Shredded Doors and Truth

That's a pretty cool timeline, right? It gives us the basic overview of what we talked about in the last two posts, (with the exception of the Happy Birthday post) namely: the mortal ministry of Jesus Christ, the organization of His church, and the subsequent apostasy, or falling away, from the true and simple doctrines, principles, and teachings of the Savior. But it also introduces a new concept: that of the Restoration of the original and true gospel of Jesus Christ.

There was a religious stir in New England during the early 1800's, with the different preachers of the many sects of Christianity holding revivals frequently, and with much preaching of the word throughout the area. As a result of this apostasy, the different ministers were all preaching different things; same Bible, same Jesus Christ, yet they all interpreted His teachings so differently (this is because there was no one authorized by the Lord to preach His word). Anyone who was searching for God's truth was easily confused by the myriad of opinions on the Bible and its' teachings, and with no authorized servant of the Lord to look to for guidance, people were left to their own personal relationship with God, which often led to personal opinions and interpretations of God's word.

I'm sure we've all experienced confusion about religion, especially considering the circumstances of the world now. There was a fourteen year old boy, living in New York, who had similar questions; his name was Joseph Smith, Jr. Now, before we go get our pitchforks and torches to revive the mob which chased Joseph around until the end of his life, just hear me out. Joseph was pretty much an average teenage boy: working on the family farm, educated to the level of a third grader, and just a good boy who was very concerned about his standing with God. He described his situation some years later as follows:

"During this time of great excitement my mind was called up to serious reflection and great uneasiness; but though my feelings were deep and often poignant, still I kept myself aloof from all these parties, though I attended their several meetings as often as occasion would permit. In process of time my mind became somewhat partial to the Methodist sect, and I felt some desire to be united with them; but so great were the confusion and strifeamong the different denominations, that it was impossible for a person young as I was, and so unacquainted with men and things, to come to any certain conclusion who was right and who was wrong.

My mind at times was greatly excited, the cry and tumult were so great and incessant. The Presbyterians were most decided against the Baptists and Methodists, and used all the powers of both reason and sophistry to prove their errors, or, at least, to make the people think they were in error. On the other hand, the Baptists and Methodists in their turn were equally zealous in endeavoring to establish their own tenets and disprove all others.

In the midst of this war of words and tumult of opinions, I often said to myself: What is to be done? Who of all these parties are right; or, are they all wrong together? If any one of them be right, which is it, and how shall I know it?"

Joseph was searching for truth, and went about from church to church working to find it. But, as he described, there was so much contention on this subject that he could not come to any conclusion about which church he should join himself with. As a result, he turned to the Bible to search:



"While I was laboring under the extreme difficulties caused by the contests of these parties of religionists, I was one day reading the Epistle of James, first chapter and fifth verse, which reads: If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

Never did any passage of scripture come with more power to the heart of man than this did at this time to mine. It seemed to enter with great force into every feeling of my heart. I reflected on it again and again, knowing that if any person needed wisdom from God, I did; for how to act I did not know, and unless I could get more wisdom than I then had, I would never know..."

Don't you love those moments when you're reading the scriptures and you read that perfect verse that just touches your heart? Joseph had an experience like that when he read James 1:5, and he decided to act on what he read:

"So, in accordance with this, my determination to ask of God, I retired to the woods to make the attempt. It was on the morning of a beautiful, clear day, early in the spring of eighteen hundred and twenty. It was the first time in my life that I had made such an attempt, for amidst all my anxieties I had never as yet made the attempt to pray vocally.

"After I had retired to the place where I had previously designed to go, having looked around me, and finding myself alone, I kneeled down and began to offer up the desires of my heart to God."

As Joseph prayed, he had a remarkable experience; one that changed the world forever:

"I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me... When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description,standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other—This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!"




