Beautiful Heartbreak

Ok, I know I have been a slacker lately. But I have been on vacation with my family for a week. Sorry. 

Anyway, very recent events have gotten me to thinking about the difficulties in our lives and why challenges and trials arise. I learned a long time ago that everything has a time, place and reason for happening. And while we may have one idea, it is Heavenly Father's plan for each of us that is happens. It is up to us to align our will with His. When we do that, we have better abilities to handle the trials that are placed before us. Life doesn't get easier when we are righteous. But we have the strength to handle the hard times when we walk hand in hand with God. 

Still though. Sometimes He throws us curve balls. It isn't because he hates us, is angry with us, bored or neglecting us. In fact it is just the opposite. It is because he loves us. He sees the potential that we have to become amazing people. However, we cannot reach that potential when life is easy. The hard times helps us to learn to rely on the strength that Christ can offer us. We need to learn very important lessons that can help us to make positive changes, these come best through difficult times. It also tests our faith, helping us to increase it and strengthen our knowledge even more. Yes, it is difficult. But we can get through it, when we trust in the Lord.

It is said best in this song:

It is entitled Beautiful Heartbreak by Hilary Weeks. She says it best. When we climb the mountain, we see the view that we could not see before. And when we do that we will not trade it for anything else.

"Prayer is not a negotiation process. It is an alignment process."

When I was younger, I really struggled with the habit of praying regularly. Now that I have gotten older, I am in a better habit of praying, but now the struggle is focusing and saying meaningful prayers. I have really noticed the past couple of weeks how bad I have gotten and the true need to fix it. So my study today, and will be for a while, is how to make them more meaningful. It is fantastic and amazing how much material there is to help us have better communion with Heavenly Father.

The first thing that I found was an idea list from the Jan 2001 New Era. It had great ideas from youth as to how to make prayer more meaningful. The one that I loved said in order to maintain focus it is best to ponder your day and what you will pray about beforehand. For me, it is really easy to just get in a habit of saying the things that I am grateful for and things that I want to see happen over and over again. I truly am grateful for those things and I strongly want those blessings, but at the same time, I have said them so much in the same way, that it is no longer meaningful and I say them without thinking. It is better to take the time to think about what I want to say, then pray. It's ok I repeat gratitude or desired blessings, but I need to say it the fifth time with the same attitude I had when I said it the first time. If I don't, then it becomes a vain repetition. 

There was also a scripture mentioned that stood out to me. It is Matthew 6:8. It is during the Lord's Sermon on the Mount, when He is talking about the importance of prayer and how to pray. What stands out specifically in this verse is the phrase "your Father knoweth what things you have need of, before ye ask them." At first it is easy to ask, if he already knows, then why do I ask? When we ask, we acknowledge that all things come through Him, and we can't do it without Him. In an article in the June 2013 Ensign Elder Pearson stated that "Prayer is not a negotiation process. It is an alignment process." Coming humbly, with sincere heart to Heavenly Father, acknowledging His hand in all things, asking for His divine strength and help is what will truly bring blessings. It would be nice if He just gave us the blessings that we need, and sometimes He does. However, if that were to happen all of the time, we wouldn't be able to experience the growth and humility that is needed and comes when we plead for His help. We would forget about Him and think that all of our numerous blessings came from ourselves, rather than give credit to who truly gave it. We would then feel as though we had no reason to pray. How sad would that be? We would be as small children. Unable to do anything for ourselves, taking all from our parents, who give us all, and giving nothing in return. Hence, the reason why we pray. 

I know without a doubt that our Heavenly Father wants to hear from us. He loves to hear from us. Just as our parents love the call home while we are gone. Just as our friends love to catch up during a separation, He wants us to tell Him what is going on in our lives. He wants us to express our gratitude, so that we are humble and know that we can go through this life with Him. He wants us to sincerely ask Him for blessings. As I have learned of these things, I feel a strong and sincere desire to make my prayers better. To have a true conversation with Him. I don't like it when my friends go through the motions and have a superficial conversation with me. I don't want to do that with Him any longer. I will ponder what I want to say to Him before I pray, so that I can stay focused better. It will be a struggle at first. But I know that as I continue the habit, I know that it will become easier and that my relationship with my Heavenly Father will be so much better because of it.

