The Keystone

A blog dedicated to all things LDS as well as my personal experiences and thoughts relating to the Gospel and the Book of Mormon. Enjoy! To ask questions, click the Message tab. You can be anonymous if you'd like! user(s)

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I haven't been posting on here lately and I feel bad because this blog really helped me when I was at school. Now that I'm home for the summer, the logical thing would be to continue posting but, I have no good excuse other than I've been very busy with work but even then, I have some down time. So, with any excuses aside, I'll try to be a little better about posting here. Lots has happened since I've been home so I'm hoping to post some stuff soon. Conveniently, I am writing a talk that I have to give this Sunday that I will most likely be posting here so that's something! Hope to post more things soon!!!!!!

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Simplicity

This is a blog that hopefully will show you that God is always the answer. No matter religion, race...

Here's another blog with some thoughts of hope and love. Check it out!

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What religion are you? I'm Catholic Promo for Promo?:)

I'm a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints or more commonly known as "Mormon" :) sure!

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This isn't much of a religion related post but since I'm at BYU and it is finals week, I thought this was pretty accurate. 

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Eternal Life

Many people believe that after this life there is nothing or no one. That our progression and potential ends when our life ends on Earth. This outlook can lead people to live life without a belief in consequences or perceive life on Earth as insignificant. In this life we’re able to grow and learn for our next life which is eternal life. If we are righteous and charitable, we can obtain it. Unfortunately, every human is imperfect, constantly making mistakes and doing harm to others and our selves. Because of our imperfection, Heavenly Father gave us a Savior, Jesus Christ whom through his atoning sacrifice we may become perfect mistake after mistake, again and again. Although we came into the world imperfect, as newborn children we did not yet come into the world as inheritably evil. Children are given the opportunity to grow and learn before they reach an age of accountability. Children come into the world not yet knowing right from wrong, therefore do not need to be cleansed of their sins. Moroni 8:8 says, “ Listen to the words of Christ your Redeemer, your Lord and your God. Behold, I came into the world not to call the righteous but the sinners to repentance; the whole need no physician, but they that are sick; wherefore, little children are whole, for they are no capable of committing sin; wherefore the curse of Adam is taken from them in me, that it hath no power over them…” If children die before they age of accountability, there is not need to fear for their salvation because God takes them immediately into salvation. And even for people that have passed away without being baptized and not being washed of their sins, our faith practices baptisms and ordinances that did not have the opportunity to do so in this life. In addition, we can repent daily through prayer and sacrament. Because of the gift of the freedom to choose that God gave us, we can choose to stray and make mistakes, but we can also choose to go to him, ask for forgiveness and be forgiven time and time again. There is so much to look forward to in the next life and we can receive all the blessings and joy from eternity if we make our life on Earth meaningful and stay close to our Heavenly Father.  

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Knowing evil to do away with it

We’ve all suffered our share of struggles and have been witnesses of the suffering of innocent people. As humans, we recognize that these atrocities are nothing short of horrendous and unforgivable. Pain and sorrow works in a spectrum and various between individuals. There are some occasions that seem more terrible to one person than to another.  There are also many occasions that are viewed terrible by all. With so many possibilities for terrible and unthinkable things to happen in our world, it can be difficult for people to find hope, peace, love, and believe that there is a loving Heavenly Father. Why would be given all this pain and suffering? Why can’t our lives on Earth be perfect in the way we want it to be? The Book of Mormon is filled with stories of great and marvelous events of our ancestors in the America’s that recorded their blessings from God. There are also just as many recorded experiences of the suffering they faced and the awful choices people made. In Ether 8:26, great military leader and Nephite prophet Moroni, explains the necessity for keeping record of the atrocities that occurred. Verse 26 reads, “Wherefore, I, Moroni, am commanded to write these things that evil may be done away, and that the time may come that Satan may have no power upon the hearts of the children of men, but that they may be persuaded to do good continually, that they may come unto the fountain of all righteousness and be saved.” It is not possible for us to learn anything when we are only given the positive. We have to be given the negative. Juxtapositions are needed; we need sorrow to know joy. But why would a loving Heavenly Father allow his people to make choices that lead to abuse or murder? It is because we have a loving Heavenly Father that we all have the freedom to choose. God wants the best for us and if we seek after Him we can know how to become our best. But God never wants to force anything on us. Just like a loving parent, he is willing to witness his children suffer from their bad decisions and choose their own path. In our pre-mortal existence we chose to come to an Earth where we knew we would suffer because of our bad choices and even the bad choices of others. We’ve all been given agency to choose good or choose evil. To avoid evil, we must know what evil, looks, sounds, and feels like. This is why the Book of Mormon is filled with stories of fallen people. This is how we learn to avoid those decisions. As long as we try our best to choose the right, our Father in Heaven and His Begotten Son, Jesus Christ, will be proud and with open arms, accept us with forgiveness and love. 