I can scarcely imagine the surprise and wonder that must have filled the young Joseph, as his humble prayer, offered in his search of truth, was answered by a visitation from our loving Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. But Joseph had a purpose of faithfully inquiring of the Lord:

"My object in going to inquire of the Lord was to know which of all the sects was right, that I might know which to join. No sooner, therefore, did I get possession of myself, so as to be able to speak, than I asked the Personages who stood above me in the light, which of all the sects was right (for at this time it had never entered into my heart that all were wrong)—and which I should join.

"I was answered that I must join none of them, for they were all wrong; and the Personage who addressed me said that all their creeds were an abomination in his sight; that those professors were all corrupt; that: “they draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me, they teach for doctrines the commandments of men, having a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof.”

"He again forbade me to join with any of them; and many other things did he say unto me..."

Because of apostasy, all these churches were established in attempts to help people learn of the gospel of Jesus Christ. But without the priesthood, there was no divine guidance, and thus they veered off the straight and narrow path. At this point, Joseph knew that he had been called to do something extraordinary, and totally beyond his capacity (without the help of God): to restore the Church of Jesus Christ back to the earth.

Who remembers Monsters, Inc.? It's a wonderful movie, and as I think about the marvelous work and wonder that is the Restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ, I think of the ending. Mr. Waternoose has been apprehended along with Randall, and Boo has been sent back home, but that's not enough: her door has to be shredded to prevent her from returning and to prevent Sully from visiting this little girl who has changed his life. Then we fast forward, and the company is back on it's feet, thanks to the discovery of the power of laughter. All the while, Mike has been working on a project, in secret, for his best buddy. Sully always keeps the one piece he has of Boo's door with his clipboard, but Mike has searched high and low, enduring blisters and splinters, putting her door back together. Sully is follows Mike into a room where the mostly reassembled door is, but it will not work without Sully's piece. When he puts his piece into it's proper place, the light comes on, and the door is live. Sully steps through the door with some apprehension, and hears the nickname Boo gave him: "Kitty."



This was an emotional moment, as we were all reminded of the special relationships we have in this life, especially those with little children who are so loving and adorable. But there is an analogy to be found here! Just as the door couldn't be complete without all the pieces, thus enabling Sully to reunite with his friend, neither could the Church of Jesus Christ be complete without all the teachings, doctrines and organizations; the "puzzle pieces," if you will. And when the Church is restored in it's full and complete form, the blessings are endless, we feel and know God's love, and can know the way He has established for us to return to him in our families for all of eternity.

In the next posts to come, we will discuss how those plain and precious "puzzle pieces" were restored into their proper place. But please, pray and ask God about the experience of Joseph Smith, and pay attention to the feelings He will give to you through the Holy Spirit. I know how much I can feel God's love whenever I have the opportunity to discuss this with people, and I know you can feel the same.

Curious to know what some of the puzzle pieces of Christ's church are? Read Ephesians 4:6, 11-14; Ephesians 5:23; Acts 2:37-41; Acts 8:5-17; Acts 10 (Peter's revelation); Acts 19:1-6; 1 Corinthians 15:29; Matthew 18:18; and many more scriptures.

Would you like to watch a video about Joseph's search for truth and subsequent answer? Click Here!

Happy Birthday?

Last week, I celebrated my 22nd birthday. Growing up, I thought a birthday was all about having my friends over so we could have some fun, eating my favorite dinner and dessert, opening the presents everyone gave to me; basically a day for me where everyone focused on me and no one got mad or frustrated or upset with me, because this was my day!

When I came to Tennessee to serve a full-time mission, that all changed. On a mission, you don't get a special day off just because it's your birthday. You do what you do everyday: knock on doors, find people who are interested in hearing what you have to say, teaching these people, and helping them come closer to the Savior. Going out into the real world on your birthday means that you have the chance to experience both sides of the spectrum: people who care to hear what you have to say, and people who don't. At first, this was frustrating to me. When these people opened the door, I wanted to say: "excuse me, but it's my birthday today, so could you please be kind to me and listen to what I have to say? And if you're not interested, please just tell me in a polite manner." Unfortunately, my expectations were a bit unrealistic.

