In business the bottom line is income.

Income is like food and water to a human.  Without it, a company won’t live very long.  Every resource available to the company is viewed from this perspective.  This doesn’t make corporations evil and (by extension) everyone who supports their family with a salary – evil.  It’s just the nature of any business (including “non-profit”) that wishes to continue breathing.

However, the bottom line of Christ’s Gospel is YOU.  The goal from which all resources are viewed is whether that resource will help you and our brothers and sisters return home to live in eternal glory.  Every one of God’s laws, scriptural stories, volunteer leaders, tithing dollars, and buildings are all aimed at helping YOU.  Do I believe that God and Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost care about me personally?  Yes, because I am the bottom line.  And so are you.

From the Pearl of Great Price, Moses 1:39, “For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.”

Doctrine and Covenants 81:6, “And if thou art faithful unto the end thou shalt have a crown of immortality and eternal life in the mansions which I have prepared in the house of my Father.”

Doctrine and Covenants 29:43, “And thus did I, the Lord God, appoint unto man the days of his probation—that by his natural death he might be raised in immortality unto eternal life, even as many as would believe”

Engagement isn’t just rowing the boat.

Every year at work we get an Engagement Survey.  The idea is that extremely engaged/satisfied employees will provide more of their personal discretionary time to helping the company succeed.  If your company is like a boat, they will help row it. Engaged or somewhat disengaged staff will just sit in the boat for the ride.  Extremely disengaged staff will help sink the boat – either through attitudes or actions.

Personally, I feel engagement isn’t just rowing the boat.  Engagement is watching where the boat is going, and yelling out, “Are you sure this is where you want to go?”  Engaged is the passenger who stops rowing occasionally and consults the map, checks on the other passengers, and watches the weather to know if it is time to head for cover.  Can you tell the type of employee I am?  I’m sure I drive everyone crazy, “Are we sure this is the outcome we intended?”

Whether or not you agree with the logic of engagement or its definitions, there is an interesting thought, “Are we fully engaged in the Gospel of Jesus Christ?”  What does engagement in the Gospel look like?

Engagement is paying a full tithe, in striving to be honest about what your “increase” is, and rounding up when calculating 10%.  Engagement is paying your tithing first.  In an age where everything is direct deposited and normal household accounting isn’t always normal, I can only say that I have learned to round up and pay my tithing when I receive my increase. The whole year seems to go better, and it has taught me to budget better.

Engagement is finding ways to serve, even when life seems impossible.  Going out of your comfort zone to greet someone. Listening to their problems.  Sometimes, in silent ways, no one will know about.  I don’t sign up to bring food to those in need because I’m not a great cook and I still struggle with creating dinner.  

Are we serving and being engaged in this work of salvation?

I delivered a meal with mashed potatoes to a family in mourning, only to get home and realize how salty they were when I fed the other half to my family (I still don’t know what I did).

However, if a church leader calls and says she needs a turkey roasted because she knows my kitchen is clean – I clean again and roast a turkey. That I can handle!  Do you need a used washer and dryer?  I had a set to give.  If a pre-teen needs some extra attention, or a fun afternoon away from home, I’m on it!  Hence why I’m writing this blog, a way to serve between 10 pm and midnight.

Engagement is striving to improve in the areas you know the Lord wants you to work on.  I am trying to be more patient. We are trying to read our scriptures daily as a family, but sometimes it is better to just send the kids to bed.  I am attempting to pray more (okay, maybe I’m “less engaged” in this area).

Engagement is paying attention in your church meetings to what the Spirit wants you to hear – which means putting your phone or tablet down!

Engagement is being disciplined and finding ways to stay interested in your calling (church assignment) when you’ve served in the same capacity for more than 2 years.

Engagement is finding excuses to be at church and at church activities – instead of finding excuses to NOT be there.  I was very hard to attend church as a young, newlywed couple.  But we would take turns finding reasons to be there.  Now we go for the sake of our kids.  

To read more of Molly’s articles, click here.

They may be difficult to get out the door in the morning, and they may make it difficult to maintain any sort of reverence during sacrament meeting, but Mom and Dad are definitely motivated to attend for their sakes.  If you always attend your Sunday meetings, the kids don’t know there is another option.  This is what we do on Sundays, just like going to school and work on any other day.

Notice that each of these things that demonstrate engagement are good for the bottom line – the bottom line being my salvation and the salvation of others.

You are the Lord’s bottom line.  You are also a resource in helping Him meet his bottom line, for the sake of yourself and others.  Are you fully engaged?  What will you do to improve and show your level of engagement?

Molly A. Kerr

Molly is on a life long quest to figure herself out. Born to be and educated as an aerospace engineer she is also blessed to be a wife and a mom of two in the present, previously served as a full-time missionary, is consistently called to teach the youth in her ward, is eagerly though slowly doing home improvement as money and time allow, all while gradually learning how to be herself and find peace and balance somewhere in between.

Despite her attempts to make “the right” decisions in her life, she has learned to deal with some unexpected challenges over the last two decades. Total tornadoes, really. What she has discovered is that her career has taught her a lot about the Gospel and being a better mother, and the Gospel, when applied to challenges at the office, has made her a better professional. She has also learned that it is okay to be herself, and God still loves (and forgives) her for it.

The premise

Christ taught in Luke 9:24 that there are conditions attached to being saved in the kingdom of God. He put it this way:

For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.

The Lord has always loved a good verbal puzzle, saying something that is both plain, to the point, and very confusing all at once. It is sort of like his statements about the first being last, and the last being first, or calling good evil and evil good. He loves to play with the opposites we all have to deal with in mortality. Let’s take a look at verse 24 by dividing it into three parts.

“For whosoever will save his life shall lose it:”

Selfish

Selfishness can be displayed equally by the introvert and the extrovert. As long as we have, and demonstrate, a desire that everything be about us, making us the center of attention, it doesn’t matter if the person is socially shy or aggressive.

