These are days never to be Forgotten

As Oliver Cowdery said "these are days never to be forgotten..." I don't say this solely because of the Sept 23rd "end of the world prophecy", but I do say that partially in response to it. We live in a day when the waters have heaved itself beyond their bounds, earthquakes have been racking Mexico weekly if not daily (triggering a volcano that took out a church), wild fires destroying property across the West, Pres Uchtdorf comparing Republicans and Democrats to Israelis and Palestinians, not to mention comparing current practices to those of Nazi Germany. I realize he was talking about villianizing your opponents makes it easier to enact violence against them. But it doesn't change the fact that we, here in this nation, were compared to nationalities who face violence in their streets almost daily and who enacted awful pogroms against other races. We cannot keep our heads in the sand, there is violence in our society, there are acts of hatred, corruption abounds and the media distracts us with pettiness and irony instead of things of real import.

Yes I do realize there is good in the world, there are acts of charity, there is service, kindness and love. But for every act of goodness you can bet there is an equal and opposite force of darkness. We are living in days likened unto the Book of Mormon, Pres Packer said years ago that there is nothing occurring in Sodom and Gomorrah that isn't occurring in our world (and I would say in our country) today.

I'm not saying this to be a negative Nelly or to say that the sky is falling, but I do say this to beg us to pay attention to the signs all around us. Heavenly Father said that He created stars to show signs in the heavens...and we are to pay attention to the signs of the times. I'm not saying the world is ending, because just as the rest of you noticed the sun did rise today and it will continue to rise until Heavenly Father halts the earth, no amount of men's predictions can do that. But just because a man or men do not interpret a sign incorrectly doesn't mean the sign doesn't exist, it just means we missed the point. Please take some time to seek the Spirit, it doesn't matter whether the end comes tomorrow or years away, we know it is coming and we are seeing prophecy fulfilled, ask the Spirit what you can do to be a disciple of Christ, to prepare the world for His coming, to help make the world a place of greater light.

These are days never to be forgotten, there are great changes coming to the earth, don't be distracted or misled into believing that these days are of no import. Listening to the Women's Session of General Conference tells us that, they called us to be distinct from the world, to be innovative, to learn to follow the Spirit so we can walk with our Savior (because He is nearer than we think), we are called to not believe the lies of the adversary, but to be strong and hold to our divine nature as children of God. We are the ones preparing the earth for the Second Coming of our Savior. Last year Sis Nelson taught us how to not be overwhelmed by despair, but to hold to light and to faith. Pres Nelson taught us that the true meaning of millenials are those who are to prepare the earth for the coming of the Lord and His millennial reign.

We of this latter-day saint generation have that which millennia of generations have waited for, we have the power to enter into the presence of the Lord. When we enter the temple we have the gift of being cleansed and sanctified so that we can enter to be with our Lord. Millennia of the House of Israel could only take a sacrifice to the Tabernacle or to the Temple in Jerusalem and give it to a priest that did a work for them (whether a sin, redemption or atoning offering), we through the power of the New and Everlasting Covenant of the Atonement of our Savior Jesus Christ enter the temple to become priests and priestesses unto the Most High and do the work, not just observe it.

These are days never to be forgotten, we live in a time with more power then has ever been on the earth before, we have the Gospel of Jesus Christ and covenants to sanctify us, we have the ability to change the course of the earth, let us seek for our part to play in this great drama, to learn what we have covenanted to do to help the Lord fulfill His glorious work, let us learn what we can do to bring light and spark a light in others to do this work.

These are days never to be forgotten and how blessed we are to live in them.

Fight for our very Souls

We are living in days when we can no longer be indecisive or neutral. Last week mostly by what I would call accident, but what I know to be divine intervention, I put in a graphic about standing up, standing out and standing firm. I didn't think a lot about it at the time, but as I sat, as a visitor in another ward, I heard a story that brought me back to that image.