You see, on a mission, you pretty much give up your identity: people don't call you by your first name, they have no clue who you are, and you look the same as every other missionary (at least for the elders, who wear white shirts and ties every day). And something that you learn on a mission is that, when people reject the message you share, they aren't rejecting you personally, but rather Him whose message it is: Jesus Christ. This is something that is difficult to learn and accept at first, especially when you experience rejection frequently.

Sometimes, I've had friends and acquaintances ask me: "why are you serving a mission?" This is a valid question, especially when you consider all the rejection and sadness that comes, and that your birthday is just another regular day on your mission; that nobody really knows it's the day you were born. So why do young men and women decide to go out into the world, where nobody knows their birthday?

I'll tell you in a later post more about my decision to serve a mission, but I think I speak for all the missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints when I say that we love our Savior and His message which we are called to share. Whether our testimonies developed from dramatic events or by small and simple means, we all have a testimony that burns like a fire in our hearts, and we want to share that fire and that light with everyone we can. We not only volunteer to serve, but are eternally grateful for the short 2 years we have to serve the Lord and His children with all our hearts. That means that, in the end, we are even grateful for those few discouraging times and the days when people didn't know it was our birthday. We know that God has a plan for us, because we've seen His hand in our lives, and we know that those tough days will help us learn things that we will need later in life.

Apparently, when you grow up, people don't treat you any differently on your birthday, so I guess that's just something I'll have to learn. But I can tell you that I didn't go home and cry myself to sleep on the night of July 17th because people were mean to me on my birthday! In fact, I fell asleep with a smile on my face, because I had the chance to use my birthday to tell people about the Savior, and His gospel which has blessed my life so much.

I guess, in the end, the advice I would give, and the lesson I've learned here is this: if you are struggling with difficult times in your life, no matter what form those trials come in, the best antidote is to serve the Lord in whatever way you can! The following quote really touched my heart this morning: "Keeping divine commandments brings blessings, every time!" Our Heavenly Father loves us, and wants to help us; when we obey Him and serve Him and His children in whatever way we can, He will bless us! I know that, because I've experienced both sides in my life, and I feel more happiness and peace in my life when I am helping others and obeying God. So, what will you do to serve God today?


Curious to learn more about what missionaries do? Click Here!

Beware of False Prophets!

So our Savior laid down His life for us, and was resurrected: what a miracle! Sadly, many people didn't believe in the many miracles he performed, including breaking the bands of death. As His Apostles went forth with His authority to spread the gospel, many accepted their message, and many didn't. Unfortunately, violence ensued, and many of the apostles were killed or exiled. This created a problem within the church: the authority which Jesus had given to those apostles was gone. People didn't know who to look to in order to solve squabbles over doctrine, ordinances, and the like. They were searching for the truth, but either couldn't find it, or looked to man's wisdom or interpretation of the truth for answers: they were searching for a way to happiness, and were left to their own devices. There is a scripture in the Old Testament that describes this:

"Behold the days come... that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord: And [people] shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it." -Amos 8:11-12

In The Princess and the Frog, Prince Naveen is looking for happiness in all the wrong places. He chases women, plays music all day, and refuses to work. He hopes to marry any woman as quickly as he can, so as to inherit his parents' money, thus ensuring a worry-free life of comfort. In this pursuit, he seeks the advice of Dr. Facilier, a voodoo-man, who loves telling people what they like to hear, in order to trick them and steal their souls away. Perhaps Matthew 7:15-20 comes to mind?

15 ¶Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.

 16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?

 17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.

 18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.

 19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.

 20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

But as the story goes on, Naveen and Tiana go to see Mama Odie, who is the voodoo mama of the bayou. They come to her, hoping to repair the situation that Naveen and Tiana have gotten themselves into. She offers what advice she can, but in the end only gives them some sage advice, not the cure they were looking for.