Let’s say I like my privacy. I don’t spend time getting involved with my neighbors. I don’t talk to them or help them with anything, and I prefer they not meddle in my life so I can come and go as I please. This is selfish behavior. It is all about me and what I want. No one benefits from selfish behavior.

Now let’s say I am all about being the center of attention and am in my neighbor’s business all the time. I may know everything that is happening on my block. I may know everyone’s name and habits, both good and bad. I may have even convinced some of them I am their friend, because if I hadn’t, they wouldn’t have spilled the beans about their personal
habits and their family secrets. I may be involved in the lives of others, but my involvement is still completely selfish and self-serving.

Saved

When the Lord talks about people saving their own lives, and then warns that such behavior will, in the end cause them to lose their lives, He is talking about the focus of their lives. Is my life’s focus on me, or is it on someone else. The Lord says that if my daily focus is on me, on what I want, and only on my personal goals and desires, then the life I have worked so hard to save or create will ultimately be lost.

So what is lost and what is saved? Everything we do in the gospel of Christ is centered on the goal of returning home to live with our Father in Heaven once again. If we achieve that goal then we will become like Christ and share in all that the Father has, including eternal increase, everlasting glory and progression through the eternities.

This returning home to be with God once again is what is meant by saving our lives. Currently we are lost. We have sinned, or broken his laws. Eternal justice bans us from His presence, since he cannot tolerate sin with the least degree of allowance. Our efforts in mortality to make everything about how comfortable we can be or how important we can feel only leads to losing out on the greatest of all the gifts of God, eternal life in His presence.

As long as we focus on pleasing ourselves, making life easier for ourselves, or building our mortal nest egg so we can have what we want in mortality, we lose the grand prize, life in the eternities with Christ, the Father, and our family.

“but whosoever will lose his life for my sake”

This is the first half of the last part of the verse. Jesus gives us a condition, a caveat that decides whether we will get the joy we seek. He says that if we do good, it has to be for the right reason.

When I say that a man who tries to save his own life will lose it, I mean that those who spend all their energies on trying to get what they want for themselves loses out on all the eternal blessings of the celestial kingdom. His life is lost to the joys of eternal bliss with God.

If we want to enjoy that promised bliss, the good we do in this life must be done for others while in the service of our God. We can’t just be good to other people. We need to be good to them in order to demonstrate the love of God in our own lives. Our service needs to be a reflection of our own gratitude for the love God has shown us.

“but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.”

Promise

This is the promise – if we do good to others because of our love for the Lord and His purposes, then and only then will the life we want in the eternities become possible. It isn’t enough to just do good. Doing good must be done because of the love we bear for Christ and the Father. We must lose ourselves in service to others, just as Christ so fully gave of himself for us.

Jesus wasn’t doing good because it would score him points in the hereafter. He wasn’t doing good because it made him socially popular. His goodness was born from a love of his Father in Heaven, and out of his love for us. He lost himself in his service for us. We were all that mattered to him.

What saved Jesus will also save us. If we can learn to turn our focus from looking inside to looking outside, we can receive the same eternal blessings He received. What do we need to learn to share with others?

All godly attributes are either shared or they are lost. Think of any godly attribute, like love, tolerance, patience, long suffering, virtue, honesty, integrity, etc. Every one of these virtues is demonstrated and grown by how we demonstrate them and use them in dealing with others. I cannot develop patience in a bubble. Patience requires dealing with other people. I cannot develop honesty by myself. I must show and demonstrate honest in the presence of others to develop it in myself. It becomes the manner in which I live my life. The same goes for virtue, or integrity. All these good things require that we interact with others to learn the saving virtues that make us holy.

Can you imagine trying to learn charity behind the walls of your own home when there is just you and your pet goldfish? Charity requires us to be actively involved in the lives of other people, and involved for the right reasons.

Even testimonies have to be shared in order to grow and strengthen into unshakable faith. We cannot develop any godly attribute without sharing what we have with someone else out of our love for God and His Son. To think that we can do it any other way is like believing we can become a great speaker by just reading about great speakers, but never taking the time or making the effort to try to move people with our words. It can’t be done. We need involvement with each other in order for any of us to grow.

Final Thoughts

To read more of Kelly Merrill’s articles, click here.

Many of us don’t really think about what we do on a minute-by-minute basis. We especially don’t think about why we do or don’t do something on an ongoing basis. But if we want to become like our Father in Heaven, Christ has shown us the way.

We must not only choose to develop a particular virtue, but we must find a way to do it in as loving a way as possible. We need to learn to act for the welfare of others out of a deep and abiding gratitude for what Christ has done for us. Only in this way will we learn what it means to live a selfless and virtuous life. Only in this way will we be able to save our lives because we learned how sweet it is to lose our lives, ourselves, in the service of others.

To listen to Kelly’s Podcast, click here.

Kelly P. Merrill

Kelly Merrill is semi retired and writes for https://gospelstudy.us. He lives with his wife in Idaho. His strength is being able to take difficult to understand subjects and break them down into understandable parts. He delights in writing about the gospel of Christ. Writing about the gospel is his personal missionary work to the members of the Church and to those of other faiths who are wanting to know more about Christ’s gospel and His Church.

gospelstudy.us

As I get older, I spend more time thinking about that step. While I don’t anticipate reaching it any time soon, it’s never too soon to get ready, and part of getting ready is to understand what will happen. Only by knowing that can I be prepared to have a great eternity.

Life is Just One Step in Our Eternal Lives

Mormons believe that life is a three-step process. The first step happened before we were born. We lived with God for a while before we were born. We were spirits, but we spent our time learning and preparing for life on earth. Our birth was a transition, not a beginning. Death is a transition, not an ending. It’s the next step in our eternal lives, and a particularly exciting one.

