3 Nephi 12:10-12

My Story: Audia

It all started when I did my research on the Mormons and I went to Mormon.org. I wanted to leave my old church and get a new church, a new faith, which will help me change for the better. On Mormon.org I met some ladies and they gave me a number for the bishop and his wife then his wife gave me a number for 2 missionaries. So I called and that following Wednesday I met them and that Sunday I went to my first day of Mormon Church and since then I’ve stuck to it.

I decided to be baptized to be an official member of the church because I knew in my heart that it was my new church where I belong. To me, baptism means getting a new life and getting rid of the old and becoming a new person; which is why my testimony is my new life is my LDS faith and it's true and no one can tell me different. It helped me change my life and me I felt a change since coming to this church and I’m sticking to it.  No one can make me leave. I'm happy where I am and I enjoy it. I have friends who I love dearly, who I care about and they care about me.

My favorite scripture is Mosiah 5:7 because it's who I became:

My four year-old cat Socks

"And now, because of the covenant which ye have made ye shall be called the children of Christ, his sons, and his daughters; for behold, this day he hath spiritually begotten you; for ye say that your hearts are changed through faith on his name; therefore, ye are born of him and have become his sons and his daughters."

Also Psalm 37:5, because the Lord will take care of the people who picked on me and harassed me in due time and I shouldn't be worried: "Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass."

I'm excited for when I'm ready to be baptized in the upcoming months.



-by Audia

Keep Christmas Going

.Several weeks ago, my mother sent me a reminder of a story that we'd read at home for Christmas.  I've been thinking about it more after Christmas though than I did before.  I can't remember the story, so if anyone can find it, I'd be very grateful.  I give the details I can remember, and hopefully I'll be able to fill in the rest eventually.
Christmas eve, a miserly banker (think of Ebeneezer Scrooge) was tidying up his bank for the holiday after his clerks and tellers had gone home.  He locked the front door, and made a sweep of the whole bank.  Last of all, he stepped into the heart of his bank, the massive steel vault.  Soon after stepping over the threshold of the vault, he heard the heavy door swing and clank behind him.  Startled, he turned around to find the door had closed and locked.
Since the bank would not open the next day, no one would come and open the vault to continue business.  Neither would friends or family come looking for him, for he didn't have any.  He spent Christmas, lonely and miserable locked in his own vault, because he had not personally reached out to the world.  When one of his clerks opened the vault on the day after Christmas, the banker was a changed man.  He'd had a day and half alone to ponder over his choices, and the value of relationships he'd previously disregarded.

This year, I spent Christmas surrounded by friends and fellow missionaries.  I also called home and talked with my family, which was quite a highlight.  I spent the season inviting people to follow Jesus Christ, experience his love and to share it with others.
Without those relationships with friends and family, Christmas wouldn't be as special.  It's hard to think of Christ's love, without the love of others immediately at hand.  Those relationships and the love that's there aren't built up in a day.  They come from extending Christ-like love to others, all through the year and building those relationships.  This is why my mother keeps one Christmas ornament over the kitchen sink up all year long.  It reminds our whole family to keep the holiday Christ-like spirit with us all year and not just when Target is selling decorations.

Christmas Well Wishes

Merry Christmas! - Vesel božič!

I wish the merriest of Christmases to everyone following my blog.  I hope that something in my blog has brightened your season and brought you closer to Christ.  I’d love to hear what it was, and hope that as you are spending this wonderful day with family and friends.  Please be sure to click the button to the left for a Christmas card to you.   May your thoughts be centered on the hope that is in Jesus Christ.

Želim najbolj vesel božič vsem ki berejo moj blog.  Upam da nekaj v tem blogu vam je osrečil božič in vas pripeljal Kristusu bliže.  Jaz bi rad slišal to kar je bil.  Prosim da tiskate gumb na levici za božično kartico vam.  Naj bo vam misel osredotočena na Jezusa Kristusa. 

Don't Forget What We're Celebrating

Tonight I will be reading Luke chapter 2 in the New Testament with the other missionaries I serve with.  I've this account from Mary's perspective many times this month, and many times in years before and love it.  I know that as we read it, our thoughts will be drawn to Jesus Christ and we will feel the Spirit.  Will you gather a group around and read it tonight as well?

