Way Too Easy

The story of Naaman comes from the Bible, in the book of 2 Kings 5.  Its is the story of a man who is befallen with an unfavorable fate.  He contracts the disease called leprosy, which is a skin disease with no cure.  Naaman tries going to the king in the land to solve his problem.  The king now gets upset because he knows that he has no power to heal.  When Elisha hears about it, he says "let him [Naaman] come now to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel.”  So he decides to try it and  goes up to the house of Elisha to be healed of his leprosy.  Upon his arrival, Elisha sends a servant out to tell Naaman that to be healed, he must go and wash himself in the river Jordan seven times.  Now Naaman isn't very happy about that.  He wanted some big grandiose miracle; he wanted a Hollywood healing.  Brooding and cross, Naaman mopes off to sulk about his situation.  A servant goes after him to try and talk it through with him.  In their conversation he says “If the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean?”.  After thinking it over, a sullen Naaman decides to follow the counsel of Elisha.  When he does so, he is cleansed from his disease. 
Often, I think that we're a lot more like Naaman than we know.  We, like him, want to be cleansed from our sins.  We, like him, hear that this healing can come from obeying scriptures or counsel of prophets, or answers to prayers.  So we try it.  We go to the house of Elisha.  We open the scriptures, or pray more frequently, or listen to the advice of our church leaders.  Here's the pitfall though.  We, like Naaman, don't like what we hear.  Its too simple, too easy, and really looks pointless.  So we don't do it.  For example, we hear that we should read our scriptures, pray, attend church, serve others, fulfill church responsibilities, pay our tithes etc, and then we don't like it.  We expect some grand miracle to occur every time we open the scriptures or do what we're suppose to when the reality is, that those miracle come from constant obedience to those principles. 

I know that when we do what God has asked us to do, when we keep the commandments, even the little ones, no matter how seemingly stupid or pointless they may appear, we are blessed for it and we, like Naaman, can be healed from the problems of this life. 
_Elder Halbert

Prayer

Ask, and it shall be given you; seek and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.                                 -Matthew 7:7
Prayer is an interesting thing.  Some people swear by it, others avoid it.  Some make it an everyday thing, some make it a once a year thing.  What is prayer and why do we do it?
Prayer is an act of faith.  It takes faith to get down on your knees and talk to someone that you can't see; and unlike a telephone, the replies aren't often instantaneous.  Prayer is the act in which we talk to our Father in Heaven.
Pray is simple.  The steps are as follows:

1. You address your Heavenly Father.  This includes saying "Heavenly Father" or "Our Father who art in Heaven". 
2. We give thanks and ask for blessings.  Thank Him for all that you have.  This may include things like safety, family, jobs, support and then ask for blessings.   
3. Close in the name of Jesus Christ.  

This is generally followed by an amen.Contrary to common opinion, prayer is not something that we resort to only when in a time of need.  Prayer should be a constant everyday thing, fortifying us in Christ through the good times and the bad.

Prayers should come from the heart.  Why do we pray?  Prayer is the act of bringing your will in line with God's.  Through prayer, we receive blessings that are made conditional upon our asking for them. The scriptures tell us multiple times to pray always.

In a sermon given in 1990 by Ezra Taft Benson, he offers us five ways for improving our prayers.  The commentary he gives on each one is incredible so I highly recommend reading it available here.  The five suggestions are that we should:

1. Pray frequently
2. Find an appropriate place where we can meditate and pray
3. We should prepare ourselves for prayer
4. Our prayers should be meaningful and penitent
5. After making a request in prayer, we have a responsibility to assist in it being granted.

That last one is interesting and is clarified by the following statement that we should listen and actively work those things that we ask for.  Far too often we say our prayers as a wish list with a Heaven bound stamp instead of a conversation.  Sometimes we pray for answers but fail to provide an atmosphere in which the Lord can answer us.   I know prayer works.  I know it has the power to change our lives for the better if we will allow it.  We could all stand to put for a little more effort into our daily prayers and to receiving answers to them.  

_Elder Halbert

Father's Day: Ties and Tools

One of the best examples of a father in the scriptures is the story of the Prodigal Son written in Luke 15.  It is the story of a rebellious and wayward son who wastes his inheritance, and then when he has nothing, he returns to his father's house.  The Father of the boy, comes running out and embraces his son.  Hopefully I will one day be as loving of a Father as the one in that story.  