Foundations

Today I studied a talk given by Bishop David M. Davies entitled A Sure Foundation given in the last session of General Conference. For those who don't know what General Conference is, our church has a conference every April and October where we sustain our leaders and hear inspired messages from them. In this talk, Bishop Davies told a story of an earthquake that he experienced and the importance of foundations were during that time. He then taught how we can apply that to our own lives. 

Bishop Davies quoted an awesome verse from the Book of Mormon, Helaman 5:12, that says, "And now my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his might storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are build, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall."

Within this verse and talk, the phrase sure foundation was repeated. I thought it was so interesting that the foundation must be sure. Not okay, not enough to meet code or pass inspection, but a sure foundation. The Savior gave a parable to help illustrate what a sure foundation is. It can be found in Matthew 7:24-27. A sure foundation is a rock. Above we learned that the rock that we can build our lives is Christ. What is the sand that we must avoid?

Sand is constantly changing. Shifting, it moves how the water moves it, and squishes under the feet of those that walk on it. So is our world today. Standards, what is "in", popular media and other things that seem to be so important in today's world are constantly changing. They move with the decisions of who is famous. Good standards are squished with the decaying public opinion. The good in the world is slowly slipping away. The world is the sand that we can build our foundation. 

I'd like to point out a key word from the first verse that I shared. When. The first says When the devil shall send for his mighty winds. It isn't if it comes. When it comes. Unfortunately, part of this life is to experience the hard storms of life. We are to learn and to be tested. When these storms come we have two options. We can be built upon the moveable sand and be washed away. Or we can be built on the rock of Christ and be immoveable in the hard times. 

2 Timothy 2:19 states that "the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are His." Our "sure" foundation is God. And He knows us and will send us the exact strength that we will need to survive the storms of life. How do we develop this sure foundation? Bishop Davies said, "Faith, repentance, baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end are part of the 'blueprints' of life. They help form the appropriate building blocks that will anchor our lives to the Atonement of Christ. These shape and frame the supporting structure of of a person's life. Then,...specifications...give detailed instructions about how to form and integrate essential components, praying, reading scriptures, partaking of the sacrament, and receiving essential priesthood ordinances become the 'specifications' that help integrate and bind together the structure of life." Doing all of these things, being consistent in our prayer, scripture study and partaking of the sacrament, builds our foundation strong and sure.

On a family trip the Oregon Coast, I saw this picture

The storms will come. If we build on a sure foundation, like this lighthouse is, we will be able survive the storm and be safe, as the man will be. If we are built on the sand of the world, we will be dragged down  to the gulfs of misery and endless wo. 

Stay strong my friends. Through Christ, we can make it.

Fix You

One of my very first experiences at college, two of my roommates and I sat in the hallway of our building with our new friend Grant until boys had to leave, at 1:30. The entire time we discussed music and dancing. My roommate showed me this song and gave a great thought about it. 

This song is called Fix You, by the band Coldplay. When the song was played she mentioned to think of our Savior's atonement. It was like magic! It fit so perfectly. I have thought a lot about this song recently and all the way it was true.

Alma 7:11-14 states the nature of the atonement. Notice how the mention of sins doesn't come until the 3rd verse. Many people think that His grace and atonement only reaches through to our sins to make us clean (see Isaiah 1:18). While this is a highly important part of the atonement, this isn't the only thing. He reaches out to us through all of our pains, sufferings, and heart aches. He felt all of our pains, so that He knows how to best comfort us. 