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“God loves all His children. That is why He pleads so earnestly with us through His prophets. Just as we want what is best for our loved ones, Heavenly Father wants what is best for us. That is why His instructions are so crucial and sometimes so urgent. That is why He has not abandoned us today but continues to reveal His will to us through His prophets. Our fate and the fate of our world hinge on our hearing and heeding the revealed word of God to His children.” -Dieter F. Uchtdorf

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It’s General Conference weekend and there’s nothing better than receiving divinely inspired counsel from our modern day Prophet, Apostles and other auxiliary leaders. You can watch all the sessions at the lds.org website! 

http://www.lds.org/general-conference/watch?lang=eng

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With the recent tensions of the Human Rights Campaign, the LDS church has made a statement about the issue and has clarified Mormon view on homosexuality. I hope this brings clarity to those who wonder what the LDS view on the LGBTQ community is and how we will always and forever uphold the importance of equality and value of ALL human beings and that the most fundamental principle of our religion is and will always be love for one another.

For more information on the LDS church's view you can go to http://www.mormonsandgays.org/

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Keep the Faith

In all honesty it can sometimes be very difficult to relate to the stories, the people, and the situations in the Book of Mormon. I use to have the mindset constantly when I read the book for the first time. Now more than ever, I’ve realized that there are un-paralleled similarities between me and the prophets of old. This applies to any and everyone if you allow it to apply to you. There are some incredible similarities between Joseph Smith Jr. and Mormon. They were both visited by Christ at a young age, both were told to wait until their adulthood to obtain the scriptures, and had various extremely similar struggles in their mission to teach people about the gospel of Jesus Christ and his infinite Atonement. One story that really hit home for me was the one shared in class about Joseph Smith Sr. and the struggles he had with this family. To make a long story of financial strife short, Joseph’s family was having immense struggles with money, making it difficult for the Smith family to survive. For four consecutive years, as the tried planting and investing time and money into growing various crops, something always seemed to go wrong. How was it possible that even with their persistence and faith, everything seemed to go wrong? One day, Joseph Sr. saw a flier for available land in Palmyra, NY. With the last of their provisions and money, the family traveled to NY where the prospered more than ever before. The family was blessed because of their faith and the endurance. I know firsthand how difficult it can be to put on a happy face in situations that never seem to get better. My family has been struggling financially for several years now, even more so with me being in college. However, they are perfect examples of what keeping the faith and enduring to the end are all about. More than anything I would love for our situation to be completely solved. However, I’ve noticed that the small blessings we’ve received whether it be my parent’s getting a raise, getting more on their tax return, finding small ways to save money, anything at all, those bring me the greatest joy. They have made me a strong believer in keeping the faith and having hope for the future. The world would be a perfect place if everything had an immediate solution. But it wouldn’t be the world at all because there would be no lessons to learn, no battle to win, no reason to fight. How can we know what love, happiness, and joy are, if we don’t have hate, sorrow, and pain to compare it to? 

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The Butterfly Circus - Short Film

This is an incredible short film about giving hope to those who have none. There are so many things to learn about this film but two of the major lessons I learned (or was reminded of) were:

See others not as they are, but as they may become. There is so much potential in every single one of us. No matter what are past is, we all have a future, and chance to change. 

"The greater the struggle, the more glorious the triumph" - This quote from the film encapsulates exactly what we as humans tend to disregard. The more difficult our trial, the more blessings we'll receive and the stronger we will become.

Instead of dwelling in our misery, and having pity for ourselves, we need to look at our potential. All it takes is a change in the way you think. Life is too short and too incredible to be angry, frustrated, and miserable. 

Last but not least, recognize the blessings in your life. Someone will always have it worse off then you, but even those people can find the good things in their life. Try to be more life them. 

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Wherein Shall We Return?