Father's day is this coming Sunday.  Its is the day that we honor and celebrate the fathers or father figures in our lives.  It is a day in which we remember and cherish the good times and forgive the bad.  I have an amazing father.  He has taught me work, respect, love, and has always been a continuing example of living a righteous life.  My Dad has always sacrificed so much for me so that I would be able to do the things I love.  I love and appreciated him for that. 

To those who maybe haven't had the best examples set by their fathers, there is still purpose in this coming Sunday.  Perhaps this Sunday can be the day in which we resolve to be the best Fathers we can, to be the father that you may not have had growing up.   

With all the emphasis on our earthly fathers, we had best not forget our Heavenly Father.  Surely He deserves a part in this celebration of fathers. Didn't He also sacrifice for us.  Regardless of our fathers here on earth, we all have a Father in Heaven who looks after us with that same love as the father in the story of the prodigal son.  He too awaits our arrival home.  Our Heavenly Father loved us so much that He gave His only begotten son so that we might be able to come back to Him.  He too has taught us so many of the important lessons that we have learned in this life.  It is from Him that every blessing flows.  I know that our Father in Heaven appreciates us when we have a heart full of gratitude.  So this Sunday, among the ties, tools, and time off, let us not forget to do the things that He would have us do.  Let us set a little time aside that day to kneel and give thanks for all that He has done for us.  Perhaps a goal to read more scriptures or pray more earnestly or attend church more often would be another gift that we could give Him.  

I am so grateful to both my earthly father and my Heavenly Father for everything they have done in my life and hope to one day be the father they were to me.

_Elder Halbert

The Book of Mormon

The Book of Mormon is another Testament of Jesus Christ.  We believe in the Bible, but we believe that the Book of Mormon as well. They testify of each other.   As written in the cover page of the Book of Mormon, it reads that the purpose of the book is to the convincing of the Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God.  Why people say we're not Christians, I can't figure out for the life of me.   I know that the Book of Mormon does just that, it more fully convinces people that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world.  
Now the big question is do you have the resolve to find out whether or not the Book of Mormon is true.   If you want to find out about it, get yourself a copy, sit down, and read about it.  When you're done reading, even if it is just in part, kneel down and pray about it.  I know that God will answer your prayers.  He has done so for me and for the 14,000,000 other members of this church. The big question is, are you willing to try?
For those people who read on past that challenge in Moroni, read it again.  That promise extends to all people whether or not you have received an answer in the past.  Ask again, ask your Father in Heaven and he will either remind you of how you felt before, or he will confirm the truths that you know you know.  I know that it is true, that is why I am out here on a mission doing what I'm doing.  
The video below is an Apostle's introduction to the Book of Mormon.  Only three minutes, not too long.  
_Elder Halbert

Wrong Place, Wrong Time

Bummer eh? Wrong place wrong time.  Granted this opossum wasn't doing anything wrong, he was just caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. Its similar in our lives, we can only expect to amble across the street so many times before eventually we get hit.
 If we make a habit of wandering down a dark alley at 3:00 am, we are more likely to find ourselves in a less-than-lovely situation.  We cannot repeatedly put ourselves in situations that are less than ideal, or cannot hang out with a rougher crowd, or listen to immoral music, and not expect some of it to rub off on us.  We cannot disregard the commandments that God has given and expect to walk on unaffected. 

If we, like a bunch of cattle in the picture below, stick our heads in a wire fence during a lightning storm, we're more likely to get struck.  In Genesis 3:3 it reads "But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die."  God commanded Adam and Eve to not only abstain from the fruit, but not to touch it either.  Even touching sin, or getting dangerously close puts us in peril of succumbing to temptation.    When we encompass ourselves with sin, we are more likely to fall. 
I have found that the opposite of this is true as well that when we put ourselves in the right places at the right times, better things are likely to occur.  We should put ourselves in a position to be blessed, and bless the lives of others. Instead of spending all our extra income on unnecessary wants, we can look for ways to use it to help somebody else.  If we have nothing to give, we lose the opportunity to be blessed and bless others lives by helping someone in need.
I have the idea of "right place right time" to be especially true with reading your scriptures praying, and going to church.  If we really want to receive answers to our prayers, if we really want to receive inspiration regarding our personal lives, if we really want to come to know your Savior, we need to put ourselves in the right place at the right time to receive it.  I know that if we wander across the street enough times, or stick our head in enough wire fences during a lightning storm, we get hit. I see it all the time, in my life and in those around me.  I know the opposite as well, that when we keep the commandments, when we search the scriptures, and when we attend church, we put ourselves in the right place at the right time.
_Elder Halbert

Charity

1. A poor, wayfaring Man of grief
Hath often crossed me on my way,
Who sued so humbly for relief
That I could never answer nay.

