This week for my scripture study I was reading in Alma 32 and I came across these verses that I think are so beautiful and well written. I pasted them below for your reading.


28 Now, we will compare the word unto a ^aseed. Now, if ye give place, that a ^bseed may be planted in your ^cheart, behold, if it be a true seed, or a good seed, if ye do not cast it out by your ^dunbelief, that ye will resist the Spirit of the Lord, behold, it will begin to swell within your breasts; and when you feel these swelling motions, ye will begin to say within yourselves—It must needs be that this is a good seed, or that the word is good, for it beginneth to enlarge my soul; yea, it beginneth to ^eenlighten my ^funderstanding, yea, it beginneth to be delicious to me.

29 Now behold, would not this increase your faith? I say unto you, Yea; nevertheless it hath not grown up to a perfect knowledge.

30 But behold, as the seed swelleth, and sprouteth, and beginneth to grow, then you must needs say that the seed is good; for behold it swelleth, and sprouteth, and beginneth to grow. And now, behold, will not this strengthen your faith? Yea, it will strengthen your faith: for ye will say I know that this is a good seed; for behold it sprouteth and beginneth to grow.

31 And now, behold, are ye sure that this is a good seed? I say unto you, Yea; for every seed bringeth forth unto its own ^alikeness.

32 Therefore, if a seed groweth it is good, but if it groweth not, behold it is not good, therefore it is cast away.

33 And now, behold, because ye have tried the experiment, and planted the seed, and it swelleth and sprouteth, and beginneth to grow, ye must needs know that the seed is good.

34 And now, behold, is your ^aknowledge ^bperfect? Yea, your knowledge is perfect in that thing, and your ^cfaith is dormant; and this because you know, for ye know that the word hath swelled your souls, and ye also know that it hath sprouted up, that your understanding doth begin to be enlightened, and your ^dmind doth begin to expand.

35 O then, is not this real? I say unto you, Yea, because it is ^alight; and whatsoever is light, is ^bgood, because it is discernible, therefore ye must know that it is good; and now behold, after ye have tasted this light is your knowledge perfect?

36 Behold I say unto you, Nay; neither must ye lay aside your faith, for ye have only exercised your faith to plant the seed that ye might try the experiment to know if the seed was good.

37 And behold, as the tree beginneth to grow, ye will say: Let us nourish it with great care, that it may get root, that it may grow up, and bring forth fruit unto us. And now behold, if ye nourish it with much care it will get root, and grow up, and bring forth fruit.

38 But if ye ^aneglect the tree, and take no thought for its nourishment, behold it will not get any root; and when the heat of the sun cometh and scorcheth it, because it hath no root it withers away, and ye pluck it up and cast it out.

39 Now, this is not because the seed was not good, neither is it because the fruit thereof would not be desirable; but it is because your ^aground is ^bbarren, and ye will not nourish the tree, therefore ye cannot have the fruit thereof.

40 And thus, if ye will not nourish the word, looking forward with an eye of faith to the fruit thereof, ye can never pluck of the fruit of the ^atree of life.

41 But if ye will nourish the word, yea, nourish the tree as it beginneth to grow, by your faith with great diligence, and with ^apatience, looking forward to the fruit thereof, it shall take root; and behold it shall be a tree ^bspringing up unto everlasting life.

42 And because of your ^adiligence and your faith and your patience with the word in nourishing it, that it may take root in you, behold, by and by ye shall pluck the ^bfruit thereof, which is most precious, which is sweet above all that is sweet, and which is white above all that is white, yea, and pure above all that is pure; and ye shall feast upon this fruit even until ye are filled, that ye hunger not, neither shall ye thirst.

43 Then, my brethren, ye shall ^areap the ^brewards of your faith, and your diligence, and patience, and long-suffering, waiting for the tree to bring forth ^cfruit unto you.


