Not in the Outcome

 
 Hope is an interesting thing, sometimes in my own life I connect hope to a hope in a specific outcome, not necessarily just in something I want, but also in something I feel the Lord wants for me as well. Yet when we place our hope and faith in specific, quantified outcomes we lose faith in the true matter at hand, in our Heavenly Father and his actions in our lives.
   Yes I believe that Heavenly Father will follow through on His promises and His directions, if He is directing you to do something we would all do well to follow that direction, yet it shouldn't be just to get what we want, we should be following Him because we know He loves us and wants what best for us and as we follow Him we will learn and grow in ways we never thought we could.
    Sometimes we are afraid to follow the direction we receive, because we're afraid we interpreted it incorrectly, or we have past experiences that we prepared what we could, but things still didn't work out quite the way we thought they would. This is ultimately where faith comes in, the outcome shouldn't matter, we followed the Spirit, we know we'll end up just where we should and if it doesn't work out the way we expected we know that Heavenly Father's comfort will only be a prayer away.
   Sometimes faith requires action without logic, acting because we feel we should, not because we see the end. Two farmers needed rain. One farmer spent his time on his knees praying for rain while the other farmer started on his knees, then went to prepare his field. I hope that we will all choose to be the latter farmer, that we will have courage to go prepare whatever field Heavenly Father has placed on our heart to prepare and that we will learn that He is at the beginning and end of every direction He sends to us.

Remember faith is in God, not the outcome.

Never Turn Away

True faith is believing God will do what is best for me in His time. I'm afraid I've forgotten that bit of wisdom in the last few months.

This last week as I've been arranging things to head down to Alpine and listen to my mission president and his wife speak I've taken the time to ponder on my mission and the moments that changed my life in Cambodia. For those of you reading this that don't know I came home from my mission early, it wasn't easy nor what I expected from the mission the Lord called me on, but I knew his hand was in it, so I did it. I struggled with illness for two months as I tried to fulfil my missionary duties, help in companionship planning and be an all around friendly person. After being sent to Thailand for an MRI that showed us nothing conclusive Pres Moon called me into his office and said "Chi Dao, we need to figure out what to do with you, you can't keep going on like this," mind you this is after he found me slumped on the floor with my head leaning on a couch at his house. That weekend we fasted to know what I needed to do. Through that weekend I warred with myself between wanting to stay despite the headaches, versus wanting to go home so my companion could be a proselyting missionary again. At the end of that weekend I knew without a doubt that Heavenly Father needed me somewhere else and my time in Cambodia and my time with a name tag had come to an end. It was so hard to leave, but I knew that it was right and though I had my own ideas about why I was going home, which all proved incorrect I might add ;-), I still know I went where I needed to be, even though it wasn't what I wanted or expected.

As I shared that experience with a friend I wondered, why don't I feel that way anymore? Why can't I feel direction that same way again, to just know that what I felt directed to do was right and that it came from Heavenly Father. And I realized that has more to do with me, than it has to do with Heavenly Father. He's giving me the answers I'm seeking, but I'm struggling to trust Him, hence a lack of sureness.

His words and comfort withstand the vagaries of life, my trust in Him needs to do the same.  When I served in Cambodia my whole life, every aspect was dependent on having the Spirit and following it. Now that I live a life that can range from mundane on some days when I can run on auto-pilot, to cry my eyes out begging the heavens for help, I need to be doing those things everyday that ensures the Spirit is my constant companion and then accept the comfort when it comes instead of saying "yeah but". It is so easy to contradict what we feel, by what we see in the moment, I promise what we feel in our heart has a lot more truth and should have a lot more weight in our lives.

We truly can find peace and comfort in this life if we turn to Christ and never turn away.



For further reading see Elder Quentin L Cook's talk:
The Lord is My Light
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2015/04/the-lord-is-my-light?lang=eng#watch=video

The friends which never leave us

 
So I have this friend and we are really tight, we do just about everything together. We watch movies together, listen to music together, go on road trips together and go to work together. He helps me figure out what to say in important situations, listens to my concerns and helps me find answers, he is a guide and a help to me. He offers me peace and comfort when I feel uptight or sad and offers wise counsel in time of need, sometimes he even shouts to get my attention when something isn't right. This friend of mine has a soft voice and sometimes can't be heard in busy, loud places of chaos and confusion, yet when I choose quiet, peaceful places he teaches me so much. Sometimes my other friends questions the things he tells me and the world around me is confused by the choices I make based on his advice, yet he has never led me astray.

Even with all this great help, support and advice sometimes I get fed up, because I don't see things the way he sees things or I don't have the same long distance perspective, I don't see how things could be the way he says they are. Yet whenever I disregard his guidance or shrug off the peace he sends to me I am immediately surrounded by confusion, anxiety and pain.

I testify that this friend of mine can be a friend to all of us, he is the messenger of our Heavenly Father. Because our Father is omnipotent he sees all things and sends his spirit to be with us, to see beyound our own concerns and fears and look to the future with hope. This past week has threatened to tear me from my moorings, to question all the things I hold dear in my heart, I have thought things I never thought I would, yet each moment of pain and fear was accompanied by a spirit of peace, inexplicable, yet all consuming. The Lord has sent His spirit to me to let me know I am known, I am loved and there are so many blessings just around the corner. He has proven to me time and time again that He can do the impossible, I don't know how or when but I know it will happen.

I hope and pray that each of us can find a friend and ally in the Spirit that we will look to him, our Savior and our Heavenly Father to bring peace into our lives, send counsel in time of distress and bring about miracles in unexpected places.

They are our truest friends for they will never leave us.

Thoughts of a Nation and of a Life

  I know that as it is Independence Day weekend and my blog started as a patriotic political one I really should have so much to say, but I'm not sure that I do. I don't have a hobby horse to ride this weekend, so instead I want to simply share some thoughts that just keep coming back.

This nation was founded on principles of freedom and righteousness and as we live according to these principles we will be blessed.

Contrary to current popular opinion I know this country had the help of God to direct the men writing the Declaration of Independence and Constitution. This country is not an accident it was formed by God to be the cradle of the Restoration and to bring joy and safety to millions.

As I learned today what we do of ourselves fades away, but the things we do for Heavenly Father remain and are magnified. I don't what how to face the things this life will send my way, but I know if I do the things Heavenly Father asks me to do I will be successful and I will be able to return to Him.

I'm thankful for the men and women who have gone across an ocean to fight for this nation and I'm so thankful for the men and women who fought for this nation by teaching their children to honor the flag, to honor liberty, freedom of speech, freedom of religion to stand for what is right, not what is popular, to rely on the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to be led by His Spirit. I hope each of us will hold the flag dear to our hearts and honour the men and women who have fought for it.

Our Father knows and loves us, He intends and desires each of us to return to Him, what do we need to be willing to give up to do that? I don't know what that is, but I pray that I'll be brave enough to do it when the Lord comes and asks of me to do hard things, for then the test comes and we learn to follow our Saviour though the pathway be difficult.

I know my Saviour lives and loves each of us, He prepared the place He planted us so we could grow back to Him.