This situation hearkens back to the scripture from Amos, because Naveen was looking for happiness in the promises Dr. Facilier gave him, but it led to quite the opposite. Even when they went to Mama Odie, who only uses "good" voodoo to help people, she couldn't help them either. Their authority wasn't real or true, and could not lead someone to the path that leads to true happiness. In a similar way (I know the analogy isn't perfect), people searched for happiness in following the example of Jesus Christ. This is the way to true and lasting peace and happiness, but only if it is operating under the priesthood authority of God. But without that authority present, what was to be done?

As I mentioned earlier, this lack of authority caused much confusion among the faithful followers of Christ. They wanted to stay on the straight and narrow, but without inspired leadership, they could only have a hope at receiving man's interpretation of the teachings of Jesus and whatever scriptures they had at the time. This was no fault of the people: they were just trying to do the best with what they had.

This confusion led to the creation of many different churches, with conflicting teachings, which caused even more confusion! This all came about for various reasons: political aspirations, hunger for power or money, or rebellion against the teachings of other churches. Perhaps an illustration would help!

(This illustration only shows a portion of the Christian denominations to be found in the world!)

With such an array of Christian faiths, how could one not become confused; especially when considering Ephesians 4:5 - "One Lord, one faith, one baptism." What could one do to find the light in the midst of this "long night of apostasy?" Stick around for the next blog to find out!

Looking for more information on this "long night of apostasy?" Click Here!
Still have questions about what apostasy is? Click Here!

P.S.: This post is not meant to demean or downplay the good that countless marytyrs, reformers, translators, intellectuals, and other leaders have done in the course of Christianity. I am especially grateful for those, like William Tyndale, who worked so hard and gave all they had to provide a translation of the Bible in the English language. All Christians are forever grateful and indebted to these marvelous men and women!

A Hero's Sacrifice

In classic Disney films, we see many examples of heroism. We have Mulan: a young woman who impersonates a man in an attempt to save her father. We also have Pinocchio: who saves his father from the belly of Monstro the whale, losing his own life in the process. We have Ray: a courageous, love-struck lightning bug, who gives his life to save his friends. We have Mufasa: a father who would do anything for his son, including a dash through a wildebeest stampede, with no thought for his own life. We have Flynn Rider (A.K.A. Eugene), who cuts off Rapunzel's hair, saving her from a life of slavery to a selfish witch. But as the golden light of Rapunzel's hair faded, so did his chances of being healed from his mortal wound.

Luckily, these films all provide us happy endings: Simba honoring his father's memory by saving the kingdom; Tiana and Naveen returning to human form and being married; Pinocchio is granted life as a real boy; Mulan not only saving her father but saving the empire; and of course, the magic tear that heals Eugene. I love a happy ending!

Incidentally, the greatest Hero to ever live taught and eventually lived a teaching that these characters emulate: "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." John 15:13. Our Savior, Jesus Christ, is the most important person to ever live on this Earth. Without Him, the whole plan of our loving Heavenly Father wouldn't work, for no unclean thing can dwell in the presence of God. I don't know about you, but I sin every day, and if I didn't have a way to clean those mistakes up, I would be in big trouble come judgement day!

Our Savior had several objectives to accomplish when He came to the Earth, the most important being to "lay down His life for His friends," and in the verse that follows the one quoted previously, He says: "Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you." So if we want to honor His suffering and death, we have to obey and live His teachings.

Teaching was another purpose for His earthly ministry: for a couple hundred years previous to His coming, the Earth had been in a period of apostasy, and the teachings which had been revealed through prophets and written in scripture had become twisted to suit man, rather than to follow God. The Savior came to rectify the situation: to teach the correct doctrines and principles, and even to institute a higher law. This law was called "higher" because it raised His disciples to a greater level of spirituality: they could see past the animal sacrifices and the strict laws and commandments, and understand the purpose behind those things. This higher law helped them to live more by faith, rather than strict observance of specific laws and rites; it required greater sacrifice than that of animal blood: it required the whole heart and soul.

