My Short Thoughts on Missionary Work

Missionary work is one my favorite topics to talk about. However, it is not so for others. When we think of missionary work, what people usually think of is go knock on doors like missionaries before or some missionaries do. But we need to realize that this is not the only form of missionary work out there. We can do so many different things to do missionary work without saying much. Now I am not saying that we should avoid talking when it comes to missionary work. I am saying that this is not the only way to do missionary work.
Some of you may recognize that I post daily messages, whether spiritual or non-spiritual, and share my thoughts about them. This is a form of missionary work. It may not be as big as you expect, but it helps both others and myself of the subject I post and the importance of missionary work. I would invite you to find a form or missionary work that is suitable for you, but not to just stop there. Try other ones as well whether it comes by itself or you have to do something about it. I promise that as you do so, not only the person or persons that you share your thoughts with will come closer with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, but you will as well. Thanks for reading if you made it this far. Enjoy the rest of your day! 

Obedience to God’s Commandments

Let me first open this topic up with a little video I edited of the apostle Elder Holland speaking of keeping the commandments.

So why do we keep the commandments? What is the main reason why we keep the commandments that God has given us? The answer may be in many different varieties. Some people do it because out of fear. Some others do it just because it is the normal thing that has been asked of them. 

Let us see what the Savior said about keeping the commandments. 
John 14: 15
If ye love me, keep my commandments.

What I believe is that all, if not, most of the reason why we should keep the commandments is because of love. Compare it to when your parents ask you to do something. Why do you do what they said? Are you just afraid of punishment or do you love your parents to do what they ask? It is most likely because you respect them and love.

While I was on my mission, there was this phrase constantly passed around that was, "Obedience brings blessings, exact obedience brings miracles". At the beginning I rejected this because I thought it was stupid. I first tried to be exactly obedient seeking that whatever I do I would get investigators non-stop and lessons. I didn't get what I expected that I didn't realize that I also strengthen my ability to talk to people. 

Gordon B Hinckley said, “The happiness of the Latter-day Saints, the peace of the Latter-day Saints, the progress of the Latter-day Saints, the prosperity of the Latter-day Saints, and the eternal salvation and exaltation of this people lie in walking in obedience to the counsels of … God.”

People may think that obedience is just something secondary. That it is something that we don't have to do all the time. We only have to do it when we feel like it. For those who do say so, let us go to President Joseph F. Smith and what he said. “Obedience is the first law of heaven.” As we see, obedience was the first law in heaven. We need to do our best to obey all the Lord's commandments. When God sees that we are doing our best to keep the commandments, he will bless us in many different ways. It may not always be the way that we think we should be blessed, but he does bless us in many different ways. My hope and prayer is that we all do our best to be obedient to the commandments that God has given us. As we do, we can come closer to God and also become like Jesus Christ.

Who is Jesus Christ?

There are some people out there in this world who don't know who Jesus Christ is. There are also some people who know about Jesus Christ. But there are only a few of the entire world that actually know who Jesus Christ is. Why is that? How can someone who has passed through this life and not on this world anymore come to a knowledge of others? Have these people actually seen Jesus Christ? Have they touched him like the apostles did when Jesus came back as a Resurrected being? How did some people come to know Jesus Christ?

James E. Faust said this, "We may not feel a closeness with Him because we think of Him as being far away, or our relationship may not be sanctifying because we do not think of Him as a real person." Is this true? Do others think as Jesus Christ as just some story? Do others see Him as just another person that lived and died like anyone has?

Let me tell you who I believe Jesus Christ is. He is the Savior of this world. He came down long ago to teach His gospel to all who would receive it. He is the most selfless person who ever was. He did many and great miracles. He healed the sick and comforted the weak and afflicted. He did the Atonement which means He felt every hardship and trial that everyone who was on this earth would go through. He suffered alone so that we wouldn't suffer alone. And He is there for me everyday. 

How have I come to know that? In the Book of Mormon, there is a certain promise not just for the book itself, but also in all truth that we seek. It is in Moroni chapter 10 verse 3-5: "
Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read 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. And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things."

