A Persistent Promise

Throughout history, many have rejected the wonderful blessings that come from striving to do as the Lord asks.  Within the Book of Mormon, the Lord continually invites us to keep his commandments for a variety of reasons.

Alma 50: 20  Blessed art thou and thy children; and they shall be blessed, inasmuch as they shall keep my commandments they shall prosper in the land. But remember, inasmuch as they will not keep my commandments they shall be cut off from the presence of the Lord.

This phrase "inasmuch as they shall keep my commandments they shall [insert blessing here]" occurs more than a dozen times in the Book of Mormon.  [See the others I've found] Of course, these aren't the only times or ways that the Book of Mormon, or scripture in general challenges us to keep commandments.  This is just one of the ways that the Lord ties in the commandments with blessings attached.

"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]

Brother Bott, one of my advisors when I was training to be a missionary, liked to illustrate this by saying "In other words, pick up one end of the stick and the other one inescapably follows." and that for every blessing you may want, you have to pick up the stick with the blessing you want at the end of it.  I see these as one of the forms in which this principle that when you keep commandments there are blessings is illustrated.
How have you seen this principle in action in your lives?

A Day at the Museum

Yesterday, wanting to get out for a bit, I went a natural history museum with Elder Schultz.  Within the tiny museum, we saw a wide variety of the life on this planet.  Before going on a mission, I was a biology student and I love studying different life sciences.  When I go back to school next year, I plan to continue studying biological engineering.  (Won't stop sharing the gospel if I have any say about it.)  Studying and seeing all the animals reminds me of the great gift this world is and our responsibility to take good care of it. 

Lots and lots of animals!

If you were starting to wonder for a moment, yes, this is my shout out for conservation.  The Lord created this Earth just for us.  It's a gift as a place we can learn and develop our character.

Behold, the Lord hath created the earth that it should be inhabited; and he hath created his children that they should possess it. [1 Nephi 17:36]

A Liger?  I honestly didn't know those were real.

And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.  [Genesis 1:26]

Tracting Shoes

"How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!" [Isaiah 52:7]

I have to admit I was rather shocked when I saw this Mormonad poster the other day.  It combines a scripture that is very dear to me, as you might have already seen, and a pair of shoes that looks very much like the shoes that I once wore while tracting (going around inviting people to learn about Christ's restored church).  Mine are certainly much more worn in (or out).  Traveling by foot and stopping to share the good news with those you meet on the street for two years is certainly a way to become more familiar with the Master's recorded ministry.  Maybe these worn-out shoes are a reflection of the shape of my feet; however, it's certainly worth it.

Elder Moxley's Shoes August 22, 2009

  

That He Lives!

It's interesting to see that what Joseph Smith thought this was most important for everyone to know  out of all the facts about Jesus Christ.  Everything else that is important about Jesus Christ stems from his victory over death.  If he had no victory over death, he'd have little power over sin.  Had he no victory, he could not have been our Savior.  However, he does still live.  His directions to living prophets and the reestablishment of his Church are an evidence of that, and they hinge on the reality of it.

Missionary Media Gets More Attention

Alongside this blog I also manage a group blog which focuses on the videos we've made in our mission or that we use as we share Jesus Christ's gospel.  I started the Missionary Media blog when we needed a place to gather together all the great resources we'd found and made.  This morning, one of the missionaries I serve with, Elder LeeMaster, found a feature about Missionary Media on Mormon Times.

And did you know that there is a new community blog that features 20 current contributing missionaries? Wow! [...] I’d love to see more blogs that utilize missionaries in this collaborative and creative way!

 I'm glad for the help this brings in sharing the blog and the reminder to continue sharing these great videos.