This is the first of a verse of  hymn written by James Montgomery, available here in its entirety.  At the bottom of the Hymnal, the scripture that it is based on says Matthew 25:35-40, a pretty famous scripture which reads  "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:Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? 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." (Matthew 25)
“Not only by precept did Jesus teach, but also by example. . . He stretched forth his hand that others might be lifted. . . Unaltered is the divine command to succor the weak and lift up the hands which hang down and strengthen the feeble knees. Each of us has the charge to be. . . a doer. . . lifter. . . There are those within the sphere of our own influence who, with outstretched hands, cry out: ‘Is there no balm in Gilead…?’ Each of us must answer” (Thomas S. Monson, “With Hand and Heart,” Ensign, Jan 1995, 2)
Going to church no more makes you a Christian than standing in a garage makes you a car.  Christianity is a lifestyle, not a switch.  We can't turn it on when its convenient, and then flip it off when it proves a hindrance.  Christianity is is not a social title that we vacate when the first air of contempt threatens to capsize us, but rather the wind that fills our sails as we navigate the storms in our lives. If we want to be good Christians, we need to learn to love as Christ did, to look on the inside, to have the pure love of Christ, or charity.
For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it. (Mark 8:35)  In the Book of Mormon in Mosiah it says that ye shall not suffer that the beggar putteth up his petition in vain.  I think its fair to say that everybody could use a little more charity in their lives.  "We become what we want to be by consistently being what we want to become each day." (Richard G. Scott).  If you want to be a better Christian, start by acting like one more and more every day.  With consistent effort, we will become better, more charitable, giving, loving, followers of Jesus Christ.
_Elder Halbert

Optimism

Optimism-
-the belief that good ultimately predominates over evil in the world.
-Dictionary.com
Any Christian who really understands their faith, ought to be an optimist.  The entire Christian message displays a certain feeling of optimism.  I can't hardly think of a story that doesn't.  Joseph of Egypt was sold into slavery and later thrown in prison, framed for a crime he didn't commit. But in the end, God placed him there for a reason and he was able to save his family from starvation.  Job, for example, had a rough life.  God allowed Satan to take away everything that he had; cattle, friends, family, wife.  But in the end, God came through (as He always does) and Job was restored to so much more than he had before.  Zeezrom turned his life around and instead of fighting against God, was able to be a great missionary.  A similar circumstance with Paul changing his life.  Jesus endured more pain and suffering than any other person, yet we know that from that, He gave us all a chance for remission of our sins.  We can walk forward with the promise from scripture that "all these things shall give thee experience and shall be for thy good".  President Gordon B. Hinckley asked that we stop seeking out the storms and enjoy more fully the sunlight.  If we have an attitude of gratitude, we will better be able to see the good in our lives.  If we give thanks for what we do have instead of concentrating on what we don't, we automatically begin turn into an attitude of optimism.  We cease to grumble around, complaining about we lack or our present issue and why we deserve better.  We should all learn to laugh a little more.  Instead of yelling at every inanimate object which did nothing of its own fault to be there, realize, that the shin bone is a device for finding furniture in a dark room. 
Quoting again from President Hinckley's talk he says "I suppose you have heard the story of the absent-minded professor who went shopping and lost his umbrella. Discovering his loss, he retraced his steps. At the first three stores on which he called, the clerks denied having found his umbrella. At the fourth store the clerk handed him the missing umbrella. He grumbled, “Thank goodness for an honest man. The other three told me they didn’t have it.”"
Let us look for the good in people rather than scrutinizing on every vice and flaw we find.  There is so much good in people that we tend to look past.  There is good out there, and if we can develop a disposition to see it we will live happier better lives.  I love life, friends, family and Christ :)
_Elder Halbert