April 6, 2015

Dearest Family!!!!

First matter of business.....I hope you all LOVED the general conference! It is always a great opportunity to learn how to guide your life in whatever case it might be. Married, single, missionary, returned missionary, student, grandparents, etc. If we listen to our prophets they will helps us to avoid Satan's grasp and move forward with success in our lives. 

Yesterday I was meditating on what I should do different in my life starting today....just as Elder Nelson invited us to do. As I began to thought I decided to go and read my scriptures. I took out my Book of Mormon and began to read in 1 Nephi 17. In this part Nefi is teaching his brothers and refers to the story of the Children of Israel and their journey through the wilderness. I remember learning  this story in seminary and I remembered that the staff with the snake hanging from it was representing Jesus Christ and his Atonement. But what I began to think about is, "What would the fiery flying serpents represent then?" 

I kept studying and checked the many cross references and checked the many scriptures. They took me to other stories like when the Lord sent them Manna to eat with honey and I realized that the Lord always required simple things of his people. He told them look to the staff with the hanging snake and you will be healed and when they asked for food he gave them the manna as long as they would be obedient. Many said how is looking at a serpent on a staff gonna heal me? They left without looking  suffered and eventually died. With the manna (if i remember correctly...I didn't study too much about it) there were people that complained because it wasn't very good tasting and so the Lord sent a plague of locust to eat it all and many more died. But what did they really have to do? Look at a staff with a serpent which was representing looking unto the Lord in all things. In the case of the Manna, they only had to be patient and grateful for what the Lord had given them. The manna also represented the Lord being the Bread of Life. 

·         John 6:35

35 And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. 

·         They simply had to focus their lives on the Lord. As for the flying snakes my personal feeling is that they represent the trials that we have in our lives. For these people it was pride, worshiping idols, etc. For us what might it be???? Overcoming sins? Remembering to study scriptures? Obeying the commandments how the Lord has commanded(Keep the Sabbath Day Holy)? Process of repentance? Losing a child to sin or to death? ETC....Etc.... there are many we could name off. But instead of thinking like the average person "why does the Lord do this too me?" think about what you can learn from these experiences.  

Why do you think the Lord made his people go through the difficulties and suffer these things based on what I have explained?  

It's simple to see that the trials in our lives which include sin, pride, or losing loved ones are so that we may trust in the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and his Atonement. That is why there are hard times and that is why we came here.....to learn how to trust in the Lord and do his will. If we humble ourselves before the Lord and trust in him we will overcome these trials and in doing so we will overcome Satan and will be made strong enough to help others do the same(Ether 12). 

So I ask again what might the flying snakes be in your life? And what might you do to overcome them? 

President Eyring told us in the priesthood session,"We hold the power and authority of God but we cannot use it properly until we receive inspiration." This applies to all church leaders in their callings because they work under the Priesthood guidance of the Bishop. But I'd like to change that to a more open statement, "We are light unto the world but in order to overcome are trials and let our light so shine first we must receive inspiration or personal revelation and then we will be able to lift all others." 

I invite you to look in your lives and turn unto the Lord so that he may guide thee in your lives. If you do so, I know that you will begin to find a different light in your lives, even a happiness which you had not know before. Jesus is the living Christ and as we strive to follow him and center our lives around him we will overcome our trials and we will be found worthy to enter into the kingdom of our Father in Heaven because we will have understood the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I testify in the name of Jesus Christ Amen.