Why Mormons Build Temples

We have been commanded to build temples. The Temple is a great place for us to go to feel even closer to Heavenly Father. It is a place for us to escape the world and just forget about everything for a while and focus our thoughts on the Savior. In the temple we can be sealed together for all time and all eternity with our families. Also it allows us to act as proxy for our ancestors who didn't have the opportunity to except the gospel while on the earth.

QUOTE FROM THOMAS S. MONSON

I really like this quote from Thomas S. Monson about the prophet Joseph Smith. He really was an example to all of the members of the church and he truly did love all of them. I'm grateful for the prophet Joseph Smith and everything he did. 


"I think one of the sweetest lessons taught by the Prophet, and yet one of the saddest, occurred close to the time of his death. He was required to leave his plan and vision of the Rocky Mountains and give himself up to face a court of supposed justice.

These are his words: 'I am going like a lamb to the slaughter; but I am calm as a summer's morning; I have a conscience void of offense towards God, and towards all men' (D&C 135:4). That statement of the Prophet teaches us obedience to law and the importance of having a clear conscience toward God and toward our fellowmen. The Prophet Joseph Smith taught these principles--by example.
There was to be one great final lesson before his mortal life ended. He was incarcerated in Carthage Jail with his brother Hyrum, with John Taylor, and with Willard Richards. The angry mob stormed the jail; they came up the stairway, blasphemous in their cursing, heavily armed, and began to fire at will. Hyrum was hit and died. John Taylor took several balls of fire within his bosom. The Prophet Joseph, with his pistol in hand, was attempting to defend his life and that of his brethren, and yet he could tell from the pounding on the door that this mob would storm that door and would kill John Taylor and Willard Richards in an attempt to kill him.

And so his last great act here upon the earth was to leave the door and lead Willard Richards to safety, throw the gun on the floor, and go to the window, that they might see him, that the attention of this ruthless mob might be focused upon him rather than the others. Joseph Smith gave his life. Willard Richards was spared, and John Taylor recovered from his wounds.

'Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends' (John 15:13). The Prophet Joseph Smith taught us love--by example." — Thomas S. Monson
http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/411899.Thomas_S_Monson

PRAYER

Lately I have been thinking alot about prayer and the importance of it in our lives. There have been a few events in the last couple of days that I believe are a result of an anxious missionaries prayers to God. I am serving in the Old Hickory ward in Nashville. It is a great ward, there are alot of missionary minded members and they all love the missionaries. The last five weeks the work as been just a little bit slow. The Lord has blessed us with some new investigators here and there but it didn't seem like anything was happening. As i've been pondering this problem I decide to turn to God for some advice. Monday we had preparation day as usual. At about 5clock it was getting close to the time that were supose to get out and work. I knelt down on my knees and I prayed to Heavenly Father to help us in our work and help us find someone who is ready and prepared to hear the gospel. We went out that night and we went to see a lady who had gotten her name removed from the records of the church. But recently she started taking the lessons from the missionaries again and is interested in getting baptized again. And we wanted to get to know her. When we went to see her, her boyfriend was there wich gave us the oportunity to teach him about the church. He asked alot of great questions and seems to be interested in the gospel. We will be teaching him again the Friday.


Another time were God answered my prayer was yesterday April 26, 2011 it was the afternoon time and are plans were just contacting and finding people to teach. We said a prayer for guidance to know were we should go. During the pray Felix Hendrix's name came to mind and it was so clear that we needed to go to his house. Immediatly after thinking of Felix his brother Paul came to mind. And I knew that we needed to go see Paul. We went and saw him, he let us in and we just got to know him. We read 3 nephi 11 with him and committed him to read and pray about the Book of Mormon.


I know for a fact that we were led to these two great guys as a result to my prayer on Monday. I'm greatful for these blessings that God has blessed us with and I'm greatful for the power of prayer and the effect in can have in missionary work.

Resurrection of Christ and of all mankind - Easter- Gospel of Jesus ...

As Easter draws near, my thoughts are turned to Jesus Christ and what he has done for me. He died for us so we could be forgiven of our sins. Three days later he was ressurected. Watch this wonderful easter video about our Savior Jesus Christ.

Testimony of the Book of Mormon

Watch this video of Jeffrey R. Holland an apostle of the Lord's testimony of the Book of Mormon. The spirit is so amazing while watching this video. I know that Jeffrey R. Holland is indeed an Apostle of the Lord. He is a very inspired man. I know the Book Of Mormon is the Word of God. I know that any man can grow closer to Jesus Christ by reading this book. I have found happiness and joy in my life as I read and study from the Book Of Mormon. I know that you to can find happiness and joy from reading the Book Of Mormon.