This past week I’ve challenged myself to make a more conscious effort to recognize the divinity of Christ in my life. I’ve tried to constantly look at all the things I do for him and how he takes them even with the minimal amount of worth they really are to him. Because all of the physical exertion is just the external exhibition of our internal gratitude and love for our Savior. Tithing has never been something I’ve had to consistently be concerned about because I have yet to have a job with a steady income. This summer though, I plan to be working a lot and I am hoping that I don’t neglect the importance of paying a tithing. It can be difficult to see why it is necessary to give 10 percent of your income to the Lord. Even when you know it is going towards building temples, education (really MY education), and other operating funds for the LDS church. How could this benefit me spiritually? In 3 Nephi 24: 8 commands Israel to pay their tithes in order to return to him. Of all the things the people could possibly have “robbed” God and Christ of tithes. God and Christ have no use for money so why would they ask for this? James E. Talmage told a parable that he formulate called the Parable of the Ungrateful Cat. In short, a naturalist had saved kittens that were being thrown into a river by children because their family could not keep them. While giving a speech in front of some colleagues, the mother cat walks in his home, with a dead mouse in her mouth. She walks towards the naturalists, places the mouse in front of his feet, rubs against his leg affectionately and then leaves.  This is a perfect analogy to paying tithing. Our money, like the mouse, means nothing to Christ (the naturalist). He has no use for it. But it is the sacrifice that we make that matters to him. That we are willing to give up something that is physically important in this world, to show him how much we love him. Not only that, but he is able to take our sacrifices, and use them to bless us. We have an incredible and loving Savior and Heavenly Father. Nothing they ask us is ever for their good, but it is always for our good. 

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Today in Relief Society, we had a lesson about learning to accept God's will as our own because he knows what is best for us. This Mormon Message is exactly how we view all of the difficulties that we are given throughout our lives. It can be difficult to see the good in a bad situation when we can't see what the outcome will be. But to trust and know that the harder the trial, the greater the growth and blessings, the easier it can be to see it in the perspective of God. 

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Blessed are the merciful

If forgiving others is difficult, than forgiving yourself is twice is challenging. Making mistakes or not feeling good enough is unfortunately an easy trap to fall into. Once we fall into that trap it is very hard to get out. Lately it has been really difficult for me to feel like I belong at school or feel like I am successful when I am surrounded by incredible and unique people. Sometimes, it can get to the point where I question why I am at BYU in the first place. One of the Beatitudes in 3 Nephi 12:7 was “And blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy”. This is sort of a two-sided statement. On one side, Jesus is teaching that it is important to forgive and be compassionate to others for it to be returned to us. The other side is the one that can be most difficult; being merciful to ourselves. It is rare for it to come easy for me to let go of my past mistakes and my insecurities. Because of this difficulty, I tend to hold myself back and not give myself enough credit. More than anything, our Savior wants us to recognize the love that he and our Heavenly Father have for each of us. But it is things like past mistakes, personal faults, and self-doubt the become a road block to our progression. If we allow Christ to be our Savior and trust in him, we can learn to forgive ourselves and acknowledge our potential as heavenly beings. This is definitely something that is easier said than done, but from personal experience, I know that putting in the effort is so worth it. God and Christ want more than anything to show as mercy and love. It is up to us whether or not we let them do it. 

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Reflections of Christ: Another Testament

Reflections of Christ are a photo series done by photographer Mark Mabry. These photographs depict various occasions of Christ's life using real people. They are absolutely stunning and incredible photos. This slideshow shows the coming of Christ to the Nephites in the Americas. It shows him coming to the people and children, one by one, and blessing them. To view the all the pictures, videos, or for other information on this photo series you can go to the Reflections of Christ website

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Prayer

We’ve been blessed by our Heavenly Father with the gift of prayer. It allows us to have direct communication with Him. As a kid, prayers off as a bit redundant. But one of the things that I noticed about prayer for me was as a child, I was more willing to do it. As I got older, I started to rely more on myself, friends, and family on decisions I made and experiences that I went through. While these are wonderful and efficient ways to receive guidance and comfort, I felt that I was missing something more. I had failed to recognize who was really behind every decision and experience in my life. Sometimes we think we have to be very formal when we pray. While it is important to be reverent and respectful in prayers, he is there to listen and help just like a friend or family member.  In the 3 Nephi, Nephi, the son of Helaman was witnessing the skepticism of his people to the prophecies of the coming of Christ that the prophet Samuel the Lamanite had delivered. He worried because their wickedness and unbelief was impeding their decision to repent. Nephi “cried mightily to his God” for his people. It says “he cried mightily unto the Lord all that day”. Not only was Nephi focusing his prayers on his people rather than himself or his family, but he was persistent and made his prayer long and drawn out. Although it may be that his prayer lasted an entire day, which is still significantly long, to me, it would have been like praying daily for help, not attending to the whether his prayer was answered immediately or would be in the future. He trusted that if he had faith and persisted in prayer, the Lord would answer. Prayers can become habitual but if we push ourselves to make them meaningful and grateful, they can change our perspective and relationship with God. It is so important that to include others in our prayer like Nephi and continue to pray in faith. We cannot be discouraged when our answer does not come immediately or in the way we want it to. I know that everything that happens is for a reason and if I continue to strengthen my relationship with God through prayer, there is always something to look forward to.