When we die, our bodies will die and be buried or otherwise disposed of, but the most important part of us—our spirits—will continue to live. We were spirits before we were born, so it won’t be a weird experience for us to be spirits again. We’ll remember having done that before.

One thing I love about the Mormon view of Heaven is that when we die, we will still be ourselves. Whatever we worked to become in this life, we will be when we die. It never made sense to me that we’d die and suddenly become completely different. When people talk about the Heaven they believe in, I often note that they’d hate that sort of life now, so why would they love it after death? Mormons feel life has a purpose. It’s worth improving ourselves, gaining knowledge, and building good relationships because the things in our minds and in our hearts will go with us when we die.

If we’ve worked hard to be kind and loving, we will still be that way when we die, making all that work worth it. If we spent a lot of time learning valuable things, that knowledge will still be ours after death. If we put a lot of time and effort into building a wonderful relationship with our families, we’ll still have that relationship when we die. And that’s one of the best parts of Mormon life after death. God gave us our families and told us to love them and to make them a priority. Why do so many people think they can be happy in Heaven—happier than they ever were on Earth—without their families? I’m never completely happy without my family, and it would make me sad if I thought my family would be happier without me than they are with me—and yet, that is how many people picture eternity—being happy and not needing or wanting their spouses, children, parents, or siblings anymore. God is so kind and loving. He would never take those I love from me without giving me a fair chance to have them with me for eternity. Mormons believe God wants our families to be forever.

What Happens to Me After Death?

Even though we think of life after death as the last part of the story, Mormons believe there are actually a number of steps that happen after you die. If we die having the gospel of Jesus Christ and all the required ordinances, and if we were living the life we’d promised God we’d live, our spirits go to a place called Paradise. It’s a really nice place for us to stay until the resurrection. We don’t have the trials we had on Earth and everyone is well-behaved and happy, so it’s fun to be there.  Joseph Smith, the first prophet of modern times, called this a state of “felicity” wherein we enjoy the relationships we have nourished on earth.

What will we be doing if we find ourselves there? We won’t be sitting on clouds playing harps (which, for me, is a good thing since I probably won’t play the harp any better than I play the piano). We won’t just be lounging around doing nothing, either. That would get boring really fast. We’ll be studying the gospel in greater depth and getting answers to some of the questions we’ve always wondered about. (Wouldn’t you love to learn the Book of Isaiah from Isaiah himself, for instance? I am hoping that will be possible there.) We’ll also be teaching the gospel to people who didn’t get a chance to learn it on Earth.

Did that last sentence catch your attention? Most people think that if you weren’t lucky enough to live when and where the gospel of Jesus Christ was taught, and to have people in your life who chose to teach it to you, that you’re simply doomed.  A lot of people lived before Jesus Christ was born, including some of the great prophets—Moses, Noah, and Abraham — were they doomed because they were born before Jesus? What about people who simply never heard that there was a Savior? What about those who were raised in such a way their hearts never really opened to the possibility and never received a witness from the Holy Ghost? Are they also doomed? What happens to babies who die before they are old enough to choose? Will God punish them for something so far out of their control?

God is Fair and Loving

Of course not. When I picture Heaven, I picture myself with a totally fair and loving God. The God I know and love wouldn’t punish a baby for dying too soon. Nor would He choose to put a person in a distant land that didn’t have the gospel and then condemn him for eternity for not hearing what no one taught him. It would not be loving or fair. So, Mormons believe that if you did not have an opportunity to receive the entire gospel during your time on Earth, you’ll be taught the gospel in Heaven and have a chance to accept or reject it, just as you would have on Earth, had the option been available to you.

A recent study showed that Mormons are more likely than other religions to believe you can go to Heaven even if you weren’t Mormon on Earth. That doesn’t mean that if God tells you Mormonism is true and you say, “Too bad—I’m not interested,” that you can go on to live with God without any consequences for your decision. It does mean that if you didn’t get that testimony, you’ll have the opportunity later on, for the reasons I mentioned above. If a person dies before age eight, he gets to return to God automatically. He wasn’t old enough to be accountable yet.

Everyone older than eight who dies without the gospel goes to Spirit Prison. This isn’t as bad as it sounds, though. This place is for people who were wicked during their lives, those who learned the gospel, but rejected it, and those who never had a chance to accept it. Missionaries will come to teach the gospel to the people in spirit prison. (Peter talked about this in the Bible. See 1 Peter 3:18-20.)

This will be really exciting for people whose goal is to find the truth. If they accept the gospel and repent, they will have the opportunity to leave Spirit Prison and go to Spirit Paradise. First, of course, they need all the saving ordinances, and that is what Mormon temples are for.

How Mormon Temples Help the Dead

Once that has been done, they will receive the same blessings others received when they accepted the gospel on earth. The next step for everyone is to be resurrected, which will happen in time. This will reunite the spirit and the body. The body will be perfected, so we will be able to enjoy it without the mortal issues of illness, disability, or imperfection.

Is There Really a Final Judgment?

Next, it’s time for the judgment. This is the final judgment, and it will determine how the rest of your eternity will work. Many people like to think that if they tell Jesus Christ they accept Him as their Savior, nothing else can be required. They can go on to live any life they want without it affecting their eternal lives. Of course, that really doesn’t make a lot of sense. If we really love Jesus, we will work hard to live the life He told us to live, and that means our actions are a reflection of our feelings towards Him. The more we love Him, the easier and more pleasant obedience becomes. If I say I am a Christian and then walk out the door and rob a bank, my level of commitment is not yet where it needs to be.

We need to be worthy to be in God’s presence. Heaven isn’t going to work as a place of peace and joy if it’s filled with people who are comfortable with sin. Heaven will be no better than Earth under those circumstances. And so, while we are not saved by our actions, our actions do matter. We have a moral responsibility to repent of our sins—not just once, but always. Then we have to continually perfect our lives to become as Christ-like as possible. We need to do this as an act of pure love for the Savior, not as a way to “earn” Heaven. Motive also matters.

