There is a power that lies in each of us, a flame that burns so bright. Yet, it is only unlocked as we search, ponder and pray. But about what you may ask. The answer may come as a surprise to some, or may hit home for others. We each must Search, Ponder and Pray about "The Book of Mormon", about The Prophet Joseph Smith, about the truthfulness of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
As we come to gain a testimony we can fuel that fire that burns with in our hearts. We can increase our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and receive that comfort and direction, that we all are so desperate for. We can come to know for a surety that these things are true and really will bless our lives.
This week I was reminded of this simple truth. As my companion and I walked a long the road, going from house to house. I couldn't help bu think, that there is someone special I
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I didn't care for the typical "Hello, we are Missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints", "would you like to hear a message." Honestly that's a good way to get a door slammed in your face. People are realistic, and think just like anyone else. They want to know only what's good for them or what can help them. Sometimes it can be seen as a selfish attitude. So borrowing a idea from Theodore Roosevelt and applying this phrase, “People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care”.
I sought to get to know this man, and I really was genuine about it. People don't like flattery, it's cheap and it never works. In an honest person to person conversation I did just that. Jacob, told me about his life, about his job, about his family and about what he was even doing on the car that he stopped working on to talk to me. I felt the love of God for this man, I truly did. As he talked and I listen intently. It was almost perfect, almost the hand of the Lord shown forth as the gospel came up in
Alma 56:47 reads: “Now they never had fought, yet they did not fear death; and they did think more upon the liberty of their fathers than they did upon their lives; yea, they had been taught by their mothers, that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them.” I chose this scripture because it has always been my favorite since I first read the Book of Mormon. The first part says “Now they never had fought, yet they did not fear death” this is saying that the Stripling Warriors had never fought anyone, and that they did not fear death. I think that they did not fear death because they knew they would be with God if they died. The second part says “and they did think more upon the liberty of their fathers then they did upon their lives” this
But Elder Wilson and I had an experience last night that was amazing! Over the past several months there has been a young man that I have been personally talked to on multiply occasions. He has seen and been through a lot in his life. I've felt somewhat connected and emphatic toward, because his struggles have been my own at a different point in my life. He, last night expressed a deep desire to be baptized and take the discussions. After much talking, and answering his questions. And for the first time in what seems like a long time. We taught according to the needs of this young man. The restoration has been everything he ha been looking for. He considers himself a "Mormon" already. But what we taught him seemed to be the foundation of a new faith. After a powerful recitation of the first vision by Elder Wilson. I had asked him, what he felt. He said, "fear to be honest." Following the promptings of the spirit we turned to Gal 5:22-23. Then I asked him to explain what he meant. He went on to say, that the peace, the joy and the happiness he felt made him scared. He's never felt that much power in a single statement in his life. And he knows just by the that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God. And that this church is the only true church on the earth. (Side bar, he's a very logical person, likes physical proof.) So this scared him because he couldn't deny it, and he didn't need physical proof to know its true. By the end of the lesson, we was smiling and excited for our next lesson. We all kneeled and he offered the closing prayer. His prayer was truly powerful. How humble and meek were his words, it was as if God was in the room with us, and he was talking to him face to face. I left feeling nothing but love for this man, and edited to meet with him
This book attempt to show the common ground between Christianity and Mormonism by examining the individual areas of Scripture, God, Christ, the Trinity and Salvation. The summation of the author’s findings is that although there are great differences there is also much common ground that can be used to strengthen our relationship together and bring unity to the ecumenical community.
When I was a kid, my mother would read me short excerpts from the children’s book, Book of Mormon Stories. Each chapter provides a simple story that explains the happenings at the time of the prophets of old. To appeal to children, the stories are simple and explain the important gospel principles such as following the commandments, and being kind to others. I remember my mother would always read my siblings and me the story of Korihor each year before we started a new school year. When I was younger, I will admit that this did not come across as having any significance. As I have studied the scripture in far more depth, the parallels between Korihor’s influence and the influence of the adversary in our day are shockingly clear. After studying
We gather here today for the loss of Joseph Smith our beloved prophet with our new prophet Brigham Young I will now turn the time to him. We are very sad the circumstance Brother Smith was put in and we know he is in a better place after such a horrific murder. But we need to leave after all the sadness the government has given us we surely can’t stay. The lord has revealed unto me a place we need to go and get away from the mobs. So he got ready and prepared. He got covered wagons he got horses he got a lot of supplies but sadly some others weren’t as ready as him.
The more I study the Book of Mormon the more I understand that it was written for us. Sometimes I feel like the characters of the Book of Mormon are out of touch or hard to relate to, but in reality they represent every facet of modern society. They help us see the good in the world, they help us see the evil in our lives, and ultimately warn us from the swaying philosophies of the world that lead men into sin. When I read about Nephi and his brothers and the fights that they had, I think about the relationship that I have with my brothers; when I read about Sherem and Nehor, I think about the dangerous and volatile philosophies of men that justify sin and denounce the teachings of Chirst; and when I read about Ammon and the Sons of Mosiah, I think about the missionaries that have touched my life and the kind of missionary that I hope to be. Every story and every character relates to an experience of mine or an
Having doubt and questioning the doctrines of the gospel is not wrong as long as we pursue the answers to those doubts and questions. A testimony will grow through the Holy Ghost as we seek the answers to our doubt. Satan tries to plant doubt in our hearts and make us question the teaching of the gospel to lead us away, and he succeeds at times. If we do not act on those doubts and questions, then he wins, and that is what could make it wrong.
