"Blessed Art Thou Among Women"

It was most likely mid Summer in the city of Nazareth, in Galilee, when the angel Gabriel appeared to a young woman. She was indeed young, a virgin, and engaged to be wed. "Hail," he told her, "Thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women," (Luke 1:28). This young woman was Mary, and Gabriel went on to tell her that she would be the mother of Jesus, the Messiah, the Christ, the very Son of God, the Redeemer and Savior of the world. After careful consideration of this news, and assurance that though she was a virgin and yet to be married the conception would be possible, she replied, "Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word," (Luke 1:38). James Talmage notes in Jesus the Christ that Mary was not at all ignorant of the prophesies of the Messiah and the tribe from which he would be born, which was also hers: "Mary had doubtless contemplated, with holy joy and ecstasy, the coming of the Messiah through the royal line; she knew that some Jewish maiden was yet to become the mother of the Christ." With her simple statement "Behold the handmaid of the Lord," she officially accepted in her heart that such an opportunity and great responsibility would be hers. In wholehearted worship of the God that she would soon bring into the world in the flesh, she said:

"My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name," (Luke 1:46-49, italics added).

In this season set apart in united celebration of Jesus' birth, it is important to ponder on His earthly mother, and the example of pure character that she was, which allowed her to bear Him who would live and die for us. We can learn how to put ourselves in a position to bear greater responsibilities, and can gain a greater appreciation for the wonderful women in our own lives.

"Latter-day revelation confirms the biblical account and affirms that Mary was a pure and a chosen vessel, and the mother of the Son of God in the flesh," (Bible Dictionary, pg. 729). Nephi saw her in a vision: "What beholdest thou?" the Spirit asked. He said, "A virgin, most beautiful and fair above all other virgins," (see 1 Nephi 11:14-20). Alma had seen her day and testified, "[Jesus] shall be born of Mary...she being a virgin, a precious and chosen vessel," (Alma 7:10). When we think of a virtuous woman, she is one that immediately comes to mind. In truth there are few accounts of women in the scriptures, but there are those exceptional women like Mary who are given account. Luke in particular seemed to want to take note of the virtuous women in Jesus' earthly ministry, and it is he who wrote of Mary most. One important example comes from the end of chapter 2 of Luke, when the young Jesus was found teaching in the temple. Mary, in great distress, says to her son, "Why hast thou thus dealt with us?" The increasingly self-aware Jesus answers, "Wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?" Her great humility and love is then described, as Luke narrates, "And [Jesus] went down with them...and was subject unto them: but his mother kept all these sayings in her heart." She was one who was fully aware of what this boy would become. Indeed, the end of the chapter yields more insight: "And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man," (see Luke 2:48-52). The painting below by Simon Dewey is called "In Favor with God." What an image to coincide with the scripture; with it comes the insight that Mary was not only part of that increase of wisdom and favor with God, she was instrumental in it. 

There is a reason some believers of Christ also worship Mary as deity; these words used to describe her are some of the attributes that encapsulate an ideal disciple: pure, chosen, beautiful (kind), fair (virtuous), precious. These are the qualities that qualify us for continuous companionship of the Spirit, that empower us in preparation for trial and tribulation, that allow us to effectively act as instruments in the Lord's Holy Hand. Mary's pure character allowed her to bear and raise the Savior of this world. It was He "while in the very act of Atonement," (Jeffrey R Holland from this talk) who said, "Woman, behold thy son," (John 19:26), in humble recognition of her who had birthed and raised Him. We would do well to take note of, or to "behold" the ultimate example of purity and virtue outside of the Savior himself.

(Watch these Mormon Messages: "Mary, the Mother of Jesus" and "An Angel Foretells Christ's Birth to Mary")

Another important takeaway from a deep ponderance (that's not a word but I like it so I use it ;) ) of Mary, the mother of Christ, is a greater appreciation of those pure and virtuous women that play such an important part of our lives. Think of your own mother and your sister(s), maybe your wife or your girlfriend, or your "friends that are girls:" you will realize that if she (or they) was not in your life, you would struggle greatly to be the disciple of Christ you are today.

