"Woman, why weepest thou?"

Mary Magdalene weeped as she saw that the tomb that once held in resting the body of the Son of God was empty. The body, she assumed, had been taken. Then a voice of a man spoke from behind her. "Woman, why weepest thou?" Supposing the man to be the gardener she replied, "Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away." Oh what joy she must have felt! What hymns of thanksgiving and praise must have been sung in her heart! She heard her name escape the lips of the man behind her. It was a voice that she indeed did recognize. "Mary," said the Man. She then turned her head and with her heart swollen within her, the word "Rabboni" escaped her lips. "Master." She knew that all was not lost, but that all was about to be fulfilled.

We too will be filled with joy when Jesus Christ comes again. We will be shouting, "Hosanna! The Lord has come!" I believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Missionaries all over the world, including myself, are proclaiming this truth to all people, kindred, and tongue! We are anxiously awaiting, and are constantly preparing for the Second Coming of the Master. It is then when we hope that when the Risen Lord calls us individually by name, that we too may recognize Him as Mary Magdalene did. That we too may be joyous for the day we have awaited for has come, and that we too may stand before Him and say,"Rabboni, which is to say Master." That He may reply, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant." This is our greatest desire.

May we always remember the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. His triumph over death. He broke the bands of death so that we too may become resurrected beings. May we not weep this Easter season over the loss of loved ones, or suffer because of the separation caused by death. However, let us rejoice in the goodness of God and all exclaim "Hosanna! For the Lord has overcome death for us!" If you would like to learn more about this glorious event, or how you and your family could be together forever, PLEASE chat with any LDS online missionary, or visit mormon.org.

For God So Loved the World

My favorite scripture in the Gospel according to John in the New Testament is, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." It is found in the third chapter and sixteenth verse. It is this verse that I have used as a motto for my mission. My testimony is in the reality of a loving Heavenly Father. He truly does love us. It is not conditional on our obedience or our diligence and humility. He loves us regardless of our flaws, weaknesses, and sins. He loves us so much in fact that He did send His Only Begotten Son in the flesh. Jesus Christ, who is the Creator and Messiah, was very loved of our God. He is chosen above all others. It is He who volunteered to suffer for all our pains, transgressions, and sins. It is to Him whom we owe our lives, our peace, and everything that we have been given. Why would God grant unto us such great mercy and possibility? It is because He loves us. We can become whole through our Savior. That is why I love this verse so much. I want to share with everyone that God loves them, and He wants them to receive a forgiveness of their sins. He desires nothing more than for us to return and live with Him again. Our God is a loving God.

Overcoming Trials

When I think of the stories in the scriptures of prophets and great men and women overcoming great obstacles I often think of the following stories: the young boy David taking on the gigantic Goliath (1 Samuel 17), the innocent queen Esther and her courage to face the king (Book of Esther), Daniel and his bravery in the Lion's den (Daniel 6), Jonah and his adventure in the belly of the bug fish (Book of Jonah), Peter walking on water to approach Christ (Matthew 14:25-31), the raising of Lazarus from the dead (John 11), and Naamon and the search for a cure of his terrible leprosy (2 Kings 5). All these stories from the Bible each illustrate different morals that we can apply in our lives. However different these stories may be, one principle of the gospel remains constant: have faith in Christ, and He will deliver you from your trials.
1 Corinthians 10:13 says, "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that  ye may be able to bear it." Often times we relate this scripture with our trials, instead of using the word temptation we substitute it with trials. "There hath no trial taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tried able that ye are able..." It is true. God won't give us more than we can handle, but sometimes it seems that we are given too much! So how can we be sure that this is true, and that God will "make a way to escape, that [we] may be able to bear it?"
Let's look at the story of Job. He was a man of wealth and posterity. He was faithful, and God blessed him greatly for it. The Holy Bible says that Job was "perfect" (Job 1:1.) It is unfortunate that such a perfect man was tried in the way that he was. He had what he thought was everything, and then he lost it all; children, crops, servants, health, and property. However, as we continue to read the account of Job we recognize that even through all his trials he never cursed God or gave up in his faith. Ultimately it was Job's faith that prevailed and he was blessed a double-fold of what he already had! So why was Job tried? So that God could bless him with more. Job would not have grown without the trial, neither can we grow with out our trials.
"I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you" (John 14:18.) This was the promise Christ gave to His disciples shortly before He was taken away to be crucified. He was going to leave them physically, but He would not leave them spiritually. He promised them His comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, to lead and guide them in their daily lives. "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart: and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths" (Proverbs 3:5-6.) If we put our faith in Jesus Christ, He will comfort us and give us guidance. Whether our trials be death, facing an enemy, illness, or some other tragedy, know that Jesus Christ is there for all of us in our darkest of times. May we always remember the words of Jesus Christ, "Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me" (John 14:1.) Let us believe in Jesus Christ, and He will help us overcome our trials.

MY SOUL HUNGERED, pt. 2

As a missionary actively serving God everyday I see a lot of struggles that are similar among people. I have to say that the one thing that I see the most common among them is their feeling of abandonment. They feel like God has forgotten them in their struggles. They feel like in their darkest hours that they have been left behind. This is absolutely not true!

No where in the Bible or the Book of Mormon does it say that God will forget His children. Never does it say will He forsake them. It says that, "I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you" (John 14:18.) That promise is for all of God's children. He will not forsake us. The number one problem why we have problems is because we tend to forget God. How do we forget Him? We do not communicate with Him as often as we should.

"And now, my beloved brethren, I perceive that ye ponder still in your hearts; and it grieveth me that I must speak concerning this thing. For if ye would hearken unto the Spirit which teacheth a man to pray, ye would know that ye must pray; for the evil spirit teacheth not a man to pray, but teacheth him that he must not pray. 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" (2 Nephi 32:8&9.)

Pray always. Heavenly Father does listen and will answer your prayers. Try it out, test it, and I promise you as a representative of Christ that you will receive an answer. You will no longer feel alone. You will no longer feel like you have been left in the dark. You will learn to know that Jesus is the Christ, and that He has died and suffered so that you may live again and be comforted in your hardest and darkest of times and trial.

CHRISTMAS! Give me mas (more) Christ!

My favorite holiday is Christmas. It is the one time of year that you can see a bonding take place. A bond between all people, nations, and faiths. It is a time where love is felt and goodness is exchanged one from another. I like reading about the birth of Christ. It is a tender time in world history. Time itself revolves around this most significant event. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Savior and Redeemer of mankind, was born to take away our sins and sadness. "But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and with His stripes we are healed." (Isaiah 53:5) It is my prayer this Holiday season to remember Christ in all that we do, and how we interact with all of God's children.