A Surprise Heart Attack

  We got a nice surprise on Valentine's Day. Some mysterious visitors came by and "heart attacked" our apartment door! They cut out a bunch of paper hearts (most of which you can't see in the picture) and some Valentine's candy and they taped it to our door to surprise us.

  It really is little moments like this that make life worth living. Those little moments where somebody goes out of their way to do something small for you, just to see you smile or even just to know you smiled. Sometimes people don't know how much those little acts of charity mean.

  And that's really what it is. "Charity". Charity is the pure love of Christ, a love for other people. Somebody with charity just wants to see somebody else be happy. It doesn't matter to them if they get recognition for it. They are not doing it for any selfish reason. They do it purely for the other person.

  We are so lucky that there are people like that, but most especially our Savior. He was the perfect example of true charity. He suffered, died, and was resurrected for each one of us. He is happy when we are happy. We should work to be like that. It comes in every day living. A smile for somebody that looks down, a phone call to a lonely friend, or a heart attack. The good kind of heart attack.

  I am grateful for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints because it helps me to become a better person. It helps me develop charity. It helps me become closer to my Savior, Jesus Christ. It is His Church.

Filtering Out the Static

  This morning, I came across an old talk by Elder Boyd K. Packer called "Prayers and Answers". In this talk, he speaks about focusing on communication from God. In our world, there are all kinds of spiritual noise competing for our attention. It can block out communication from God, if we let it. We have to learn how to listen past the noise and hear what truly matters most.

  Think about it. There is an old saying that the best place to hide a tree is in a forest, right? So if Satan would want to hide communication from God from us, what better way than to send out innumerable other kinds of communication?

  He will throw all kinds of duplicates and falsehoods at us that are disguised as something good or something that we would want. He wants us to overlook that which is actually of God. We need to train ourselves to hear the voice of the Lord through all of the voices that clamor for our attention.

  Sometimes that can seem very complicated, but a Book of Mormon prophet named Moroni teaches a very important principle:

  "15 For behold, my brethren, it is given unto you to judge, that ye may know good from evil; and the way to judge is as plain, that ye may know with a perfect knowledge, as the daylight is from the dark night.
  "16 For behold, the Spirit of Christ is given to every man, that he may know good from evil; wherefore, I show unto you the way to judge; for every thing which inviteth to do good, and to persuade to believe in Christ, is sent forth by the power and gift of Christ; wherefore ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of God." - Moroni 7:15-16

  How simple. Anything that invites us to do something good is from God. Anything that invites us to do something evil is from the devil. Very simple, yet very profound. That principle can allow us to tune out the extra noises and listen only to the voice of the Spirit.

  God loves us. He will not leave us unguided.

The Gilbert Temple

  We got to go to the Gilbert Temple open house!

  For my non-LDS friends, temples are the house of the Lord. They are a place that we go to make covenants, or sacred promises, with God. For example, one of those covenants is eternal marriage. Covenants made in the temple are for eternity, both in this life and in the life to come.

  Naturally, the temple is a very sacred place. Purity is an important part of the temple. So we must be careful about who goes in. Therefore, only morally worthy members of our church that have been interviewed and accepted by Church leaders may be recommended to enter. This is in order to invite and keep the Spirit in the temple.

  Normally, however, an open house is held before a temple is dedicated to the Lord so that the general public may go through and see it for themselves. The stunning craftsmanship and the stunning beauty of the temple itself are overawed by the spirit found within its hallowed walls. There are powerful feelings inside of a temple and we want everyone to experience them.

  The Gilbert Temple's open house recently ended, but my companion and I were able to attend before it finished. The outside was magnificent. The inside was breathtaking. I mean that quite literally. I lost my breath and had difficulty breathing in one room because I was so overwhelmed. It is easy to feel like you are in God's presence when you are in His House.

  I am very grateful for the temples. They have made a huge impact in my life and I want to share it with everybody that I can. That is what people do when they find something good. They share it.

Testimony vs. Understanding

  Something absolutely essential to finding peace in this life is obtaining a testimony. A testimony, as defined in True to the Faith, is "a spiritual witness given by the Holy Ghost". It involves a belief in God and in Jesus Christ. When we have a testimony, we believe the Gospel as it has been given to us through the scriptures and the prophets.

(Taken from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Facebook Page)

  Understanding the Gospel is different from having a testimony of the Gospel. It is also essential to conversion, but understanding alone does not mean that somebody is converted to the Gospel or that they truly believe it. Somebody can read their scriptures all day every day and understand every nuance of doctrine but still not receive the joy that Christ offers us.

  That is because a testimony can only be received through the power of the Holy Ghost. The prophet Moroni gives a promise in the Book of Mormon:

" 3 Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts.
 4 And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.
 5 And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things." - Moroni 10:3-5

  According to these verses, we must honestly read the Book of Mormon and pray to ask God to know for ourselves of its truth. Once we do, the Holy Ghost will witness to us that the book is true. We will feel the peace of the restored Gospel enter into our lives.

  The peace brought from that testimony is irreplaceable.