As Christ went about teaching these doctrines and principles, He instituted churches and officials to help guide His disciples as they continued in their gospel learning. This is talked about in Ephesians 4:11-14

"And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some,evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ: That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men,and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;"The Savior instituted this perfect church with perfect organization because He knew that, in order to accomplish His primary objective, He would have to leave the Earth. But how did He set up this church, and how did He know who to choose, and what set those people apart from any others? These are all valid questions, and ones that can be answered by an appeal to both the Bible and the Book of Mormon.

He called twelve men, apostles, and gave them His priesthood authority, which is the same authority the prophets held all through time. This gave them His permission to teach, baptize, confer the gift of the Holy Ghost, and other such things. Christ did this so that once He was gone from the Earth, His church could still be organized and administered under His authority, which I'm sure was very comforting to His followers.

I know that the Savior lives. He came to this Earth not just to suffer and die for our sins, but to rise from the grave. This is wonderful news, because before Christ came to the Earth, men could be sure of two things: birth and death. But as the hymn says:

Christ the Lord is ris'n today,

Alleluia!

Lives again our glorious King,

Where, O death, is now thy sting?

Once He died our souls to save

Where the victory, O grave?

 I know that the only way to find happiness in this life is through Him: by following His teachings and example, and I know that by doing these things we will also gain eternal life in the world to come. I know that because of Him, nothing is impossible if we have faith in Him who overcame death.

Questions? Click Here!
Would you like to watch a video about the Savior that will help you feel closer to the Spirit? Click Here!

Let The Prophet Be Your Guide! Part II: Apostasy

So last time we talked about prophets, and how sweet it is that our Heavenly Father loves us enough to guide us through prophets. Now if God had messages to give you, would you listen? I sure would, because it must be an important message. Would you ever turn your back on that message, and live contrary to it? This is a cycle we see throughout the Old Testament, and we see the same happening in several Disney films as well.

In The Lion King, we are following the story of Simba, who "apostatizes" from the kingdom, his family, and responsibilities as rightful heir after he witnesses the tragic death of his father. Simba is saved from death by Timon and Pumba, who teach him about "Hakuna Matata," which basically means live life without worries. Now, Simba and his two pals were living a pretty great life, because Simba had followed their counsel by "putting his behind in his past," or rather "putting your past behind you." (Before there is an uproar over the villainization of Timon and Pumba, please don't think I'm trying to do that: I'm merely illustrating a point here.)

Simba may be living a good life, but he turned his back on his family, the kingdom, and his responsibilities. Then his childhood friend Nala comes onto the scene, and tells him about all the awful things going on in the kingdom: the kingdom followed Simba and fell into "apostasy," which in this case means grey skies, no food, and hyenas running rampant in the kingdom. Simba doesn't want to hear it though, and remains steadfast in his "Hakuna Matata" philosophy.

But the kingdom is in need, so Rafiki appears on the scene. Rafiki is very wise, and is more in touch with spiritual things than anyone else in the Pride Lands. He comes to Simba, and offers him some counsel, pointing out the flaws in his new found philosophy, and even opening a vision of Mufasa to Simba. This helps Simba come to a realization of the error of his ways, and he runs to Pride Rock to win the kingdom back from the evil Scar and his hyena posse.

This helps to illustrate several key points when talking about prophets, apostasy, and agency, which is our God-given ability to make our own choices.  We are all like Simba, and have turned our back on God at some point or another, but because He loves us, He will always try to reach out to us and bring us back. Apostasy doesn't just happen out of the blue: people start making a little bad choice here, and small bad choice there, continuing in this pattern as the mistakes grow larger. These bad choices lead to apostasy: whether in individuals, groups of people, communities, or nations, apostasy is a result of the misuse of agency.

But the same agency we may have misused to make bad choices that didn't lead to lasting happiness can be used to make good choices that bring us closer to finding happiness that lasts. When the individual or group of people start searching for help in making better choices, God sends another prophet, with the authority and revelation, to lead these people in that path to happiness.