In Heaven, if we are permitted to return home to God, we will be surrounded by people who share our values and our way of life. In fact, regardless of where we end up, we will be with others who are like us. We will be comfortable in our final home. Mormons believe that Heaven will have several levels, allowing us to spend eternity in a place suitable to our level of commitment to God and Jesus Christ. All but the place reserved for the very most wicked will be places of happiness.

Learn more about Heaven.

To read more articles by Terrie Bittner, please click here.

As a Mormon, I’m not afraid to die. I know what God has asked me to do and I know He never asks me to do anything I can’t do. My responsibility is to learn as much about Him and about Jesus Christ as I can, to use them as my role models, and to put their requests above my own wishes. While it’s my responsibility, it is also my privilege as a daughter of God. That’s how life after death looks to me.

Terrie Lynn Bittner

The late Terrie Lynn Bittner—beloved wife, mother, grandmother, and friend—was the author of two homeschooling books and numerous articles, including several that appeared in Latter-day Saint magazines. She became a member of the Church at the age of 17 and began sharing her faith online in 1992.

A Modern-day Example of How the Savior Redeems Mankind

In August of 2010 all the world was shocked by the news of the Chilean miners trapped 2000 feet underground after a terrible mining accident. We desperately waited for word of their survival. Once we learned they had all endured the initial accident, it was a race against time to see if they could even be rescued before their oxygen supply and rations ran out. After a harrowing sixty-nine days, all thirty-three miners were saved. There was only one way the miners could be saved, and that was one by one—a modern day example of how the Savior of all mankind redeems his children.

Imagine being the miners. These men spent their livelihood underground. It was not unusual for them to be in harm’s way. When the first initial rumblings of the collapse began, they gave no thought to their demise. It wasn’t until they realized their only exit route was completely blocked off that they understood the severity of their situation. Most of these men were practicing Catholics, and they called on their faith to sustain them. They organized prayer vigils, gave comfort and support to each other, rationed their food and battery power for light, and waited.

I’ll never forget watching this event in the news. It was never a question of whether or not the Chilean government would try to save these men. The question was simply, how would they do it? They did not have the expertise, equipment, or manpower to make an attempt viable enough to facilitate a rescue without endangering the miners further. They asked for help from nations around the world. NASA had the means to begin a rescue attempt that would drill a second shaft down into the pit and lower a special cage that one man could fit inside. It was a risky prospect, but it was the only hope they had. It would take time to line up all the variables to ensure the best safety effort, but the effort was under way.

Once the tunnel was drilled, the cage was lowered down with a rescue worker inside. He helped the first miner by harnessing him in and telling him how to handle the ascent. I was glued to the television in our house as we waited for the “breaking news alert” that would show the cage return to the surface. I’ll never forget how I cried crocodile-size tears of joy when the first miner came out of the cage and collapsed in the arms of his loved ones who had been waiting for him on the surface.
During the long hours of the rescue mission, I remember stopping everything I was doing to watch the cage emerge thirty-three times with the miners, then one last time with the rescue worker who had descended down below to help. Each time was as emotional as the first. Family members encircled the rescued miners with hugs, and I shook with joy, sobbing for each one as if I knew them personally. The look of relief and joy on their faces was unmistakable. You could tell the experience had changed each man for the better—he would never forget what it was like to be lost and ultimately found again.

Seeking to Rescue the Lost

Have you ever felt helpless, watching your trapped family members caught in a pit of transgression, knowing there is nothing you can do to save them? You’ve tried to teach them the truth, you’ve led by example, and you’ve even walked with them in their poor choices. Through it all they still remain in darkness, much like the Chilean miners buried under ground. You wish you could dig the tunnel to reach them, strap them on your back and carry them up to safety, but it doesn’t work that way. You love them, you teach them, but you cannot save them. Only our Savior, Jesus Christ, can do that.

Trust in the Lord and Acknowledge Him in All Things

“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.”(Proverbs3:5)

One of the hardest things to do is to trust the Lord when it comes to the timing of our loved ones’ redemption. We read in the scriptures how He made miracles happen. We’ve heard from prophets of old and from modern-day revelation that His gospel will bring peace and salvation to all mankind. But when you see your own children wander in darkness and all efforts you make to save them fail, you wonder if the gospel is still true for your family. I’ve been there. I’ve watched the cruel powers of Satan bind my family with chains of destruction that I cannot even begin to fight against. It is frightening, lonely, and overwhelming—but only if I fool myself into thinking that I am supposed to be their savior. I am not. I must trust the One who says He is the Savior of everyone, then step back and let Him do His work.

“In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” (Proverbs 3:6)

When we trust the Savior, we allow Him to be the one who goes down the road of transgression to find our loved one, to reach for his hand, to help him in the cage, and to come back up to the surface. We trust the Lord’s time frame in this process. Things may get harder for our loved ones before they get better, but we trust His timing. We’ve seen His everlasting power of redemption change our heart—the same will happen for our loved ones. We need to be patient with the plan.

The story of the Chilean miners is symbolic of spiritual redemption. While the miners’ entrapment was not caused by transgression on their part, it illustrates so beautifully the redemption of those who have fallen in Satan’s snare. I admire the family members of the Chilean miners. They waited above ground, many for weeks on end, not knowing if their family members were even alive. They waited even longer as each one was rescued one by one. They had no power to speed up the process; they were at the mercy of the method. They had to be patient. And through it all, they prayed. These were people of great faith.

“Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not. Behold the wounds which pierced my side, and also the prints of the nails in my hands and feet; be faithful, keep my commandments, and ye shall inherit the kingdom of heaven.” (D&C 6:36)

We can learn so much from this true-life story of redemption. Especially if we remember that our Savior holds each of us and our loved ones in the hollow of His hands. Christ will save us according to the manner of our faith and our readiness to come unto Him, one by one. That is what makes Him the Savior.

Nanette ONeal

Nanette O’Neal loves the gospel and is very happy to share her testimony on LDS Blogs. She is a convert to the church and still feels the spirit burn strong within her heart. She graduated from Mason Gross School of the Arts with a degree in music education and has taught children and adults in the private and public sphere for over twenty years. Nanette continues to study the gospel and the art of writing. She writes weekly inspirational articles on her blog and is currently working on an LDS fantasy novel series, A Doorway Back to Forever. You can find her at NanetteONeal.blogspot.com. Nanette has a wonderful husband, talented son, and three beautiful dogs.

Last week I related a story I told to a group of children during church. In the story, our little group of children, along with their parents, church leaders, and everyone in the congregation, fell down a deep pit. We suffered injuries, and could not get out on their own. One lone man above could help them. He lowered a ladder, climbed down, and helped each person one by one back to the surface.

I pointed out the symbolism, that the man was Christ and the ladder was the Atonement. Christ alone has the proper means to rescue us from sin, sorrow, and death. He does this of His own free will because he loves us, not because we’ve done anything to earn this love. We didn’t have to. It was the pure and unconditional love of our Savior that allowed Him to complete the Atonement to save us, one and all.

But what about that ladder? The children had plenty of questions when I told the story. Before we got to the part about the man, they were trying to think of all sorts of ways to get out of the pit. But in staying in line with the story, I had to them, “No, that won’t work.” You see, in the imaginary story of the man and the ladder, there was only one solution. The pit was filled with people—friends, strangers, people from all over the world. Everyone who ever lived on earth had fallen into the pit. Some people tried to make their own ladders, but they weren’t long enough. Some people tried to find another way, but they got lost in the darkness. No, there was only one way out, and the man with the ladder from above was the only one who could provide the way.

A Story as a Teaching Tool

A story is a teaching tool, like a fable or a parable. This could then be considered the parable of the man and the ladder. I’d like to focus on the ladder, where it comes from, and why it is significant in our salvation.

In our story, only one ladder was capable of reaching the trapped people below. The saving ladder came from above. Our Savior Jesus Christ also came to us from above. We read in the first chapter of John how Jesus was the Word, and the Word was God, and the Word was with God, and the Word came down to earth to dwell with man.

Jesus was with Heavenly Father before the world was made. He descended from Heaven to be our Savior. We also know from the Bible and the Book of Mormon that Christ was the only begotten Son of our Heavenly Father, with Mary, a mortal woman, as his mother. He is the only one with such lineage. His spirit father and His literal father are one in the same.

We are all spirit sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father, but when we are born we have a physical father on earth. If we were to trace our genealogy it would go back generations upon generations of grandfathers and great-grandfathers. But if we were to trace our spiritual genealogy, it would have one line—back to our Heavenly Father.

Jesus Christ has one line in both of his genealogies straight back to Heavenly Father. Because of this, Christ had a spiritual and physical connection to Heavenly Father that allowed Him to become our Savior, unlike any other person born on the earth. His earthly mother gave him an earthly existence. His Heavenly Father gave Him the divinity to overcome sin and death, or in the parable, to lower down the ladder and make the climb to save us.

Why No Other Ladder is Good Enough

Some of the people in the pit tried to make their own ladders. None of them were good enough. We see this in our world today, with people worshiping false gods. I was listening to the radio on the weekend of the Super Bowl and I was saddened to hear a restaurant advertise a special for “Super Bowl Sunday,” describing their version of “the trinity” as hot wings, beer, and football.

How sad that the sacred nature of the Holy Trinity, or the Godhead as Latter-day Saints recognize it, was trivialized in this advertisement. My mind of course wandered directly to the first of the Ten Commandments—“I am the Lord thy God. Thou shalt have no other gods before me”. And yet, here was an advertisement for the god of the NFL. I shook my head and turned the station.

Still other people in life don’t even recognize the pit we are in. They are comfortable in darkness and don’t even realize where they are. They are content to wander around in a state of confusion or a state of mind that lacks clarity, purpose, even aspiration. Yet, one day, at the end of their lives they will have a desire for something greater. And the ladder will be there for them as well, with the lone man waiting patiently to help them up.

One day, the people who worship other gods will come to realize none of them can get them out of the pit. The NFL will fail them. Their politicians will fail them. Their favorite entertainers, other religious leaders, super heroes, anyone else in the limelight of the world will fail them. Only Jesus Christ will save them. Now let’s look at Christ’s ladder.

The Ladder to Salvation

It has to be a ladder above all ladders. After all, this ladder needs to reach a place that is unreachable by human means, and it must also ensure the climbers are fit to enter the kingdom in the first place. We know that no unclean thing can enter the kingdom of heaven, so this ladder must be purifying. And since we want to live in this glorious place, this ladder must be a means to overcome death. Christ’s ladder accounts for both of these things.

Every ladder has two vertical planks and several horizontal rungs. In our story, the two planks are long enough to reach down into the deepest cavern of the pit. They are sturdy enough to hold the weight of all mankind. They are straight enough to make it all the way up to heaven. They are the pillars of salvation. They represent what Christ had to overcome in order for us to even step on the ladder. They represent sin and death.

Sin in this case is not merely the mistakes we make or the covenants we break. It comprises all sorrow and pain we have experienced on earth. When Christ prayed to His Father in the Garden of Gethsemane, He asked Him to remove this cup from Him. In other words, He agonized over the excruciating pain He would feel as he took upon himself the sins and sorrows of the world.