Understanding Christ's Birth

Knowest Though the Condescension of God?: Birth and Childhood

This is a great video I've had the opportunity to watch today as further personal study into the events surrounding Christ's birth.  In this video, Brigham Young University scholars of ancient scripture discuss 

A wonderful thing about this video is how they compare the information we have from the multiple accounts in Biblical sources and other sources available through modern revelation, like the Book of Mormon.

They also discuss external historical information that makes it easier to follow some of those events.  Beyond that, I enjoyed seeing many of the historical sites that were involved in Christ's birth and childhood.

Jesus Once of Humble Birth.

Every year, my family carefully unwraps several porcelain figurines which combine to display the crowd of shepherds and animals gathered around to see the newly born Jesus with his mother mother Mary, and adoptive father Joseph.  Yesterday evening, Elder Meza unwrapped the second of a set that his friends at home sent him.
This morning I was pondering the humble circumstances surrounding Christ's birth.  In the past several Christmases I've seen many beautiful nativity scenes which capture the details of the event rather simply and accurately.  Other's become much more distracted by commercialism, or hopefully are just drawing Christ's glory into the physical portrayal of the event, and display a comfortable royal splendor which was very unlikely present at when Jesus Christ was born.

And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. [Luke 2:7]

Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. Butter and honey shall he eat (foods of the poor), that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good. [Isaiah 7:14-15]

And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.  And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. [Luke 2:15-16]

The Savior of the world was born amid the lowly setting of a manger, or stall of a barn.  Despite his royal lineage, he was raised by are carpenter.

Many may not consider this to be among the typical Christmas songs, however it is rather fitting for the focus we're trying to capture for our Christmas season.  Christ's birth and glory give a striking contrast which we should be slow to forget.

1. Jesus, once of humble birth,

Now in glory comes to earth.

Once he suffered grief and pain;

Now he comes on earth to reign.

Now he comes on earth to reign.

2. Once a meek and lowly Lamb,

Now the Lord, the great I Am.

Once upon the cross he bowed;

Now his chariot is the cloud.

Now his chariot is the cloud.

3. Once he groaned in blood and tears;

Now in glory he appears.

Once rejected by his own,

Now their King he shall be known.

Now their King he shall be known.

4. Once forsaken, left alone,

Now exalted to a throne.

Once all things he meekly bore,

But he now will bear no more.

But he now will bear no more.

Hymn #196 in Hymns of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Text: Parley P. Pratt, 18071857
Music: Giacomo Meyerbeer, 17911864, adapted

Christ's Birthday

On Mormon.org chat, I now regularly get asked, "Don't you Mormon's know Jesus probably wasn't even born in December?!"  I'm quite pleased in being able to answer, "Of course we know that, in fact, we know he was born on April 6."

Image: The Life and Teachings of Jesus and His Apostles

President Harold B Lee, the 11th modern prophet, said, “This is the annual conference of the Church. April 6, 1973, is a particularly significant date because it commemorates not only the anniversary of the organization of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in this dispensation, but also the anniversary of the birth of the Savior, our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ. [Quoted D&C 20:1]” ( CR, Apr. 1973, p. 4.)  Even Mormon scriptures and prophets make it clear that Jesus wasn't born in December.

Source: Sister 72, Flickr

This of course doesn't get in the way of celebrating Christ's birth in what would otherwise be a dreary season.  The darkest months of the year are a time when we certainly need some light.  There is no better way to light up a dreary season, than to remember Jesus Christ, for "Christ shall give thee light." [Eph 5:14]

As President Lee demonstrated, we don't fail to commemorate Christ's actual birthday either.  Who deserves two birthday parties a year more than the Savior of the world?