Simpson (2007) elaborates on the culture and faith of most polygamous. The author states that the history of Mormonism has involved to “highly complex contacts and negotiations with non-Mormons in their attempts to convert, resist, or appease outsiders. Mormons have engaged in a distinctive dialectic of secrecy and self-disclosure.”(p.11) In some cases, Simpson (2007) suggests Mormons feel they are being forced to be modernized. Non-Mormons in the Utah territory and the United States saw Utah 's acceptance of Mormonism and women as a “shameful attempt to solidify the church 's political power.”
The Book of Mormon is a funny yet emotion-filled musical. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who can take a few jokes here and there. It does poke a little fun at the Mormon faith, but that is not what the whole musical/ soundtrack is about. The creators, Robert Lopez, Trey Parker, and Matt Stone, use the Mormon faith as a jumping off point in order to propel the story forward. There is a little more to the story (like various connecting points) that are not on the soundtrack, but you can still understand the story without them. Between the catchy lyrics and winning 9 tony awards including Best Musical, the Book of Mormon is a well produced and put together
The purpose of this paper is to examine the ways in which attending The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints promotes a sense of community among the congregation at the Victoria, British Columbia location and how the perception that this religion is similar to a cult is an inaccurate representation of the faith. We attended a Sacrament at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Victoria and conducted an interview with a six-year member of the church, furthermore referred to as Hayley or Hayley Downton, to gain a deeper insight into the beliefs of this religion. In this paper, we will be focusing on how globalization and modernization has influenced the religious beliefs and practices of Mormonism; the sacred objects and rituals within this religion that assists in promoting a sense of community; and on how we disagree with Karl Marx’s perspective and critique of religion being “the opiate of the masses” (Hegel,
Recently I was contacted by a good friend of several years who had stopped coming to church about a year or so ago, When Jeffrey contacted me I was initially very happy to hear from him, as the conversation progressed I noticed something about him had changed. I then enquired if he had started attending church again and to my relief he said he had I asked him where he was fellowshipping he responded that he was now a member of the Jehovah Witnesses, I was stunned. Jeffrey then asked me how I was doing in my walk I told him I was fellowshipping with other Christians. He then asked if we could make a time to catch up so he could show me what he had found that had brought him to join the Jehovah Witnesses, he wanted to share this truth with
The most common phrase found in the Book of Mormon with the word “knowledge” in it was some version of “the knowledge of Christ.” We know this to be one of the central purposes of the Book of Mormon, to bring people to a knowledge of Christ. That led me to wonder, what does it really mean to know Christ? How can I come to know Him better? While studying the word “know” may bring some more results, I was interested to see that many different prophets taught about a knowledge of Christ.
In life, we are given a lot of different surprising opportunities, and Sunday the 12th, I had the chance to attend T.D Jakes sermon. A well-known preacher and actor in the United States at his main ministry in West Kiest Boulevard Dallas, Texas From 9am to 11:30am. This experience, by far was one of the most interesting ones for me because I always saw this preacher on T.V both preaching and in the movies. Being around a different culture and settings, was very much different compare to the country I’m from, we tend to do things different when it comes to religion and especially the size of the congregation was triple times compare to the ones I am accustom too.
In that way, I would be able to be honest in declaring testimony about the truthfulness and the divinity of the book. For months, I read page after page until I have reached the last chapter. Yet, upon arriving and seeing the title page I couldn’t bring myself to read it. I knew in my heart as well as my mine that if I read this chapter I would have to pray. I put it off for weeks. Which is unlike me to do. My resolve to finish was there but I was scared of what may happen. What if I read it and prayed to know the truth and I didn’t get an answer, or what if I did, and it wasn’t something I liked. The other thought that consumed my mind was, If I read this chapter and pray, there is no going back. No denying the truth any longer and I will have to do something about it. It no longer is good enough for me to say, Yeah, I’m going to serve a mission because I know it’s what’s right, but I know I have to because I’ve been told by God that I must. After some contemplation and a talk with my bishop I decided to do so. I learned a great deal of faith in doing so. I prayed to know it was truth as well. Yet, in my heart I always knew it was true, and that is what the Lord reminded me of when I
Jacob was more than willing to expand on his skeptical view of this “Jesus person”, even though he had grown up in the church since birth. Jesus for my friend Jacob is “just this guy that maybe had lived a long time ago. To be honest, there really is little evidence that Jesus existed besides the Bible, which the Bible in its entirety seems too far fetched.” Jacob is incredibly smart, and during our conversation I made sure that I was doing more of listening than questioning his every outlook on who Jesus was. We have a dramatic difference in who Jesus is, so I wanted to make sure I still respected his view. Something that I was really intrigued by was despite him growing up in the church for his whole life, what were the things that turned him off from participating in the Church. He explained, “to be honest, I just don’t see the benefits. Yes, I’ve heard countless of testimonies and professions of people turning their life around when Jesus found them, but I’ve also heard countless of stories of people who turned their life