HIS SACRED NAME: AN EASTER DECLARATION

A MIRACLE

About a week and a half ago Elder Whitney and I were visiting with a less active member Brother Phillip's. When we first got to his house he told us of an experience he had while he was out waiting for one of his kids to get off the bus. While he was waiting he talked with a guy named Cory. They talked for a while about life and how life can be hard sometimes. Brother Phillip's talked a little bit about our church and how it has blessed his life. Brother Phillip's asked Cory if he would like to visit with the missionaries from his church, Cory agreed. Brother Phillip's gave us his name and address. We went by to see if we could teach him but it wasn't a good time. We just gave him our number and he said that he would call us to set up a time. Well about a week or so went by and Cory finally called us. We set up a time to meet with him on the 16th of April which was yesterday. We went to his house to teach him a first lesson. Right after we said the prayer Cory was like "sorry i don't mean to interrupt but I feel really good right now" we were like "that's great, what your feeling is the holy ghost" we taught him a good portion of the first lesson and he told us through out the lesson how he wanted to find God and change his life and that he believed that we were sent to his home to do that. The spirit was really strong during the whole lesson. At the end we had a kneeling pray with him so Cory could ask God right there if the Book of Mormon was true. Cory said a wonderful prayer and he said he felt really good. Cory came to church with us this morning and enjoyed it alot. We plan on setting a baptismal date with Cory the next time we go over and teach him. We are grateful for this opportunity we have to teach Cory and help him make the changes so he can feel closer to God.  Cory is a miracle sent from God.

MISSIONARY WORK

As members of the church we are all strongly encouraged to be missionaries in are everyday lives. The church is pushing missionary work more and more as the Saviors return is close. As members of the church lets do everything we can to bring those we love and care about so much into the Lords kingdom. I am so grateful for this opportunity I have of being a missionary to help those who seem lost or unhappy. It is a very rewarding thing when I see someone change and grow closer to the Lord. I want nothing more then for everyone to listen to our unique message of the restoration of the gospel. It is so important to me, it has greatly blessed my life and I know it can bless everyone else's life as well. 


President Spencer W. Kimball (1973-1985)
"Now is the moment in the timetable of the Lord to carry the gospel farther than it has ever been carried before...Many a person in this world is crying, knowingly and unknowingly, 'come over...and help us.' He might be your neighbor. She might be your friend. He might be a relative. She might be someone you met only yesterday. But we have what they need. Let us take new courage from our studies and pray, as did Peter, 'And now Lord,...grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word'
(Acts 4:29)" (Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball [1982], 546). 
    

The Gift Of The Holy Ghost

What a blessing it has been in my life to have been givin the Gift Of The Holy Ghost. It is a great companion to have all the time. I wouldn't trade anything in the world then to have the companionship of the Holy Ghost with me. It has helped me through many trials, warned me of danger, helped me teach my investigators as a missionary, bore witness to my investigators, but most importantly it has helped me stengthen my testimony in my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.


What is the Holy Ghost?

The Holy Ghost is the third member of the Godhead. It does not have a body of flesh and bones like Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ do. The Holy Ghost works in unity with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. They are three separate beings but they are one in purpose. The Holy Ghost testifies to us that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are real. witnesses to us the truth of all things. He is the comforter, he gives us peace of mind when were having a hard time, he gives us answers to our prayers according to Gods will.


Once we are baptized by someone who holds the priesthood authority we are then confirmed a member of the church and then we are given the Gift Of The Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands by someone who holds the priesthood authority. Once we are given the Gift Of The Holy Ghost then it can be a constant companion with us as long has we allow it to be with us. We have to continue living the gospel standards, follow the commandments, keep the covenants that you made at baptism. If we fall short and mess up like everyone will do then the Holy Ghost will leave us for a time until we fully repent of our sins and continue living better lives. Once we do that then the Holy Ghost will be back with us.


I know that The Gift Of The Holy Ghost is real. I greatly feel it's influence in my life.

http://lds.org/study/topics/holy-ghost?lang=eng
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THE FAMILY

The Family is Central to God's Plan

“No other success can compensate for failure in the home.” –David O. McKay

It's no stretch to say that a person has a serious advantage in life if they come from a loving, supportive home. Many people still succeed though they come from less-than-ideal family situations, but having our basic needs met, knowing that our parents love us and learning life lessons at home make all the challenges of day-to-day living that much easier to face. Likely, as an adult you want a happy home for your family.
This is no coincidence. God organizes us into families so that we can grow up in happiness and safety, and so that we can learn to love others selflessly—the key to true joy. Within the family is the best place to learn to love others the way Heavenly Father loves each one of us.
God's Church exists to help families gain eternal blessings. We believe the greatest blessing He gives us is the ability to return to live with Him in heaven with our families. We follow our Heavenly Father's will because that is how we earn this blessing.
Visit http://www.mormon.org/

---

JOSEPH SMITH

http://mormon.org/joseph-smith/

View this website that gives a full story of the prophet Joseph Smith and how he restored Gods church back on the earth again today.