Nevertheless, He said to His Father, “Thy will be done,” meaning, He would go through with the suffering and crucifixion. Why? Because He understands the ladder. He knows a ladder cannot stand on one plank. He had to both suffer and die. Both halves of the equation were necessary. Both halves made a sturdy ladder. Both halves made it possible for us to enter Heaven, clean and pure, with bodies free of blemish or pain. He did this willingly, because he knew us before we were born, he loved us with all his heart, and he wanted us to be with him again. He didn’t want anyone left in the pit.

So feel safe. The pit may be dark, but we have a ladder and one man who can help us up. Take solace in this fact.

But what good is a ladder if you don’t take the first step and get on it? Next week, we’ll examine the rungs.

Nanette ONeal

Nanette O’Neal loves the gospel and is very happy to share her testimony on LDS Blogs. She is a convert to the church and still feels the spirit burn strong within her heart. She graduated from Mason Gross School of the Arts with a degree in music education and has taught children and adults in the private and public sphere for over twenty years. Nanette continues to study the gospel and the art of writing. She writes weekly inspirational articles on her blog and is currently working on an LDS fantasy novel series, A Doorway Back to Forever. You can find her at NanetteONeal.blogspot.com. Nanette has a wonderful husband, talented son, and three beautiful dogs.

 The Premise for the Mortal Experience

Baptism is an essential ordinance in God’s plan.

The gospel of Christ contains all the laws and ordinances needed for us to return to our Heavenly Father. It also contains within it all the laws used for judging us at the last day. One of the decrees of God is that man will be judged based on his desires, whether those desires lead to His everlasting punishment or his everlasting glory.

I ought not to harrow up in my desires the firm decree of a just God, for I know that he granteth unto men according to their desire, whether it be unto death or unto life; yea, I know that he allotteth unto men, yea, decreeth unto them decrees which are unalterable, according to their wills, whether they be unto salvation or unto destruction. (Alma 29:4)

It is important to note in this verse that God has issued unalterable decrees (more than one) that the reward given to us will be allotted to us based on our own will or desire, whether it is unto salvation or unto destruction. This means that part of the reason for earth life is to properly determine what our true desires are. We are not here just to get a body, but to show our Father where our heart truly lies.

For some, this is a difficult concept. We don’t seem to have a problem with accepting eternal blessings, joy, and rewards that last forever, but we struggle with the idea that if we don’t qualify for the best of blessings by the time judgment comes, we will have to suffer the penalties for not having repented earlier—forever and ever. People mistakenly believe that good can and should be able to last forever, but punishment (or lack of blessings) should not be allowed to last forever. This, for some, is a great stumbling block.

According to the law of opposition in all things, all that exists has an opposite. If one thing lasts forever, so too does its opposite. If there is the possibility of eternal joy and reward, there must also exist its opposite, the possibility of eternal sorrow and lack of reward. It is all part of the laws of nature that we cannot have joy unless we also have sorrow. We cannot have health if there is no sickness, life if there is no death, etc. It is the whole Yin/Yang, light/dark idea. Until we accept that this is a reality and that we will be judged on this basis, we are deluding or fooling ourselves into thinking that we can mess up all we want now, then somehow change the laws of God in the hereafter and still get what we want. It just doesn’t work that way.

 Competition for Our Attention

This life is the continuation of the war we fought in heaven before we came here. Our Father, Christ, and the Holy Ghost are on one side telling us what the laws are, what the blessings are for obeying those laws, and encouraging us to live by those laws. In them is our only hope and possibility for eternal happiness and joy. Everything they do is to try to convince us that this is what we really want.

On the other hand, Satan, who wants us to be miserable like he is, tries to convince us that God’s laws are restrictive and will suffocate us. He wants us to believe that we cannot be free unless we are able to do whatever we want. He uses the desires of our flesh—those desires that are natural and native to having a body—to entice us and encourage us to be rebellious to God’s laws and follow a baser nature. All of his arguments are lies. Everything Satan tells us leads to bondage and spiritual and physical slavery. All of his promises are eventually broken, and we are left in the end to be judged by the very laws God tried to get us to obey from the start for our own safety

But it isn’t too late to change our minds. As long as we do it in this life, things will be well with us come Judgment Day. Alma 41:6 tells us that even if we have chosen evil, we can repent and still receive a reward of righteousness. But note the caveat: we have to continue faithful to the “end of [our] days.”

“And so it is on the other hand. If he hath repented of his sins, and desired righteousness until the end of his days, even so he shall be rewarded unto righteousness.”

 The Choices We Make

One of the truths some have difficulty with is that if we choose evil over good, God actually lets us have what we want. This goes back to His promises never to violate our agency. If we really want evil, He steps back and lets us have it. There is no interference. We never have to answer to the eternal laws for our actions until it is actually time to “pay the piper.” He gives us every opportunity to repent so we don’t have to pay for our sins in full measure. That is what the Atonement of Christ is there for: to help us take care of that needed payment for our folly.

Just look at Jacob 4:14. This comment is talking about the foolishness of the ancient Jews. Even though they were given the plain and simple truth, they refused to accept it for what it was. They insisted on making it more difficult than it was, and fell into sin because of it

.

But behold, the Jews were a stiffnecked people; and they despised the words of plainness, and killed the prophets, and sought for things that they could not understand. Wherefore, because of their blindness, which blindness came by looking beyond the mark, they must needs fall; for God hath taken away his plainness from them, and delivered unto them many things which they cannot understand, because they desired it. And because they desired it God hath done it, that they may stumble.

We cannot blame our Father in Heaven if we choose to look “beyond the mark” He has given us. We are taught truth in plain and simple ways, yet so often we try to make more of it than we need to and, in doing so, miss the mark completely, causing our own downfall. Evidently this is a habit that is inherent to the house of Israel. We have to actually work at believing the Lord when we are told that this is not complicated.