Online On Christmas

Referral Center Mission at Bishop Allen's

Wednesday evening my mission went all went to the home of Bishop Allen.  He's the son of one of the leaders over our mission.  As a bishop, he volunteers to oversee a congregation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  Part of that includes overseeing the young men and women in the Church by strengthening them spiritually and personally, and by helping them reach out to other young men and women.  This outreach helps strengthen their faith and help them share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with their friends.  I know that the ways I helped my friends learn about Jesus Christ and his modern prophets, and built my faith in him, when I saw the changes that took place in my friends' lives.  To help build the young men and women's faith in Christ and to share it with others, Bishop Allen held a fireside in his home, in which we presented how we do missionary work online, and suggested ways others could get involved in sharing the Gospel online.  One of the main ways we covered was sharing it with status updates on Facebook and such.  Our faith is so dear to us, that many of us forget as we hold it sacred to let it show in our daily lives, especially as we show our daily lives on the internet with friends and family across the world.  How often do we post an update to show how our families are remembering Christ?



Elder Spencer, showed me this video, that shows what Mary and Joseph's status updates would have looked like, as they might have shared some of the most sacred events of all time.

Service in Several Languages

This morning we Matthew 25:34-40, was read in three of the different languages spoken among the missionaries I serve with.  Elder Meza, one of the missionaries I serve alongside, brought up the discussion with the version from his Spanish scriptures.  Not many of us understood.

Spanish

34 Entonces el Rey dirá a los que estén a su derecha: Venid, benditos de mi Padre, heredad el reino preparado para vosotros desde la fundación del mundo.  35 Porque tuve hambre, y me disteis de comer; tuve sed, y me disteis de beber; fui forastero, y me recogisteis;  36 estuve desnudo, y me cubristeis; enfermo, y me visitasteis; estuve en la cárcel, y vinisteis a mí.  37 Entonces los justos le responderán, diciendo: Señor, ¿cuándo te vimos hambriento y te sustentamos?, ¿o sediento y te dimos de beber?  38 ¿Y cuándo te vimos forastero y te recogimos?, ¿o desnudo y te cubrimos?  39 ¿O cuándo te vimos enfermo o en la cárcel, y fuimos a verte?  40 Y respondiendo el Rey, les dirá: De cierto os digo que en cuanto lo hicisteis a uno de éstos, mis hermanos más pequeños, a mí lo hicisteis.

Slovenian

››34Tedaj bo kralj rekel tistim, ki bodo na desnici: ›Pridite, blagoslovljeni mojega Očeta! Prejmite v posest kraljestvo, ki vam je pripravljeno od začetka sveta! 35 Kajti lačen sem bil in ste mi dali jesti, žejen sem bil in ste mi dali piti, tujec sem bil in ste me sprejeli, 36 nag sem bil in ste me oblekli, bolan sem bil in ste me obiskali, v ječi sem bil in ste prišli k meni.‹ 37 Tedaj mu bodo pravični odgovorili: ›Gospod, kdaj smo te videli lačnega in te nasitili ali žejnega in ti dali piti? 38 Kdaj smo te videli tujca in te sprejeli ali nagega in te oblekli? 39 Kdaj smo te videli bolnega ali v ječi in smo prišli k tebi?‹ 40 Kralj jim bo odgovoril: ›Resnično, povem vam: Kar koli ste storili enemu od teh mojih najmanjših bratov, ste meni storili.‹‹ © 1996, 2003 Društvo Svetopisemska družba Slovenije 

English

34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:  35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:  36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.  37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?  38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?  39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?  40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

Even reading these in a language besides my own, when I don't fully understand the words, I can seen the beautiful imagery of these  expressions of service.  The principle is the same in any language, that when we serve others, we are serving our heavenly King, Jesus Christ.  That's just what he wants of us, to serve others.

The Other Wise Man

One of those books that comes out of my family's storage for Christmas is the Other Wise Man by Henry Van Dyke.  It traces the fictitious life of Artiban, who was a middle eastern wise man or magi, like the wise men who visited Jesus Christ as a child.  It teaches a wonderful lesson that a lifetime of service is the best gift we can offer Christ, and is far more valuable for us and to him than gold or jewels.

Elder Sabin, one of the leaders over our small band of missionaries, surprised us by spending a district meeting reading the story of the Other Wise Man.  It brought back great memories from Christmases at home and ways we'd try to serve others, especially around Christmas.

I also enjoyed watching the movie, the Fourth Wise Man, which is based on the classic story.  I hope you'll read or watch it and think of ways that you can more passionately serve as Artiban did, as the Spirit prompted him throughout the story to swerve as Christ would.  If you need some practical ideas to get started, you can find them at: http://mormon.org/humanitarian-aid/.

