. He first tells us not to be hypocritical about it. We need to pray sincerely, not just for show. There are times for public prayer but there are also many more times for private prayer. 

Next He says: "But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do..." Imagine you're a dad and every time you did calls you to talk to you on the phone, they repeat the same phrase to you and then hang up. What kind of conversation is that? Prayer is a conversation with God, not a recited grocery list of requested blessings. The only time we recite memorized pray is when we perform ordinances such as taking the sacrament (communion) or baptism. 

Jesus then proceeds to offer a beautiful prayer as an example. This prayer wasn't meant for us to memorize and repeat, but to learn from and incorporate its principles into our own personal prayers. From His example I will give the steps of prayer:

1. Address God, our Heavenly Father. "After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name." Jesus started by addressing OUR father. We don't pray to Jesus, we pray to Heavenly Father. Things we can say are "Dear Heavenly Father," "Dear God," "Our Father in Heaven,' etc.

2. Thank Him for blessings and acknowledge His hand in your life. "Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven." God has given us so many blessings and He expects us to be grateful. They don't have to be huge blessings. I thank God for my home, family, friends, the gospel, my job or schooling, and big or small things that happen. 

3. Ask Him for blessings, forgiveness, help, etc. "Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptations, but deliver us from evil:" God is willing to help and bless us but first we need to ask. I have asked for healing either for myself or others, forgiveness of my sins, more patience with others, to pass an important test, to be safe while driving in a storm, to feel comforted on a sad day, to know if the Book of Mormon is true, and many more things. We can ask for anything as long as it's a righteous desire.

4. Close in the name of Jesus Christ. "Therefore ye must pray always unto the Father in my name"(3 Nephi 18:19). We do this by saying, "In the name of Jesus Christ, amen," or something along those lines. We communicate with our Heavenly Father through Jesus Christ. We say every prayer and perform every ordinance in Jesus Christ's name.

Praying can be weird or awkward at first, but as we continue to pray to God, we will feel His Spirit and He will bless us immensely. This quote explains very well the purpose of prayer:

"As soon as we learn the true relationship in which we stand toward God (namely, God is our Father, and we are His children), then at once prayer becomes natural and instinctive on our part. Many of the so-called difficulties about prayer arise from forgetting this relationship. Prayer is the act by which the will of the Father and the will of the child are brought into correspondence with each other. The object of prayer is not to change the will of God but to secure for ourselves and for others blessings that God is already willing to grant but that are made conditional on our asking for them. Blessings require some work or effort on our part before we can obtain them. Prayer is a form of work and is an appointed means for obtaining the highest of all blessings" (BD: Prayer).

Prayer is a commandment from God. He is our Father and He wants us to communicate with Him. He loves us and is willing to guide and bless if we seek Him in humble prayer. We are to pray to Him always. Pray to him in the morning when you wake up; at every meal; before, during, and after you study the scriptures; at night before you go to sleep; when you are lonely or scared or sad; when you need help. He will listen to and answer every single prayer.

"Yea, and cry unto God for all thy support; yea, let all thy doings be unto the Lord, and whithersoever thou goest let it be in the Lord; yea, let all thy thoughts be directed unto the Lord; yea, let the affections of thy heart be placed upon the Lord forever.
"Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good; yea, when thou liest down at night lie down unto the Lord, that he may watch over you in your sleep; and when thou risest in the morning let thy heart be full of thanks unto God; and if ye do these things, ye shall be lifted up at the last day"(Alma 37:36-37).

Amen.

It's a Science Experiment!

How can you know if something is true? In school we learned about the scientific method. We have a question, we form a hypothesis, we conduct an experiment, we analyze the results, and we come up with a conclusion. This process can be used to know if anything is true.  

Alma 32:27 reads: "But behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if you can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words."

So first we need to come up with a QUESTION. Some examples are: Is God real?  Is Jesus Christ the Savior of the world? Is The Book of Mormon true? Is Thomas S. Monson a prophet of God?

Next we need to come up with a HYPOTHESIS. In order for this experiment to work, we need to exercise faith which means that we believe we'll receive an answer and we desire to believe. So your hypothesis might be along the lines of: God is real. Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world. The Book of Mormon is true. Thomas S. Monson is a prophet of God.

Next we need to CONDUCT THE EXPERIMENT. 
Whenever we do an experiment, we need to make sure we are following the steps correctly. We are told from the scriptures what we need to do in order to know if these things are true:

In Moroni 10:3-5 it tells us: "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.
"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. 
"And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things."

Alma 5:45-46 says: "Do ye not suppose that I know of these things myself? Behold, I testify unto you that I do know that these things whereof I have spoken are true. And how do ye suppose that I know of their surety?
"Behold, I say unto you they are made known unto me by the Holy Spirit of God. Behold, I have fasted and prayed many days that I might know these things of myself. And now I do know of myself that they are true; for the Lord God hath made them manifest unto me by his Holy spirit; and this is the spirit of revelation which is in me."

D&C 9:7-8: "Behold, you have not understood; you have supposed that I would give it unto you, when you took no thought save it was to ask me.
"But, behold, I say unto you that you must study it out in your mind; then you must ask me if it be right, and if it is right I will cause that your bosom shall burn within you; therefore, you shall feel that it is right."

According to these scriptures, we need to first "receive these things" which means we read The Book of Mormon, read the Bible, have missionaries teach you, read or watch a talk by the prophet, or whatever pertains to your question. We need to do our part and study it out. We can't sit around and expect God to answer our prayer if we're not willing to put in the work and show that we sincerely want an answer. We cannot say we sincerely experimented on the Lord's words until we have asked God the way the scriptures tell us to.

We then ANALYZE the results. What results did we receive? We are told that "by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things." So how do we know if we felt the Holy Ghost or not? Once again, the scriptures are here to help us out.  Galatians 5:22 in the Bible reads: "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance:" Did you feel any of those things as you studied, pondered, and prayed? Did you feel peace as you read the scriptures? Did you feel joy as you listened to the prophet speak? Did you feel love as you prayed to God? If you felt any of those things listed in Galatians, then that was God answering your prayer. 

Finally, we have our CONCLUSION. I know that anyone who follows these steps and asks God in faith will receive an answer. I have received an answer so many times. God doesn't always answer immediately or in the same way. But He will always answer anyone who sincerely seeks to know if these things are true and if they are willing to act on their answer.

"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).

"Therefore, ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you; for he that asketh receiveth; and unto him that knocketh, it shall be opened"(3 Nephi 27:29). 

"And all things, whatoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive"(Matthew 21:22).  

"Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full"(John 16:24).

Amen.