Elder David A. Bednar gave a fantastic devotional at BYU in which he discusses what this is: "I suspect that you and I are much more familiar with the nature of the redeeming power of the Atonement than we are with the enabling power of the Atonement... Most of us clearly understand that the Atonement is for sinners. I am not so sure, however, that we know and understand that the Atonement is also for saints—for good men and women who are obedient and worthy and conscientious and who are striving to become better and serve more faithfully. I frankly do not think many of us “get it” concerning this enabling and strengthening aspect of the Atonement, and I wonder if we mistakenly believe we must make the journey from good to better and become a saint all by ourselves through sheer grit, willpower, and discipline, and with our obviously limited capacities."

I used to be in that same boat. I had walked off the strait and narrow path and was started towards a difficult and lonely path. One day I had the great opportunity to attend a conference that was specific to the youth in my area. I listened to a talk that I really needed to hear. I was touched and knew that I needed to change. At first it was really rough. It was difficult to make the changes that I made because I still wasn't in the habit of reading my scripture and praying daily. I tried to make the changes on my own; drop habits without any help from my Savior. About six months later I came home from a church dance feeling discouraged and alone. I dropped on my knees, and with extreme tears prayed for the first time in a long time. I asked for help and for a friend to be there for me. While the friend I prayed for came a little while later, an answer came that night. It was exactly as described in the chorus of this song. I saw light in my life again. The Holy Ghost wrapped its arms around me and filled me so that I felt like my whole body was burning. And together, Christ and I began a long journey to fix me. 

Ever since that night in my room, I have learned to turn to my Savior to guide me and to help me be fixed. His atonement is real and is there for anyone and everyone to use. However, we have to put in our own work. We have to work to eliminate evil from our lives, walk in His paths, live what we know, and become who He wants us to be. The beauty of this though, is that when we work with Him, the work becomes doable. We can do nothing alone because we have "obviously limited capacities." With Him, we can do anything.

Has my life been easy since I made my turning point? No. Have I been perfect since then? Definitely not. I have a very far way to go. However, my life has been infinitely better, because I have learned to turn to the Savior for help. 

I testify of the realness of both side of atonement. I know without a doubt that it is for us. I know because I have felt its power. I have been purified and cleansed by Christ's blood. I know that he answers our plea for forgiveness, strength and help. I have come to know by putting it to the test. If you do not know, I encourage you to kneel and pray with a sincere desire to learn. He will listen. And He will answer.

Waiting on the road to Damascus or Climb the road to Emmaus

So I have a friend serving a mission for our church and we have been writing hand written letters back and forth to stay in contact during this time. Mormons, single handedly keeping the US Postal Service in business. In my last letter to her, I wrote about how we each have a personal mission to accomplish and how she was called to her mission for a reason. She responded about how she felt that was true, and that we have to go out and seek for it, the answer just doesn't come beforehand. We find our answer by seeking for it. She said that the subject made her think of President Uchtdorf's talk entitled  "Waiting on the Road to Damascus" and how good it was. I studied that talk today as part of my scripture study and had these thoughts come:

I find it interesting that the stories that we read in the scriptures of an angel or Christ appearing come from one of two reasons. It is either extreme unrighteousness- Saul, Alma and the sons of Mosiah, Laman and Lemuel- or extreme righteousness- Joseph Smith, Nephi, the brother of Jared. I'd rather "force" an appearance from the latter, not the former. Bt the likelihood of that occurring is zilch. So rather than waiting on the road to Damascus demanding an appearance from Christ, we gain our testimony walking on the road to Emmaus (for those unfamiliar with that story go here verse 13-33). We commune with Him, learn of Him, feast on His spirit, and then the testimony slowly comes. Then we realize that He was always with us, and recognize all that we have learned. We remember and think, "Did not our heart burn within us" while we sought for Him and learned of His teachings? While the real road to Emmaus may be flat, we figuratively climb rocks, hills, and the difficult road with Him by our side. When we reach the end of the road, it is not Emmaus that we reach, but rather the presence of Christ and our Heavenly Father. No longer will our eyes be holden, but rather opened so that we know them.

I've entitled this blog "Climbing the Road to Emmaus" because I want to climb the road with my Savior, wherever my path may lead. This blog is to record my thoughts and insights along the way.