I highlighted the part that I wanted to write about. As I read about the word being like a seed, I pictured a little tomato seed that I would plant in my garden. In these verse it is talking about the garden being your heart and the seed being the gospel. If the seed is a "good seed," it should grow and bring forth fruit and understanding. I thought about the gospel and church doctrines and how they are planted within my heart and as I learn my understanding grows and my knowledge and testimony of the truth of the gospel also grows. I pictured my own testimony plant growing with beautiful tomatoes of my knowledge. I thought about how true those verses were and how I initially had to pray and study and nurture my seed (the word/scriptures) to find out if it was true and would grow into something more. I thought about being in high school and deciding that I was going to read my scriptures and go to seminary. Then as I did those things I felt my testimony blossom and have fruit. I was feeling good about the effort I had put in over the years and the fact that my efforts had helped by testimony be fruitful. THEN, I read on further in verse 37 and it talks about an existing plant or testimony that has no roots or replenishment because the ground is barren. That plant dried up and died in the sun. Not to be overly dramatic but I started to picture my own testimony plant withering and shrinking until there is no purpose for it but to be weeded out and thrown away. It was actually a scary realization that I could have the word/seed planted in my heart and grow to the beautiful testimony/fruit, but if I didn't continue to nourish then it would all be for naught. I realized that I need to constantly be working on strengthening my testimony to keep its root in my heart where it can get the nourishment it needs.

Whatching out for us

Today a speaker at church discussed the Prophet and his role as a watchman and last week I read in the Gospel Principles manual the basics about prophets. I was touched in both instances that I need to really take to heart what the Prophet speaks about in General Conference. The messages that the prophet gives us in formal setting such as General Conference and in the Ensign and inspired words from our Heavenly Father to us. As I learned of these things I realized that I need to take extra care to heed these promptings. I need to obey them the same way I would if Heavenly Father appeared to me and gave me instructions. I have started to look back at old Conference talks from the prophets of my lifetime to find out what their counsel has been over the last few years and to know what things are watchmen and warning of. I have learned of the importance of service, the reasons we need to make gospel oriented life time goals, the importance of gratitude. I know that Heavenly Father has given up prophets to be a guide in our lives.

What is the motivation

John 6: "Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled.
27 Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed."

The other day I was reading in the Gospel of John about the miracle of the Loaves and Fish. I love this verse after that when Christ calls them out on their motivation. He tells them that he doesn't think they are there for him or for the Gospel but rather for the food. How sad would that be? To be in the presence of Christ and have him say, "I know you are only here for the food." Or more appropriate for some, "I know you are only here for the social aspect or to look good to others." It made me really wonder, what are my motivations for going to church? or even why I am I a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints?
I know that I have felt the whispering of the Spirit tell me of the truth or Christ's gospel and specifically the Gospel restored to the earth by Joseph Smith. I know that the reason I go to Church is to worship, but on some days I do find I forget that and I start to let other motivation drive me. I am grateful for these verses where I am reminded to keep my motivations for church attendance to be about the miracle or the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I am truly amazed and grateful for my Savior and his Atonement. I know that because of that Atonement I can be cleansed of my sins and have everlasting life. I know that Joseph Smith restored the fullness of the Gospel in these latter days, that we might be able to employ all the power of the Atonement in out lives. I will make my resolve to keep these things in mind from now on as I go to church and remember the "meat that endureth unto everlasting life."

Alma the Younger

In college I took a Book of Mormon class where I had to write a report about one person in the Book of Mormon. I decided to write my paper on Alma the Younger. This Sunday I was teaching about the atonement and repentance and I told the kids about Alma the Younger. He was the son of a prophet yet he was fighting against the church. He was leading people away from the gospel and were trying to destroy the church. Alma the elder prayed for his son to be brought back to the light. When Alma the younger was meeting and setting out to destroy the church he was visited by an angel who told him that he was wrong. Alma was so stunned that he went into a stupor and was not able to speak or move. While he was in a stupor this was the experience he had. (I can't get my blog to allow copy and paste of the actual scriptures, so you'll have to go to this link). Alma 36. I find that his explanation of his experience is so powerful. It just shows how the atonement and Christ's loving sacrifice truly has the ability to take us out of any terrible or hopeless place. He sums it up by saying, "Yea, I say unto you , my son, that there could be nothing so exquisite and so bitter as were my pains. Yea, and again I say unto you , my son, that on the other hand, there can be nothing so exquisite and sweet as was my joy." Because of the atonement we can be brought from a stage of utter guilt and misery to a place of peace and joy. What an amazing miracle!! I am grateful for that power and experience I have felt in my own life.