 Desire Changes Things

When it comes to developing faith, we do not have to have any proofs or special degrees of intelligence to begin to exercise faith. The Lord tells us that even just a desire to believe is enough for Him to show us what He can do for us. But it is important to remember that it is WE who have to produce the desire. God’s hands are tied until we ask for it. Here is what he says through the prophet Alma in Alma 32:27 about planting the seed of faith.

But behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words.

To read more of Kelly Merrill’s articles, click here.

The Lord doesn’t need much from us in order to work with us, but we have to take the first step. Once we do that, He can provide all the proof we need to convince us of His truth. But we have to at least desire to know the truth before this can happen.

In Alma 41:1-8, you can read about the law of restoration. I don’t have room to include it all in this article, but when you read it, notice in verse 7 that it says that we are our own judges. According to the law of restoration, we are only going to be restored to that which we have already chosen, according to the desires of our hearts. If we desire evil, we will be restored to a reward of evil. If we have desired good all our days, then we will be restored to a reward of good—the reward being a body that reflects the glory of the kind of life we led during mortality, whether that is a celestial body or a telestial/terrestrial body.

Kelly P. Merrill

Kelly Merrill is semi retired and writes for https://gospelstudy.us. He lives with his wife in Idaho. His strength is being able to take difficult to understand subjects and break them down into understandable parts. He delights in writing about the gospel of Christ. Writing about the gospel is his personal missionary work to the members of the Church and to those of other faiths who are wanting to know more about Christ’s gospel and His Church.

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While President Smith was pondering over the crucifixion and atonement of Christ, he thought of something the apostle Paul said of Christ, referring to the time that Christ spent in the spirit world between his death and resurrection (D&C 138:7 – 10).

“For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:

“By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison;

“Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water” (1 Peter 3:18–20).

“For for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit” (1 Peter 4:6).

The Great Unity of the Gospel

There are a number of parts here which all weave together into one blissful union at a key moment in time. Let’s look at some of these key elements at play in this section of the Doctrine and Covenants.

1. There is the need for the dead to be judged with the same judgment as that which is had for the living. There is only one standard of judgment. But how can those who have already passed through mortality be judged in the same way as those who are here? They have no body with which to be baptized. Most of them had no knowledge of the Savior, nor of His plan during their time on earth. How could Christ expect them to be judged the same as those who learned of the gospel, were baptized, were sealed to a companion in eternal marriage and died faithful to their covenants? It hardly seems like a fair comparison.

2. In verse 22 we learn that where the wicked dwell, which includes the ignorant, there is darkness. Darkness refers to the lack of spiritual light or truth. For many of these spirits their time in this spiritual prison had lasted for thousands of years, especially those who lived before the flood, the earliest to come to earth. And it wasn’t just those who had never heard the message of salvation, but also those who had heard it preached to them, but had rejected the message for whatever reason. These also lived in the darkness of the spirit prison. Though they lived in ignorance and darkness, at some point they had to have the gospel preached to them, if not for the first time, for the last time. But for thousands of years they languished in this holding state, unable to progress.

3. The righteous, on the other hand, had seen this time as a prison as well. The exact wording in verse 50 is – “For the dead had looked upon the long absence of their spirits from their bodies as a bondage.” Though they had been faithful in all things during mortality, they longed for the day they could be reunited with their bodies so they could experience that grandest of all prizes, fulness of joy (D&C 138:17).

What held them back from being able to receive a fulness of joy now that their earthly labors were complete? It was the Savior. He was to be the first to be resurrected. Until He was resurrected, everyone else had to just wait their turn. After thousands of years, the wait was about to end.

The anticipation was high. The Savior was on earth, and they were monitoring events very closely. They knew it was only a matter of a short time now, and everything that they had preached, everything they believed in, everything they hoped for, everything they had exercised their faith in, would become a glorious reality. The central act in all of creation was about to be completed, the Atonement. With the advent of Christ into the spirit world they would know that He had, at last completed the great and last sacrifice, the sacrifice to end all sacrifices. The completion of this one act on behalf of humanity is what allowed them all to be forgiven of their sins, to receive revelation, and ultimately would allow them to be resurrected with a glorified body, to return to their Father in Heaven, and continue their progression into the eternities. What a sense of anticipation they must have had as they waited impatiently for Christ’s appearance on their side of the veil.

As they gathered together to talk about what this would mean for them, this great throng of prophets from every dispensation of time up to that moment, with all the faithful saints from Adam’s day down to Christ’s day, they could talk of nothing else but this glorious sacrifice that was even at that moment being made. All of eternity hung in the balance as Christ completed his preparations to return to the Father.

Imagine having spent hundreds, if not thousands of years awaiting this singular moment. As you are talking to those around you about how exciting this will be to finally get to move on to the next step in your progression, suddenly Christ himself is in your midst. The atonement is now complete. The victory over death has been won. Billions of years of preparation, the creation of the universe, the raising of the whole family of God, the creation of the earth, and the time of mortality has all led up to this moment of completion. Christ is officially the victor. Death is about to be conquered, and the eternal debt that enables our repentance has been paid by our Savior. Such joy, such rejoicing. So many tears of inexplicable happiness shed by those who had sacrificed so much in His name.

To these Christ came to declare their freedom from the bonds of death. In verse 19 it says,

And there he preached to them the everlasting gospel, the doctrine of the resurrection and the redemption of mankind from the fall, and from individual sins on conditions of repentance.

To these faithful saints (verses 51, 52) the Lord prepared them in all things to be resurrected and continue their work.

These the Lord taught, and gave them power to come forth, after his resurrection from the dead, to enter into his Father’s kingdom, there to be crowned with immortality and eternal life, and continue thenceforth their labor as had been promised by the Lord, and be partakers of all blessings which were held in reserve for them that love him.

