Hiking Trip!!!

Getting close to the end of my mission and my foot, while not what it used to be hasn't been bothering me too much.  I went for a short (really short) hiking trip with Elder Ahlstrom and Elder Fallentine up Rock Canyon behind the Provo Temple this afternoon.  It was pouring rain all morning, and stopped as soon as we got out there.  As soon as our ride to take us back arrived, it began pouring rain again.  Got one good hour of sunshine that we'll see today.

5 Great Things About the Mormon Church!

"If you could tell me 5 reasons to consider this convert to Mormon, what would they be?"

A great lady I was teaching on Facebook yesterday asked me this question.  It was the best question I've been asked in the last week.  Thrilled to answer, I gave the following items

1. Makes it so your family can be sealed in the temple to be together for ever.
2. You get extra guidance from the Holy Ghost to give you warnings and directions when you're lost.
3. Guidance from Christ through modern prophets to help you make sure you're living so you can have the holy ghost, and also be warned of worldwide problems.
4. Richer understanding of why Christ's sacrifice is so important and how it Adam's fall help us become like our Father in heaven.
5. Having a church family to support and help your own family.

She topped my answers by giving me a good one of her own.

"I love that this religion believes babies are born pure and if they passed before baptism, they would still enter heaven."

If you were asked for five reasons to become a Mormon and be baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, what would they be?  What should mine be?  Don't be afraid to comment if you've only got one idea or a question about mine.

Miracles, How Do They Work?

Magic show I put on

"A miracle is not something that violates the laws of nature, but rather its the excercise of higher laws which we don't understand to achieve a desired aim."

 -James E Talmage

Somehow, many make the assumption that believing in miracles excludes belief in the value of science and objective study.  If anything, my belief in miracles through God's power drives me to take science more seriously.

Testify of Christ: Second Session

As shared in my last post, the primary purpose of modern prophets and apostles is to testify of Christ and stand as witnesses of him and his resurrection.  This morning I studied my notes from the April 2011 LDS General Conference and gathered up what was shared about Christ as these prophets and apostles filled this role.

Testify of Christ

Over the last weekend was the 181st annual General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  As is typical for any General Conference, the messages focused on our Savior Jesus Christ.  Every speaker related his or her topic to Christ and finished with a testimony of him, his divinity, his resurrection from the dead, or his sacrifice for us.  This fulfilled their special calling from God to act as a special witness of Jesus Christ, "...for the testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of prophecy." [Revelation 19:10]

I'm spending this morning reviewing my notes from the first session of conference shown above.  The first thing I'd like to do before I can read the transcript is search through my notes for some of the things that were taught about Jesus Christ, especially things that were new to me.