Fear Not

People fear almost anything, from spiders to clocks failure to great mole rats (zemmiphobia).  However, fear in the gospel sense, is the opposite of faith.  When we fear, we lack trust that God is really in control.  Countless times in the scriptures it says "Doubt not fear not."  Often times when angels or prophets speak, they start by saying fear not.  True love casteth out all fear.  If we really love and God, we wouldn't fear man.  In D&C 3, the Lord chastens Oliver Cowdery by saying, "You should not have feared man more than God".  Elisha says to his servant in 2 Kings, "Fear not, for they that are with us are more than they that are with them." 

I'm a big Star Wars fan.  In Episode I, Yoda says to the young Anakin that fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering.  All of the feelings qualify as those that come from the devil.  They build on each other and they do not come from God.  God teaches love, trust, and calmness, opposites of those other qualities. 

So while Star Wars is a great thing, and Halloween is lots of fun, the moral is that we need to cultivate love and trust in God.  When we trust in God, we do not fear what life will bring.  We know that all things will work out for our good and that God will not leave us comfortless or abandoned.  I love the consoling words that the Lord speaks to Joshua in the first chapter "As I was with Moses, so shall I be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.  Be strong and of a good courage:"  When we are faithful to the Lord, that promise applies to us as well.  He will not fail us or forsake us.  No matter what comes, we can walk with the assurance that He will be there with us.  We can be like Joshua; strong and of a good courage.  So during this gloomy fast approaching season, laden with creepy crawlies, spooks, and spine chilling masks; and when things get to be a little much for you, remember  2 Tim 1:7 God hath not given us the spirit fear" and 1 Jn 4:18 "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear".

_Elder Halbert

Don't Look Back!

I love the scripture story of Lot leaving his home town.  Lot was living in the city of Sodom and Gomorrah which to say the least was a pretty dumpy dirty place.  The Lord was going to destroy it because of the wickedness of the people so he warned Lot and his family and told them to hightail it out of the city.  The Lord told him that when they left, they shouldn't look back.  A they were walking away from the city, the wife of Lot disobeyed a commandment of the Lord and looked back and was turn into a pillar of salt.  When we look back on a life of sin, maybe still longing to be there, or when we dwell in the past, we lack faith and trust that what the Lord has in store is better than what we are leaving.  So I realize that this video is a little dated, like 10 months late, or just 2 months early, but its still a really good video and you don't have to wait for the new year to change. Enjoy!  

_Elder Halbert 

Frozen Pipes

In the Apr. 1988 Liahona, there was a story called "The Bucket of Water".  In short, the story goes that it was an exceptionally cold winter and the pipes in the city were freezing.  Since a couple of missionaries didn't have running water anymore, they wanted to have some in the apartment in case of emergency.  So they went door to door asking for a bucket of water but the people were selfish in saying that every bucket of water they gave away, that was one less bucket they would have. Finally one lady said, “One bucket of water? One bucket of water—is that all? I will let you have two, or three, or ten, or more. Keep coming back, because if I give the water away the water pipes will never freeze. When the water is flowing, it doesn’t freeze. In a way, the more I give, the more I get in return.”

Our lives are the very same way.  The more we give the more we receive.  and the happier we are.  When we give our time and talents and love and our means to help others, it keeps the water in our pipes from freezing.  When "iniquity shall abound, [the] love of many shall wax cold".  When we keep giving and giving, it keeps our water from going stagnant, and our hearts from waxing cold.  The more we give, the more we receive.

 As we continue giving and giving, we are filled with the Holy Ghost, that keeps our lines from ever going cold.  We show our gratitude for what we have and that we care enough to pass it on to someone else.  When we serve, we become more like Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ.

_Elder Halbert