Farewell my Nauvoo

Wow, I can't believe it's already over. Two years have never gone by so fast. This Thursday, June 7th, I complete my mission and fly home to Idaho. These past two years have been some of the greatest and hardest years of my whole life. The way I feel right now is, i'm sure, similar to the way the early members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints felt when they had to leave the great city of Nauvoo. Its hard to leave something you have grown to love, but we can always have a firm hope and trust in God that great blessings, opportunities, and happiness lie ahead when were trying to be faithful.
When the early Saints headed north up the Mississippi river they came to an area with large swamps. There they drained the swamps and began to build the city of Nauvoo. This was no easy task for them. Many of them became ill with ague, an infectious disease that includes fever and chills. Everyone made tremendous sacrifices, giving almost everything they had to help establish this great city. Although it was a hard time for everyone, for more than six years those Saints displayed a remarkable degree of unity, faith, and happiness. And because of their faith the Lord poured out His blessings on them. Miracles were wrought by the Prophet Joseph Smith and many other righteous men who held the true authority of Jesus Christ. They went around healing those who were sick and restored them back to their proper health. The Lord also gave the Saints more scripture and revelation during this time, as well as a commandment to build a Temple. The Saints built the Temple and then entered in and became sealed to their families for all eternity never to be separated at death. The Lord had truly extended his tender mercies and prospered His people. However, due to mob violence, Joseph Smith was martyred and the Saints were driven out of their beloved city. This is when they decided to travel west and settle in the Salt Lake valley. I'm sure it was hard for those Saints to leave Nauvoo, but I know they had a firm trust in God that He would take care of them and that everything was going to be alright.

I truly testify, from experience, that no matter how hard life may be, hope and happiness can always be found. I know the Lord never forsakes those who are striving to do whats right. I know God, our loving Heavenly Father, and His son, Jesus Christ, are real. I love them and I know they love us. They are watching over each of us from Heaven and they bless us everyday. The Atonement is real. It happened and we can be cleansed and strengthened from it even today. I loved serving this mission! I loved serving around so many great people here whether they were members, missionaries, or those not of our faith. I pray the Lords choicest blessings will be poured out on all of them, and may God be with you 'till we meet again.

mormon.org/jesus-christ/

Click here to watch  Joseph Smith: The Prophet of the Restoration a video that shows the early Saints building Nauvoo and the life of Joseph Smith.

Men and Women of Courage

Since before I was born my Dad worked as a firefighter and he worked as one for over 30 years. Because he was a fireman he kept a radio in our house that would go off when the fire department had a call. One night when I was about ten years old I heard the radio go off. It woke me up from my sleep. I waited and listened to the call, it sounded pretty bad. When the dispatcher on the radio stopped talking I heard my Dad get up and start heading for the door. It was his day off, but he decided to go help out anyway. So I jumped out of bed and ran up to my Dad asking if I could go too. After thinking for a moment he agreed to let me come and observe. So he woke up my Mom and asked her to come too to be with me. When we arrived to where the fire was I noticed it wasn't a small fire. It was a three story building right in the middle of a collage campus. I watched my Dad hurry out of our car and rush to where the firetrucks were parked. He geared up then went to work. I witnessed him and the other firefighters working hard and diligently to protect the surrounding buildings and to put the fire out. The fire was huge! And it seemed you could feel the heat from a mile away. It got a little scary watching the building collapse and seeing the ash fly everywhere. But no matter how big or scary the fire was my Dad stood courageously in his spot and fought the fire. I learned a powerful lesson from my Dad that night. It took courage for my Dad to leave the safety of his home and be willing to drive to a fire not knowing how big it was or what was going to be asked of him to protect others and to put the fire out. But he made the needed sacrifices and put his trust in God knowing that everything would be alright no matter the outcome. He is a man of courage.

Courage and faith are closely related. Each of us will be called to fight a fire of some kind. Not a real fire with flames, but a spiritual fire, which was lit by the devil. Satan, or the devil, glories in destruction and he is seeking to destroy our souls. He lights spiritual fires to keep men and women from following the Saviors teachings. These fires may include movies or other forms of worldly entertainment, bad influence from friends and family, addictions, pride or selfishness, or even fear. These spiritual fires can burn our souls until we are no longer able to feel the righteous and guiding influence of the Holy Spirit. With courage and faith we can win against these spiritual fires. It takes courage to walk out of an inappropriate movie. It takes courage to stand up to the peer pressure from family and friends. It takes courage to say no to a harmful drug or to give up an addiction. It takes courage to be charitable and give to someone else what you may need or want for yourself. It takes courage to live what you believe in a world that sees religion as a burden rather than a blessing. It takes courage to keep Gods commandments and take those steps of faith. 

As a missionary I've seen dozens of people who have the courage to stand against the spiritual fires and do what they know is right. I've seen many give up smoking and drinking. Others quit their jobs to keep the sabbath day holy. And some were baptized regardless of the mocking from friends and family. These are a few examples, but each faced a difficult decision and each had the courage to act and do what the Savior taught. Even though most of them faced harsh and unfair consequences from their righteous choices, all of them today have found true and lasting happiness. When we exercise courage and choose to be faithful, the Lord is bound and he'll pour out his greatest blessings upon us. The Savior taught "I, the Lord, am bound when ye do what I say; but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise." (D&C 82:10) He also taught " There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated—And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated." (D&C 130:20-21). What these two teachings mean is that the only way we can obtain the greatest blessings God has to offer us, his children, is if we have the courage to be obedient and live what we believe in.

True courage and faith can only come from the Savior, Jesus Christ. When we follow Him and keep his commandments he gives us the strength to fight against the devil. The more we learn about our identity (that we are truly children of God) and about our purpose in life, the easier it is to stand up and do what we know is right. The way we can learn more about our identity and purpose in life is through daily scripture study, including the Book of Mormon. Also through daily prayer we can communicate our struggles with God and plead for his assistance. As we communicate with him, he then is able to bless us. Weekly attendance at church gives us an added measure of the Spirit. When all of these our present in our life we will have the courage, faith, and strength to extinguish the spiritual fires placed in front of us and are able to become true disciples of Jesus Christ.