Modern revelation has confirmed this fact. Elder Quentin Cook said, "God placed within women divine qualities of strength, virtue, love, and the willingness to sacrifice to raise future generations of His spirit children," (see his full talk "LDS Women are Incredible!"). As I grew up, it didn't take me long to realize that women are naturally kinder, more loving, more sensitive to the feelings of others, and more willing to help those in need than men. I have come to the conclusion that men are asked to hold the priesthood, because if women did, us men would do nothing. Women truly are amazing; you are selfless, you know how to care for others, you know how to love others. You are Saviors. Nothing breaks my heart more nor makes me angrier than to see men take advantage of their physical superiority to abuse or demean beautiful and choice daughters of God. There's a special place in infierno for those men who do that, because our Father in Heaven holds a special place in His heart for His daughters. If ever you feel down, or unappreciated, or unloved, I pray that you can always remember that you have a Heavenly Father that is more than aware of you, that loves and appreciates you and what you do more than you can possibly imagine. I am grateful for you women, especially my own mother, my sisters, my grandmother, and all those who have made an impact on me; I look forward to making sure that my future wife and mother of my children never feels I don't appreciate all that she goes through on behalf of me and those choice souls who will be our children. 

I am by no means an angel, but for what it's worth I'd like to echo the words of Gabriel to Mary to you- yes, I'm talking to you (unless you're a guy, then I'm not):

"Thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women."

What Are We Thankful For?

What am I thankful for? I'm thankful for the Gospel in my life, which has allowed me to see unbelievable miracles and enjoy unspeakable blessings. I agree with Chris Williams: "I'm grateful that God allows tragedies and trials to occur in our lives. Not because they're easy or they're desired, but because they help us love." (see the Mormon Message here) I'm thankful for my family. I'm grateful for the gospel in my life. There are an infinite amount of things to be thankful for. Many have the Thanksgiving tradition of saying what they're thankful for around the dinner table. A more impactful question we should ask this Thanksgiving week is how can we live more gratefully.

The story of the 10 lepers is a perfect example of how to live gratefully, but not for the reason you'd think. When Jesus came upon 10 men who suffered the terrible, incurable, highly fatal disease of leprosy, they saw Him, and all recognized Him, if not as the very Son of God, as the great Prophet and Healer that He was. "Have mercy on us," they cried, with all the energy of their souls; they had nowhere else to turn, nobody else to ask that could legitimately ease their intense pain, end their suffering, and cure their ailment. The Savior, full of compassion, instructed them to show themselves to the priests, a simple request, and as they went they were "cleansed." It is then that we get the lesson. All 10 had called on the Savior with hope that he would help them. When he gave instructions, they all obeyed with the faith that it was for their good. All 10 were healed. But how many returned to give thanks? We know that only one did. But how did he give thanks? With all the love and gratitude of his heart, he fell on his face before the Savior and cried on His holy feet. And so that was it, right? The Savior said "You're welcome" and he went his way, right? No. He said, "Arise, go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole." (See Luke 17:11-19)

Faith and Hope allow us to receive and recognize our blessings. But true gratefulness comes from Love. We will not live gratefully without loving our Heavenly Father and His Son. An essential part of living gratefully is getting down on our knees and giving heartfelt thanks for specific blessings we've received. Anyone could have gone and said thank you. I'm sure at least a few of the others would have returned had they seen the Samaritan giving thanks. But we would do well to follow the example of this Samaritan, an outsider of the faith, who gave thanks in a way that many of us would not even think to. He bathed the Savior's feet with his tears of gratitude. I, personally, often get in the habit of saying "I thank thee for this day" to start my prayers. I've had to break the habit- but not of saying it, but saying it without meaning it. It's one of those things I say a lot in prayers, but I always try to ponder in my heart, "Why am I thankful for this day?" Then it has more meaning. It is one thing to recognize that the Lord gives us all we have and another to truly praise Him for it:

"Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name." (Psalms 100:3-4)

President Thomas S. Monson, in a First Presidency message from May of 2000, talked about how we can cultivate an "attitude of gratitude." He contends that if we focus on specific areas of our lives, we can improve our ability to recognize more swiftly our great blessings and life, and then act accordingly. First, we should be grateful for our mothers. For more counsel on this specific topic, see Elder Holland's talk from this past conference, "Behold Thy Mother." Next, we should "reflect gratitude for our fathers." Third, our teachers. Fourth, we should be grateful for our friends. Fifth, "may we acknowledge gratitude for our country"- gratitude for veterans of our respective countries is included here. Lastly comes the most important. He says, "Sixth and finally- even supremely- let us reflect gratitude for our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ...He taught us how to pray. he taught us how to serve. He taught us how to live. His life is a legacy of love. The sick He healed; the downtrodden He lifted; the sinner He saved." (see the entire message here.) When things get complicated in life, I add to President Monson's counsel, by saying that we should go to the basics of our lives. Family and friends, and most importantly, the Savior: if we can focus on these things in our lives, we can treasure them that much more. We hold tight to our treasures; we respect our treasures; we take care of our treasures. That is how we live gratefully--we love others, especially those closest to us. We do it by loving the Savior.