As we read the scriptures such as the Bible and Book of Mormon, we can come to know of who Jesus Christ is. This is one of the many ways we can come to know who Jesus Christ is or what His teachings are about.  I have done this and I have prayed about it, and I have come to know for myself that Jesus Christ is a real being who loves me and everyone. But sometimes, once isn't enough to do this. There are many times that I can forget just for a bit of who Jesus is. This is where the repetition comes into play. I need to keep doing this so that not only I can know who Jesus is again, but also learn new things that I didn't know about of what He has done.

But I am not the only one who has done this. There are many others who have done this and they also have come to know who Jesus Christ is too. This coming to know is for everyone to try. One of the Prophets of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said this: “The fundamental principles of our religion are the testimony of the Apostles and Prophets, concerning Jesus Christ, that He died, was buried, and rose again the third day, and ascended into heaven; and all other things which pertain to our religion are only appendages to it.” 

<sup>How has coming to know Jesus Christ helped anyone you have asked? Let me give you one more experience that I had. I had made a very bad mistake in my life and instead of resolving it, I decided to hide it from myself and continue to lie to myself that I was ok. But I wasn't at all. I was even scared of what God was thinking of me while doing this. I kept this for a long time until my mission where I finally had enough of it. I was just on the verge of giving up, saying I wasn't good enough to go on a mission, not even good enough to be accepted in anyone's eyes. I called my mission president who told me to hold on and to discuss it with God. As I opened up to God, I could feel something comforting me. Like it gave me a boost of energy or hope that I was ok and that I can make it through this. As I talked with my mission president and had gone throughout my mission, I have come to realize that was Jesus Christ comforting me and helping me by giving me a little push to continue on strong. My Savior knew what I was going through and He knew the way out and was guiding me there. He has done that to me. He can do it to all of us.

A proclamation made by the Apostles of the Lord said this: We bear testimony, as His duly ordained Apostles— that Jesus is the Living Christ, the immortal Son of God. He is the great King Immanuel, who stands today on the right hand of His Father. He is the light, the life, and the hope of the world. His way is the path that leads to happiness in this life and eternal life in the world to come. God be thanked for the matchless gift of His divine Son.

With their testimony, I will give mine as well. Jesus Christ is the Savior of this world. He is the hope and light. He is stretching out His hand to all of us on this earth to come to him and find peace and hope. He loves us no matter what. I love Him with all my heart! I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.</sup>

The Living Christ: https://www.lds.org/bc/content/shared/content/english/pdf/36035_000_25_livingchrist.pdf

A Personal Relationship with the Savior by James E. Faust: https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1976/10/a-personal-relationship-with-the-savior?lang=eng

Are you a bad person if you sin once?

                Can you do something wrong and be a horrible person automatically? Usually people believe this. They believe that you need to to something to be saved of the horrible thing you did. Some people might ignore the person who did the sin. If you commit a sin, you are not a bad person automatically because you don't go to Heck immediately for it, you can repent of your sin, and you can fix the sin and still look good.
               Sinning is a bad thing. But it doesn't mean that you should live a sad, miserable, life forever. You can still repent and be forgiven. Just one sin won't ruin your entire life. You can still do good in your life.
Like in the paragraph before, you can repent of that one sin. Some churches believe that you can repent that sin or make it go away. Or you could go to the person you did sin to and ask for his forgiveness. Usually he/she will forgive you. If they don't, then just go to a church.
               You can still fix the sin up and look good or even better. You will look better because it shows how you can overcome trials. It makes you immune to that sin now if you ever face it again. There can be people to help you overcome that sin also. So you can fix that sin and look way better than to have a sin.
               Having sin makes you look really bad, but not entirely. But one thing is for sure. You look a whole lot better by getting rid of your sin.

About me

I love to play the piano! I record myself playing it and posting them on youtube. My youtube channel is ilovemiranda56. (Don't ask why that's my name) I also like to make movies with my friends and family. We usually do them every weekend. I am also pretty good at most video games like Halo, Call of Duty, and more. I am usually a really funny person and love to make people laugh. I have many talents like playing all sports. Sports is one of my favorite thing to do. I play all sports, but my favorite one is basketball. I love watching it and playing it also. I like to make songs too. My friends and I usually continue to make movies. Just check out all my movies at: www.youtube.com/user/ilovemiranda56