This is the cycle I mentioned earlier: people listen to the prophet, and they are blessed. After receiving so many blessings, the people start to love their possessions more than they love God, and they turn away from Him, and so He takes the prophet away. Eventually, the people are left to their own devices, and find that they weren't as happy as they used to be. This causes them to search for guidance, and God answers their prayers by sending them a prophet with the guidance and authority they need.

This cycle repeats itself over and over again, and because our Heavenly Father loves His children, He is always giving them another chance to come back to Him. Isn't it great to know that God loves you? I haven't always made the best choices, and you could say that I have apostatized from time to time because of my choices. But I know that God loves me, because He was always sending me another person to try and help me, or leading me towards a better path without my knowledge. I know that God loves each of us, and that's why He has always given His children guidance and direction through prophets.

Have you ever felt that you could use some guidance from a modern prophet? Click Here!

Let The Prophet Be Your Guide! Part I

Who loves the classic Disney Princess movies? I sure do, and I would have to say that my favorite is Sleeping Beauty. Of course, everyone has their favorite, and some may disagree when I say that I think this is the best princess movie. The reasoning behind this is not just the story, but also the background behind this wonderful film. Sleeping Beauty was the second animated film Disney filmed in ultra widescreen (the first being Lady and the Tramp), and the first animated film to be photographed with the Super Technirama 70 widescreen process. This allowed for beautiful backgrounds and dramatic, sweeping scenes. Disney also based the score for the movie on the work of the classical composer Pyotr Tchaikovsky. Both of these things came together to create, in my opinion, a work of art. There are many reasons I could talk about, but one in particular that illustrates the doctrine of the gospel I would like to discuss in this post: God working through prophets.

When Aurora is born, her parents are overjoyed, and many bring gifts to the newborn child. The three good fairies: Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather, come to bless Aurora with wonderful things. But before Merryweather can perform her spell over the baby, the evil Maleficent comes around to ruin everything! Maleficent casts a spell on Aurora, cursing her to die on her sixteenth birthday from the prick of a spinning wheel. Luckily, Merryweather performs a little spell of her own, so that Aurora won't die, but just fall into a deep sleep, and that her true love will come to awake her with a kiss. The King and Queen order every spinning wheel to be burned (not very good for the cloth industry), but they still fear the curse of Maleficent. The three good fairies offer to take Aurora deep into the woods, and to raise her to the best of their ability; they only desire that the child be safe. So, they sneak off in the middle of the night with the baby, and attempt to hide her in a cottage deep in the forest.

This story parallels our own: we are all children of a Heavenly King, who only desires the best for us. Unfortunately, there is an evil adversary, who desires our misery; not cool! Our Father knew that we would have to come to this earth to learn and gain experience; this also meant that He couldn't be with us to guide us all the time. Luckily, He provided us with guides, just like the good fairies, called prophets, who can lead and guide us just like He would.

So what is a prophet? A prophet is a man who receives the priesthood, which is the authority to speak and act in the name of God. They are like the three good fairies: doing everything our Father would do for us, if He were with us, to ensure our safety and happiness. Prophets receive instruction from God, and this is called revelation. This revelation is passed from the Father to His children through the prophet.

"Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets." Amos 3:7

The prophet receives the "secret" from the Lord, which he then passes on to us to lead and guide us in the way our Father wants us to go. This "secret" is also known as the gospel of Jesus Christ. This gospel is the plan our Heavenly Father has given us to help us find true happiness, and to help us avoid evil and misery. It is named after Jesus Christ because without His sacrifice, the plan wouldn't be possible.

I am so grateful for the scriptures: that we can have the words of prophets past to help lead and guide us today. But sometimes, it's a little hard for me to understand the scriptures, or to see how it applies to my life right now: has that ever happened to you? Maybe I'm alone, but I don't think so. Luckily, our loving Heavenly Father has once again given his children prophets to lead and guide us! The words these prophets speak, and the ways they help me further understand the teachings of Jesus Christ in the scriptures has blessed my life immensely!