MISSIONARY LIFE

"So just what is a day in the life of a mormon missionary like?" you might wonder. Well,  to us, it's an adventure. Every day is different and you can never predict what might happen. Such was yesterday: loosing a dear friend, hiding in a Wal Mart during a tornado watch, teaching the Gospel in a power outage...

We are currently stationed in Nashville, Tennessee, where the trees are green and the people park on their lawns- a practice rarely seen in our hometowns of California, and Idaho. For the last two weeks I've been with two other fantastic missionaries- Elder Whitney and Elder Vasquez.

Elder Vasquez was originally called to serve in Brazil for his mission, but had trouble getting his visa, so he was sent here with us for a while instead. Late last week Elder Vasquez finally received his visa and was told he would leave Monday morning. He was both sad to leave, and excited to go, and we felt the same way. We're glad he's finally going to where God wants him to go, but we're sad to see him leave. Monday morning we dropped him off with the other missionaries also leaving for Brazil and said our goodbyes.

Our trio was down to two. Elder Whitney and I went about our day as planned from that point-- going to email, go shopping, etc. As we pulled into Wal Mart's parking lot and got out we heard a tornado siren and figured we'd be okay in the building. Not a few minutes after we walked in, we, along with every one in the store- customers and employees alike- were asked to go to the center of the store for safety! When the winds got louder and the lights flickered, some people ducked and others joked about what they would do if a tornado actually hit the building. We tried to text and call other missionaries from our cell phone, to let them know what was going on and that we were okay, but there was no reception.We stayed there for around twenty minutes, before it was announced the storm had passed and we were free to shop.

As we left the Wal Mart and drove down the street, we saw a MacDonald's sign broken from the wind and branches from the trees strewn across the roads.

We finally received word that all missionaries in our area had been ordered to stay in there apartments, so we did. We knew the storm was bad, so we called as many people as we knew to make sure they were safe and well. Luckily each of them were, and no damage had been done to their properties either.

When the lock-down finally ended we left to go teach people we knew about the Gospel of Jesus Christ- finally some more common missionary work. We were able to find a lady I knew from a different part of Tennessee who had moved here. She was so excited to see him and get to talk with us. We talked for about an hour and then headed back toward our apartment for another apointment.

As we got close we noticed all the lights were out for several blocks. Our apointment was in that area, and when we knocked on the door the husband answered and told us, "I don't think we can read the word tonight- we have no light." We told him to wait as we went to our apartment to grab flash lights for them to borrow.

Upon our return we read from the scriptures with this family using flash lights in the power outage. It was a very unique and special experience for each of us. After talking for a while and inviting them to read the Book of Mormon and pray about our message, we left the family with our flash lights and with a prayer and hoped the best for them as we went back home to go to sleep.

That is just a taste of what it is like being a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. It is full of ups and downs, happiness and heartache, great adventure and simple conversations. There's nothing quite like the opportunity to serve the Lord full-time for two years.
 
Check out Elder Whitneys blog  http://adayinthelifeofamormonmissionary.blogspot.com
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17 POINTS OF THE TRUE CHURCH

Christ organized the Church (Eph 4:11-14)

The true church must bear the name of Jesus Christ (Eph 5:23)

The true church must have a foundation of Apostles and Prophets (Eph 2:19-20)

The true church must have the same organization as Christ's C...hurch (Eph 4:11-14)

The true church must claim divine authority (Heb 5:4-10)

The true church must have no paid ministry (1 Cor 9:16-18; Acts 20:33-34; John 10:11-13)

The true church must baptize by immersion (Matt 3:13-16)

The true church must bestow the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands (Acts 8:14-17)

The true church must practice divine healing (Mark 3:14-15)

The true church must teach that God and Jesus are separate and distinct individuals (John 17:11; 20:17)

The true church must teach that God and Jesus have bodies of flesh and bone (Luke 23:36-39; Acts 1:9-11;

Heb 1:1-3)
The officers must be called by God (Heb 4:4; Ex 28:1; 40:13-16)

The true church must claim revelation from God (Amos 3:7)

The true church must be a missionary church (Matt 28:19-20)

The true church must be a restored church (Acts 3:19-20)

The true church must practice baptism for the dead (1 Cor 15:16&29)
"

By their fruits ye shall know them." (Matt 7:20)