Christmas Before Christmas

As Christmas approaches, I began to ponder and compare this short time before Christmas, to the thousands of years before the first and true Christmas nativity.  Since Christmas being such an important time of year in most of our lives, I wondered how the spirit of Christmas might have been experienced before the actual advent.

From the scriptures, like the Holy Bible and the Book of Mormon, I was able to gather some of details Before Christ's birth in early April at the turn of the era, at least some of God's righteous children, had access to many of the details of the events of the nativity that we share with our families now.

This coloring page, which I did color myself, shows a sight seen by prophets long before it took place.
As you read these verses, which were each originally written almost 600 years or more before Christ's birth, compare what you know about Christ's birth, to these details here.

Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. Isaiah 7:14

And it came to pass also that a new star did appear, according to the word. 3 Nephi 1:21

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6

 And I looked and beheld the virgin again, bearing a child in her arms. 1 Nephi 11:20.

And after the Messiah shall come there shall be signs given unto my people of his birth, and also of his death and resurrection... 2 Nephi 26:3

BCC Zeitcast 4.3: The Cyber Elders

Serving online, I've had the opportunity to meet a wild variety of many wonderful members of the church.  Many of them are engaged in their faith through the online community.  Following the suggestion of some of my missionary leadership (not breaking any mission rules),  I was searching members blogs for ideas for my own, and ways to reach out in the online community.  One of the blogs I stumbled on was By Common Consent.  The most recent post touched on a topic I had recently shared my perspective on here on How Beautiful are the Feet....  It created quite a stir when I commented on the topic, and made no attempt to hide my identity as a full-time missionary.  Mormon missionaries usually aren't on the internet except to email home.  After some mutual misunderstandings of what was going on, that were a result of the inconspicuous nature of our mission, Scott B, one of the authors of the blog did some more research into my background and online missionaries.  Scott conducted an interview with Elder Meza, my companion, and I on Skype and posted it on By Common Consent.  The interview is an hour long, and focuses more on Elder Meza's and my experiences as online missionaries, than the actual logistics of the mission, but word is spreading.
BCC Zeitcast 4.3: The Cyber Elders

Source for Christmas Fun

Christ: The Real Gift of Christmas

A recent search brought me to this site which I hadn't seen yet.  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints launched it last year.  I hadn't seen it yet, since I was in Slovenia and wasn't on a computer much.  The site is awesome.  It has videos, stories, music, and activities for families to do on Christmas.  There's also a place to post Christmas traditions and read what others are doing.  I got my Christmas countdown badge from it, however I was a little disappointed that it's still counting down past last year's Christmas.  There's a few other things that are out of date too, like the link for a free Joy to the World DVD doesn't work anymore.  That's okay though, if you didn't get it last year, you can watch it online on YouTube.  With more traffic to the site those problems are more likely to be taken care of.  Best of all, is the link to the live chat with a missionary like me.  It's a great way for those who aren't members of the church to learn more about why we're celebrating or how to get involved.  Share it with your friends.  :D

Pulling out the Christmas Decorations

This time of the year (maybe even a bit earlier than this) my family at home is pulling out all of the boxes of Christmas stuff.  One of the closets in our basement at home is entirely filled with decorations, games, books, and other items that mark the season.
Many times before, my mom has gone through with us those things, and has asked us how they relate to what we're celebrating.  Many of the stories teach things that strengthen our family, and many of the ornaments on our tree focus on events in our lives or other things that represent us and are meaningful to us.  Of all the things represented by those things we pull out at Christmas, nothing is represented more often than our Savior Jesus Christ.
My mother personally taught me that Christmas is all about our Savior.  From our mother's special efforts and care, we could sincerely say along with the young men in the Book of Mormon "we do not doubt our mothers knew it." [Alma 56:48]  I know that my mother knows the true meaning of Christmas.

"And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins." [2 Nephi 25:26]

"To catch the real meaning of the spirit of Christmas, we need only to drop the last syllable and it becomes the spirit of Christ."  -President Thomas S Monson, Christ's living prophet.

A Virtuous Woman

Proverbs 31 from the scriptures of Elder Moxley