Curious to hear the words of these prophets? Click Here!, find a title that sounds interesting, and watch or read it!

Want to learn more about these prophets and what they are? Click Here!

Tune in next week for part II!

I Have A Family Here On Earth; They Are So Good To Me!

These lyrics from a children's song of our church is one of my favorites. Do you know what else is my favorite? The Princess and The Frog! We can learn so many lessons from the family relationships portrayed in this film.

When Tiana is younger, she loves her mother and father, and respects them both. She especially loves her father, and learns many lessons from him that she carries throughout the rest of her life. As she sings the song titled "Almost There," she sings the lyrics:

I remember Daddy told me,

Fairy tales can come true.

But you have to make it happen;

It all depends on you!

So I work real hard, each and every day;

Good things are sure to come my way!

And later, in the song "When We're Human" we hear these lyrics:

What you give is what you get;

My Daddy taught me that and I'll never forget!

These were valuable lessons learned by Tiana, not just from the things her father said, but more importantly the things he did. She learned to work hard to make her dreams come true (a lesson that is often not learned in our day), and so she works two jobs, everyday, so that one day she can have her dream of owning a restaurant. 

Our families are ordained of God, meaning that our Heavenly Father, in His infinite love, placed us on this earth in a family. This is something that He arranged before we came here, and it is unalterable (this is the meaning of ordained in this context). Now, none of our families are perfect. We even see this in The Princess and The Frog: Tiana's father dies sometime between when she is a toddler and when she is a young adult. I'm sure this was an incredibly hard challenge for she and her mother to go through, but they had a foundation of love in their family, and so instead of crying every night about life not being fair because her father was dead, Tiana honored his memory by living the things he taught her.

Let's look at another example from another one of my favorites: Tangled. We see in this film two very different families: Rapunzel's real family, who love her and were overjoyed to have her in their lives, and heartbroken past expression when she was stolen; a family based on love and other things, which are principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We also see the "family" Mother Gothel has created for herself and Rapunzel, a "family" that wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for the selfishness of Mother Gothel and her obsession with staying beautiful and young forever; this family is based upon selfishness, greed, and other such feelings and attributes, which are in direct opposition to those found in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

When our families are built on a foundation of love, happiness will follow. This does not mean perfection, but there will be a greater sense of happiness and peace in our families if we are built on this foundation of love. Our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, are the perfect examples of love. We read in the scriptures:

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16

The Savior showed his love for us when He performed the Atonement, which constitutes His suffering in the garden of Gethsemane, His suffering and death on the cross, culminating in His resurrection. What a selfless act of love that was! I know that He truly did that, and He did it because He loves each of us. Even if it had just been for one of us, He would have done it. It's difficult to comprehend, isn't it? We've all felt love from someone in our lives: parents, siblings, friends, etc., but the love Heavenly Father and the Savior have for us is past comprehension to our finite minds.

I think the closest we can get to understanding the love God has for us is from our mothers. I don't know about you, but my Mom is pretty awesome. And considering I'm making this post so close to Mother's Day, she had to get a shout out!

My mother (and father, for that matter) have stuck with me through so much! I was not the perfect child, people! I was rebellious and rude and everything parents like mine don't deserve. Yet, through late night arguments, cold shoulders, and downright disobedience, my Mom loved me. Sure, she disagreed with some of my bad choices, and didn't like some of the things I was doing, but she loved me; our Heavenly Father is the same way! He always loves us, and is waiting for us to come back to Him. He has provided a way for us to do that, and our families will be stronger and happier when they are built upon this foundation.

I'd like to finish with the rest of the lyrics from the song I started this post with, which is entitled Families Can Be Together Forever:

I have a family here on earth

They are so good to me

I want to share my life with them

Through all eternity

Families can be together forever

Through Heavenly Father's plan

I always want to be with my own family

And the Lord has shown me how I can!

Want to learn more about why families are so important? Visit: http://www.mormon.org/faq/topic/family

Want to have your heart warmed by a video about moms? Click Here!