No Neutrality

First, sorry about the hiatus, but I am back (and so is our computer).


I was reading a passage recently about Christ's writings in the scriptures and about how we are taught that we cannot be neutral. We MUST make a stand and align ourselves. We are either disciples and worshippers of Jesus Christ or we are against him. In Matthew 12:30 is says: "He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad." Christ makes is absolutely clear that there are only two options, there is no third neutral or middle ground option. We are either believers and supporters of Christ or by not choosing or being "neutral" we are actively against Christ.

It is easier to see where you stand on the big picture with this one. I know that I believe in Christ. I know which side I stand on with that, but I believe it is the smaller decisions each day that show what we really believe. It is things like honesty and kindness that can tell us which side we are really on. We cannot say that we are disciples of Christ and act contrary to how he would have us act. Our actions must support our claims of believing in Christ. We must do more that proclaim belief in Christ, we must show our alliance with Him in our actions. We cannot be neutral.

Tragedy

Sometimes tragedies make us reflect more on what the plan of salvation is all about. Unfortunately tragedies can come at all times of the year and this Christmas I had a dear friend that experienced a tragedy (and by her experiencing it, I too felt the pain of it.) As I sat in the Chapel listening to a speaker talk about tragedy and God's plan and I felt comfort about this tragedy. I don't think that God wants bad things to happen, but he sometimes he allows them to happen. He knows more about our inner strength than we could ever imagine. We don't always understand His plan and His plan isn't always pretty and fluffy. We don't always get our way and sometimes things are difficult to shape us into something miraculous. It is not up to me to judge His wisdom. We aren't responsible for understanding the entire plan, but we are responsible for having faith that He does love us, His Son has provided us a way to have a happiness, and one day (maybe not in this life), if we trust Him ,we will be able to understand His wisdom in all things. For this understanding I am grateful.

Praise to the Man

I know it is Christmas time and a post about Christ is more befitting of the season, but I had to most my testimony about Joseph Smith and why I praise (not worship) him. I was reading the Sunday School lesson about Josheph Smith today and there is a quote from President Benson that really touched me: “The First Vision of the Prophet Joseph Smith is bedrock theology to the Church. The adversary knows this and has attacked Joseph Smith’s credibility from the day he announced the visitation of the Father and the Son. … You should always bear testimony to the truth of the First Vision. Joseph Smith did see the Father and the Son. They conversed with him as he said they did. It is the most glorious event since the resurrection of our Lord. Any leader who, without reservation, cannot declare his testimony that God and Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith can never be a true leader, a true shepherd. If we do not accept this truth, … if we have not received a witness about this great revelation, we cannot inspire faith in those whom we lead.”

I was thinking about this as a primary leader and just as a member of these Church. If I can't say within my heart that I know that Joseph Smith saw God the Father and His Son, then all the other truth's in the church are nice principles. Without a true testimony of Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon is just a neat book with some good lessons. BUT I do have a testimony of Joseph Smith. I have felt the Spirit burn within me and witness that Joseph Smith did go to the Sacred Grove, he did pray for instruction on which church to join and he did receive an answer from God. I know all of these things in my heart and in my head. I have felt it when I pray and I have understood it when I read and ponder. It is because of this knowledge that I know that I belong to the restored Church of Jesus Christ on this earth today. I praise Joseph Smith for his courage and faith. I praise him for his strength and persistence to share what he knew despite persecution. It it because of his strength that I was raised in a family and taught from a young age about his visitation from God and Jesus Christ. I cannot express my feelings of gratitude for the lessons I was taught as a child and for the testimony that I gained as a teenager (and continue to gain daily.) I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet and deserves to be praised.

Watch this video.