In 1863 the Civil War was balanced on the edge of a blade, the Union was tired of losing battles and the Confederates felt that one more winning battle would turn the tide of the war in their favor. They could show the union that their cause was just and they were a separate entity from the United States of America. Abraham Lincoln knew that public opinion was not going in his favor and soon he wouldn't be able to get the industrial support or man power he would need to keep fighting. With the fate of the war hanging in the balance enter the Battle of Gettysburg, the battle with the greatest death toll of a day of battle. On Little Round Top the union soldiers held the line and repelled charge after charge. After days of fighting they had run out of ammunition and faced the only option left to them, a bayonet charge against an innumerable foe, but they knew what was at stake and they dare not back down or retreat. So they stood firm, fixed their bayonets and waited for the command to charge. With courage in their hearts they took that first step forward, not knowing how many would survive that fateful charge or if it would make any difference...*

We are in such a day as that, often as we say, hind sight is twenty/twenty, we don't always see the big picture, we don't see the fateful days in the moment. Those men defending that hill top didn't know how their story would end, but they stood firm and in doing so they won a battle that turned the tide of the war and united the country once more. We are in fateful days, the fate of the war against sin may not hang in the balance, we already know who will win, we know that the Savior will come again to reign on the earth, to bring peace and love to mankind. Though the overall outcome of this battle might already be decided, the individual fate of each of us has not. We have a work to do, but if we do not stand firm we will be neutralized, we will miss opportunities to help other of God's children win the fight and live with Him again.

Be a strong link in the generations, be one who stands up for Christ, who cares so much more for what the Spirit teaches than fleeting fads that are here today and gone tomorrow. Stand firm in the face of opposition, stand firm when the world may mock and deride. Stand firm in the knowledge that our Savior will come again and He comes quickly. He is not delaying the day of His coming and the world knows that His coming is nigh. The upheaval we see in nature all around us, is a call from Mother Earth saying that Her Savior is coming, never to leave again and is a call to human hearts to let the things of this world go and to put love of neighbor and love of God first. I invite you to stand firm this week by taking time to commune with the Spirit and ask Him what you can do to stand up and stand out. Ask Him how you can be a disciple of Jesus Christ in small and simple ways that can change your life and the lives of others.

We may not stand on a physical hilltop with bayonet in hand, but we do stand on a spiritual hill top and the battle is coming to us, we are besieged on every side, hold the ground, know the battle is not only worth fighting for\, but it is also worth winning. Find your Savior in the trenches and know He is fighting for you and with you. He is not a back field commander, transmitting instructions to the front not knowing what is there, He is a commander who sees the whole fight and sees the trenches, trust Him, He desires all of us to win the fight. What He asks may seem mundane or seem crazy, hear and heed regardless, it is His plan that will see us through.

These are days never to be forgotten, may we fight the fight, may we stand up, stand out and stand firm and may we not be neutralized in a fight for our very souls. This is my prayer in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

*http://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/american-civil-war-history/videos/chamberlain-defends-little-round-top

We must be awake

I heard a phrase once (ironically it was probably in a movie) that said " you don't want to just be in love, you want to be in love in a movie." Now the person who said this was telling another person who was in love, but didn't realize it, that they were expecting fireworks and chase scenes and love to be big and dramatic, instead of what it actually is, service, patience, kindness, endurance, more patience and some fun adventures up canyons on picnics, and more service. Because love looked so mundane to this person, they didn't realize they could stop looking for someone new and instead build something amazing with the person they already had in their life.

I totally support this scenario and often see it play out in my own life. Love isn't just canyon adventures or going to the ends of the earth for someone, it's rubbing their feet after you've both had a long day at work, it's cleaning the kitchen so you both have a clean work space the next morning, it's showering so you smell nice for the person you sleep next to and any number of other things you do in the day, not because you have to, but because you want to make things better for another person. It is being willing to hold your tongue in the moment because you know your perspective is skewed and you don't want to hurt the other person, it is being willing to bake things just so your house smells nice and homey for the person you love. It is being willing to overlook the crumbs on the counter and strewn across the floor even though they drive you crazy (because you know you do things that drive them crazy). The entertainment industry seems to glamorize sexual love, when there is a whole world of other types of love that are also necessary to make your relationship a complete one.

These are all true and I know I definitely struggle with them at different times. Yet for me most, my problem is that I want to be in love in an action, end of the world (sort of) thriller. I want the stakes to be high, the spouses to be faithful to one another, even through the terror and mayhem, vanquish the foe, then come back to each other knowing they have made the world a better place for their children and future generations and having the option to receive accolades, but saying no because they know the glory of the world fades. So often my life as a whole feels so mundane, with daily tasks that are done over and over again, with no guts required and no glory imminent. This then tends to make me feel purposeless and a bit pointless. I feel like a life full of exhausted foot rubs is overwhelming in its own way. And waking up every morning to fight the same battle of patience, service and holding ones tongue is just too prosaic to keep going.