Check out the following Mormon Message, "In the Spirit of Thanksgiving," where people from all walks of life are asked what things they are grateful for. Notice how their unique perspectives and experiences in life shape what things they mention they are thankful for. A perfect example for me is the man who says he's thankful for Mac and Cheese. I'll let you see why. We should ponder on these things this week, as we enjoy good food and good company; if we do, I feel like we can greatly improve our ability to live our lives more gratefully.

"The Day of This Life"

A few weeks before leaving to serve my mission in Mexico in May of 2011, I was asked which scripture I wanted to be placed on my missionary plaque. At the time I was experiencing an interesting sensation: I was numb. I wasn’t excited to leave, but I wasn’t nervous either. I was just waiting until the time came. Having been caught off guard, I quickly opened my scriptures and looked for the first verse that I recognized. This was it: “For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors” (Alma 34:32). At the time the scripture didn’t have much significance for me, but I have since treasured it and the message that it presents, and have since . In this essay we’ll dissect, verses 31-33, which talk about Repentance, Duty, and the Savior’s Invitations.

Alma 34:31- "Yea, I (Alma) would that ye would come forth and harden not your hearts any longer; for behold, now is the time and the day of your salvation; and therefore, if ye will repent and harden not your hearts, immediately shall the great plan of redemption be brought about unto you..."

Humility and openness to change bring about something special in our lives. We often think of repentance as only needed with big sins; the juicy ones- the ones you have to talk to your bishop about. In reality, they don't have to be big; in fact, they don't even have to be sins! Anything that prevents us from "coming forth" requires repentance. This may be a habit of being late, or being insensitive, or being impatient. We all have habits. We should ponder if they are preventing our progression, (Redemption means "the action of saving or being saved from sin, error, or evil." Notice that it's not just sin.)

Something that stands out to me in this verse, which precedes the one that I have on my missionary plaque, is the promise made. This promise, made by a prophet of God, holds true for all of us no matter what: "If ye will repent and harden not your hearts, immediately shall the great plan of redemption be brought about unto you." When does it say the plan of redemption will be brought about us? Tomorrow? Next week? Maybe next month? No, it says immediately. That great plan of redemption is one we kind of "buy into." Not that any type of financial payment qualifies us, in fact that's not possible. The only stipulation for entering in is to be willing to do what the Lord wants us to. If we repent with an open heart, not only will He forgive us, He will cleanse us from that sin (or habit). And when does that happen?

Immediately. An area seventy that spoke at a Stake Conference I attended (I'm not sure of his name--it may be Elder Monk) , about what a "righteous man" is, said,"The man at the bottom of the stairs looking up is better than the man at the top of the stairs looking down." It's all about which direction we're facing.

Alma 34:32-“For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors...”

This short verse gives us the purpose of this life--it's like the Tweeted cliff notes version. The main purpose of life is to prepare to meet God. How do we do that? By "performing our labors."

So...

Preparation to meet God=Purpose of Life
But also...Purpose of Life=Perform labors

So let's do some algebra (Disclaimer: I'm a Spanish major and last took a math class 5 years ago. This may or may not be the Transitive Property):

So if x is the purpose of life, then "Preparing to meet God" is y, and "Performing Labors" is z. If I learned anything from algebra it's this: if x=y and x also=z, then y=z. So what does all this mean?

The way that we prepare to meet our Heavenly Father is by performing our labors, meaning keeping His commandments and serving God, His Church, and His children. Not only that, but being obedient allows us to know Him now.

I put this as my mission scripture without really thinking about but now I think it was only fitting. My mission was the first time I served Him with pure motivation. I came to know Him. I came to know what He wants from me. I came to know what He wants us to become. Keeping the commandments helps us come to know Him, and prepare to live in His presence.

Alma 34:33- "And now, as I said unto you before, as ye have had so many witnesses, therefore, I beseech of you that ye do not procrastinate the day of your repentance until the end; for after this day life, which is given us to prepare for eternity, behold, if we do not improve our time while in this life, then cometh the night of darkness wherein there can be no labor performed."

(Beseech means to ask someone urgently and fervently to do something; implore; entreat)

Alma urgently asks us to repent. Why? Because he knows that this is the time to do it. Right now. Right this very minute. In truth, repentance is part of the reason an earthly life is necessary. Our Heavenly Father desires us to be as He is, having perfect character and a perfect body. We could not receive a glorified body without receiving a mortal one with natural appetites and desires, thus, repentance should be viewed not as a means of laying aside sin (becoming less of a sinner) so much as a means of accepting godliness. We then see repentance more as a way of becoming more like Christ and less as just being less like our old selves. This can be a useful tool in allowing ourselves to forget those sins and forgive ourselves.

If you followed me to this point, you may be asking "So what? These scriptures are straight forward; I could have come up with that reading by myself." I'll close with what I most got out of this scripture, and I hope that it will help you to change your perspective about sin and repentance. In verses 31 and 33, Christ (through Alma) gives us 3 invitations:

1) Come forth
2) Harden not your hearts
3) Do not procrastinate your repentance

Now think about this question. What is our "natural man/woman" reaction to sin? Usually it's justification. We justify our sins in 3 main ways:

1) Separating from God (usually with the ceasing of prayer)
2) Denial of wickedness of the sin
3) Procrastination. We say "I'll change tomorrow" or "Just one more time."

You see how Alma's invitations can help us overcome those justifications? If you look at the two lists you see that they directly relate. They're perfect opposites. When we sin, if we would turn to Christ before we turn away completely away from Him, we avoid shame. We will have to endure guilt, but guilt and shame are not the same. Shame pulls us down; guilt points us up (see 2 Corinthians 7:10).

Secondly, if we will humble ourselves and open our hearts, we realize that our sins are preventing us from being happy. So instead of denying, we allow Christ to help us find that happiness through full repentance. Finally, avoiding procrastination allows us to enjoy that happiness now (See President Uchtdorf's talk "You Can Do it Now!") As Alma said, the time is now. Right now. Right this very second.

To really close, let's look at the 3 things Alma includes as the purpose of life:

1) To prepare to meet God
2) To perform our labors (keep the commandments)
3) To prepare for eternity (verse 33)

If you take a look at the other 2 lists, I think you'll see a connection. I'll let you do the pondering on that, but I'll just say that you should never feel ashamed because of your sins. Christ wants us to recognize how our sins drive us away from Him, but not to the point where we feel unworthy to change. Because we can't be. We tell ourselves that and Satan tells us that. But Christ has his hand out ready to catch us. All we have to do is say, "Lord, save me" as Peter did (see Matthew 14:24-33).

For more General Authority perspective, check out these two talks:

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf: Point of Safe Return (from April 2007 Conference)
Elder Larry R. Lawrence: What Lack I Yet? (from October 2015 Conference)

Persist in the Inspiration You Receive

Life is hard. We often go through great struggles in this mortal journey. We see now great physical suffering throughout the world. In this past year or so, we've see terrorist attacks in Paris, in Belgium, in Orlando, and too many other places to name all over the world. Such situations are a product of a world without direction, and we can expect that such situations will not cease as we come closer to the time of our Savior's Second Coming.

Individually, we sometimes struggle to find direction for ourselves in this world of chaos. Often we are given stewardship over others, and must also help them find direction. This is nearly impossible for us to accomplish by ourselves. The comforting thing is that the Lord doesn't ask us to do it alone.

He said, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, I will impart unto you of my Spirit, which shall enlighten your mind, which shall fill your soul with joy; and then shall ye know, or by this shall you know, all things whatsoever you desire of me, which are pertaining unto things of righteousness, in faith believing in me that you shall receive" (D&C 11:12-13). It is His Holy Spirit that can enlighten us in this seemingly impossible task of mortality. We can tap into that at anytime, if we humbly reach out to Him.

A true experience will help illustrate this, especially for those who find themselves in positions to minister to and serve others:

There was a missionary who was serving as zone leader in a zone that was struggling; it was a zone full of small branches in ranch towns that were also struggling. As this Elder tried to think of ways to inspire his missionaries, he felt inspired himself to take advantage of the weekly phone calls he did with the district leaders to share uplifting messages from the scriptures. He tried it on the first Sunday of the 6-week transfer with the 3 district leaders, sharing scriptures about the Atonement. The reaction from these Elders was less than receptive. "Maybe the Spirit doesn't travel so well through the phone," he recorded in his journal.