Then the Spirit taught me something this week...this is high stakes living, with higher stakes than I could imagine. Waking up every morning to be a responsible human being, to being the best you can be even in the small and simple tasks, of taking a moment to breath before opening your mouth, to sweeping the floor for the fortieth time that day without letting a sigh escape your mouth, to being frugal with your living so that you can give generously to those in need, and to defending yourself against the attacks of the adversary when that mean spirited voice in your head suggests you should be angry or feel self-pity or you should procrastinate or that you deserve something. The thing we don't realize is that fighting this good fight is creating our spiritual character. It is what helps us to become the person that Heavenly Father can rely on to do His work and help His children. As we fight this good fight and reject those nasty voices in our heads (that at times feels so reasonable and fair) we are rejecting the adversary's power in our life and in the world. We are binding his minions and fighting for the light.

The fact of the matter is that we are living in the end times of this earth and we are warriors of the side of light. It is true that often living a life of duty and love does feel mundane, it seems unimportant and sometimes even frustrating, but it is important. The more we show love, patience and kindness the more our nature is changed, the more we feel the presence of the Spirit in our lives and the more light we have to offer others. When we "hold the line", when we hold to the mark of virtue, patience and kindness we allow Christ's love to bloom in this world and prepare the earth for future generations, we literally make a better world for them. Who knew that when we choose perseverance over frustration, when we dispel the nasty voices in our heads, when we embrace the mundane and invite the Spirit to expand us, then we are on a path to an eternal reward that will boggle our minds. We are partakers of the work of the Lord and we are helping to bring to pass His work and glory.

So if as you contemplate this coming week and feel like it will be a repeat of last week and what's really the point, remember the battle is real, that Satan tries to hide Godly character in the mundane and that he doesn't want you to wake up ready to do battle. So take some time to work with the Spirit, discover where your battle is for this week, where you can be a light in darkness, where you can make the life of another better and you go forth and you rock it. This is the time when we can't sleep walk through life, we must be awake and we must be ready to fight for truth and right, no matter what package that truth and right comes in.

Just can't live without

I've been noticing an interesting trend re surging lately. It isn't new, Pres Utchdorf gave a talk about it back in 2012, it just got buried by same gender marriage news and strained race relations news. Back in 2012 Pres Utchdorf talked about the destruction of the family through denigrating the father. He said that through entertainment's views of father figures we see a view of men as bumbling oafs who can't do anything right or men who just don't care and have completely disconnected from their families and responsibilities. In painting this picture I believe that Satan is working to cloud our view of the divine nature of a father, to blind our minds to the love and care a father who is in-tune and desiring to fulfill his divine role can do. When all we see of fathers is ignorance, crassness, cruelty or carelessness we lose sight of who our Father in Heaven is. I'm so tired of a world trying to distract or mislead us from the true nature of our Heavenly Father.

I'm reading another demigod book, I do love reading about the mythology in them, but I struggle reading about deities that only care about themselves and are too caught up in their own petty struggles to give any heed to the people they should be loving and supporting. It paints this picture that the God in our world also doesn't care and doesn't have the time for us. I saw a post on Facebook asking "if there are so many Christians in Texas where was their God", I appreciated the response talking about the outpouring of love, kindness and service during a time when the rest of the country was tearing itself apart over race.

I was grateful to see both perspectives. We do live in a world that seems bent on forgetting God and His commandments or on misrepresenting Him. Even for those who know Heavenly Father and His divine nature it can still be hard to have full faith in His plan. Tuesday is my second year wedding anniversary, two years that have gone by so quickly and have taken me places I never expected to go (and I don't mean around the globe). I have lived more and felt more in these last two years than I have ever thought possible, some amazing, some not so amazing and some downright not fun. There have been times when I wondered what exactly Heavenly Father did have planned for me and where He really wanted me to end up. But a large part of belief is hope that the sun will rise and that good things will come and that better things can come from where we are.

Satan would give us inaccurate caricatures of Heavenly Father so that we don't see a divine creator of the universe that has an amazing work for us to do, that helps us every step of the way. Instead we see a being that can't be bothered to help us or alleviate our sufferings.

I testify that we do have a God who cares, we have a divine Father who loves us and intends for us to become something amazing, yes sometimes this means sending hurricanes into our lives (both literal and figurative), for those are the moments we find our core and test our mettle and those moments we can't live without in a universe where we can become warriors of light for light. Our Father in Heaven is there for you, He does have a purpose, He does have a plan, let Him take the reins sometimes, who knows you might just end up in a place you never imagined, but just can't live without.