The next week came around and the numbers were again very low, far below the goals that had been set. This humble zone leader prayed for inspiration. The same impression arrived. Share scriptural messages. A certain scripture came to his mind and he shared it. Again, the Elders' reaction was not what he hoped, but he felt peace, knowing that the Lord had inspired him and it was what He wanted him to do. And so each week, he shared scriptures. Instead of attempting to question those Elders' efforts or shame them for their low numbers, he loved them and shared heartfelt messages with them.

On the last day of the transfer, after having received word from the assistants to the Mission President that he would be transferred the following day, he received a call. It was one of those district leaders. This particular leader had struggled mightily, as he was training a native speaking missionary while continuing to struggle with the language himself; he was also serving in a branch with a plethora of serious problems and incredible challenges. They spoke of the week and the progress they had both made. Suddenly, however, the Elder fell silent. It seemed to the zone leader that he was fighting back tears.

Finally this humbled district leader said, "Elder, I am so grateful for you trying so hard to help me. This transfer was really really hard. I literally had no idea what I was doing. But when you'd call on Sundays, you wouldn't chastise me like most leaders do. I could tell you really cared. And every time you'd share a scripture, it was always a direct answer to my prayers and my problems."

An overwhelming feeling of peace came over that zone leader. He knew that his efforts to humbly call upon the Lord had allowed the Lord to use him as an instrument to touch this struggling district leader and fellow son of God and representative of His Work.

We need the guidance of the Holy Spirit in our lives, and the promise is there for us: if we humbly seek for it, we can have it. President Henry B. Eyring said, "You have had times when you have felt the influence of the Holy Ghost. It may have happened for you today. You can treat those moments of inspiration like the seed of faith that Alma described (see Alma 32:28). Plant each one. You can do that by acting on the prompting you felt. The most valuable inspiration will be for you to know what God would have you do...Whatever it is, do it. When you demonstrate your willingness to obey, the Spirit will send you more impressions of what God would have you do for Him. As you obey, the impressions from the Spirit will come more frequently...Your power to choose the right will increase." (see the full talk from Pres. Eyring here)

In a world of chaos, we can have peace. When we have problems, we can find solutions. When we are lost, or at a fork in the path of our mortal journey, we can find direction. If we humbly seek to receive revelation, we will receive it. And once we do, we must act. One thing that it is important that we remember, however, is that it's not always going to be easy once we do. We will struggle. But if we persist in the inspiration we receive, we will find peace. Even if things don't turn out how we'd think or how we'd hope, acting on spiritual impressions will always lead to good. (See Ether 4:12 and Moroni 7:13). If we are inspired to share the gospel with a friend, and he or she rejects it, we can know we did what the Lord wanted. If we are inspired to pay tithing and we are confronted with serious financial trouble, we can receive the assurance that all will be well. Examples abound, and the principle is the same.

Life is hard enough by itself. It only gets harder when we don't have the Spirit guiding us along. We have to be ready to follow those gentle impressions when they come. When they do, we should act, then persist in that impression received. We will find peace in the journey. Christ promised that when he told his fearful apostles, "Peace I leave with you,,,not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid..." (John 14:27), "...Fear not, believe only" (Luke 8:50).

My Purpose

My purpose with this blog is to provide messages that may help someone, anybody in their day, to help them to feel the Spirit and be uplifted by It.

On my mission a member of the Quorum of the Seventy visited a Stake Conference that I attended. He had been a part of the committee in charge of putting the site Familysearch.org together. At the head of the committee was then-Elder Henry B. Eyring. Of the undertaking, Elder Eyring said, "If we save just one soul because of this website, it would have been worth it." We know that millions upon millions of souls will reap the benefits of the work done because of that site. Understandably I'm not quite as zealous with this undertaking of mine- I'm not in a position to be saving souls, but the same principle applies. If I can touch but one heart, or better said, if the Spirit can touch one heart or one mind because of the insights shared here, my efforts will have been completely worth it.

So I hope that you can ponder the messages posted here with an open heart and a willing mind. Revelation and Inspiration can be received at any time that we are willing to hear them. If you feel impressed to share a particular message, go ahead. You never know who needs to hear that message today.