The doctrine of the salvation and redemption of the dead was preached to them. They were organized into a missionary force and taught what they were to do for those who were languishing in spirit prison. Up to this time there had not been any missionary work done in the prison. Now the doors were flung wide and the missionaries went in to preach the message of deliverance through the atonement of Christ, and obedience to His commandments.

What a glorious moment in time. So many faithful saints could now begin the process of being resurrected. They only had to wait another couple of days and they would be granted their hearts’ desire, a glorified body, one they could have forever and ever that would allow them to live with their Father and their Savior for all eternity.

This was the fulfillment of their hopes and dreams, their faith confirmed, their hopes gloriously accomplished. What joy to see the Savior’s face and to know that everything you had put your faith in here in mortality had finally come to fruition. You would now get your rewards and be able to be with your loved ones for eternity.

There is more to this section of the Doctrine and covenants, but the fulfillment of every prophet’s hopes and dreams, all that they had lived their lives and sacrificed for, is the focus for me of the revelation on the redemption of the dead. This is a revelation of ultimate victory and joy. Even the wicked who rejected the message of salvation in mortality get a second chance. What is not to love about this revelation?

Kelly P. Merrill

Kelly Merrill is semi retired and writes for https://gospelstudy.us. He lives with his wife in Idaho. His strength is being able to take difficult to understand subjects and break them down into understandable parts. He delights in writing about the gospel of Christ. Writing about the gospel is his personal missionary work to the members of the Church and to those of other faiths who are wanting to know more about Christ’s gospel and His Church.

gospelstudy.us

The tale of two bags of popcorn

A friend of mine related this to a story of a boy on a park bench who wanted to feed a pigeon. He had a bag of popcorn in his hand. The pigeon pecked at the ground about six feet in front of him, but there was nothing there to eat. So the boy had an idea—he tossed the entire bag of popcorn at the pigeon. The popcorn littered the sky then scattered to the ground, but it also scared the pigeon away. The next day the boy returned with another bag of popcorn. The same pigeon was pecking at the ground near the same bench. The boy tried a different plan. He tossed one lonely kernel out to the pigeon instead of using the whole bag. The pigeon wasn’t frightened off. He bopped over to it and ate it. Then the boy did the same thing with another kernel, and another. Soon the pigeon seemed comfortable enough to get closer to the boy. After a while the boy had the pigeon eating right out of his hand. The obvious solution here was to gain trust by not overwhelming the pigeon with too much of a good thing at once. The same lesson can be taught with the gospel.

The tale of two missionaries

In the Book of Mormon, two friends set out to teach the people in neighboring towns about the gospel. Ammon and Aaron went their separate ways and had completely differing experiences. They both went to areas known to be hostile to the gospel and to people of their heritage. Ammon’s plan was to surrender himself to the king and make himself a servant in this land—one that was filled with the spirit of the Lord and who could be an example to the people of goodness and strength through the Lord. He worked for the king to save his flocks from predators. His acts of bravery softened the hearts of the people to the point where even the king was convinced of his goodness. Eventually the entire kingdom was converted to the gospel. Aaron, on the other hand, fell on a more hard-hearted lot of people. When he tried to preach the gospel he was immediately thrown in prison and left to suffer. Eventually Ammon and the converted king were able to come to his rescue, and the people who imprisoned Aaron listened to the testimony of the king who Ammon had once served.

The difference is the intent of the messenger

Both Ammon and Aaron had a popcorn-style approach in delivering their message of salvation. They were both excited about the truth. While we don’t know for sure how much of a message Aaron was able to preach, we do know he tried. We also know his message was immediately rejected. But Ammon had a different methodology. He may have realized the overwhelming nature of his message to a people who had been living their lives so far from it; they would not recognize it for its truth. Instead of starting with the message he started with his relationship with the people. He set a foundation of trust and allowed the people to approach him in their own time and in their own way. His method took longer, but it proved to be the more effective one.

I have seen the effects of my own popcorn-approach to spreading the word. As a new convert, I first wanted to throw the message out to everyone and let it land on them like falling rain. I wanted to drench them with the things I had learned, allow them the chance to feel what I felt and become part of the great plan of happiness set by our Father in Heaven. I’d been so enthusiastic over its truthfulness to the point where family members who were not ready to hear the truth immediately threw me in a spiritual prison—casting me out of their family circle. Like Aaron, all I had to do was mention the restoration, and the conversation was over before it ever began. But I’ve also experienced what Ammon went through. I’ve seen the effects of loving family and friends first, allowing them to come to the gospel on their own time. My husband is not a member, but over time his heart has softened to the gospel. He loves the people. He is building a testimony in his own time frame, the way our Heavenly Father expects him to.

A simple solution—love for love’s sake

The gospel message is pure in its simplicity—so too is the solution to how one should deliver the message. Our Father in Heaven shows us the answer in the way he approaches us. He loves us for love’s sake. People are different from each other. People have different backgrounds. We all have baggage others cannot see. We learn and progress at different rates. We manage our blessings and trials in differing ways. But we have one thing in common—we are on a journey back to a Father in Heaven who loves us no matter where we are on the spiritual staircase to heaven. Love—a pure love like the one our Father in Heaven has for us—is the answer as to how to approach others with differing views of salvation.

Moses and the brass serpent

Morning Devotional
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Can it really be that simple? Love one another as Heavenly Father loves you? We know in the Old Testament of the story of Moses and the Israelites in the wilderness. When they were tormented by the fiery serpents, Moses was commanded by God to craft a brass serpent and to mount it on a pole. If the people looked up at the brass serpent, they would be healed—it was that simple. I wonder how many of them looked immediately and how many may have doubted the simplicity of the solution, thinking it couldn’t be that easy. We too are given a simple solution. It only feels difficult when we let doubt and fear get in the way of seeing the truth.

Let your Light so Shine

“Ye are the light of the world. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:14, 16)

My part is to be faithful to the gospel and to love other people—to forgive them when they hurt me, to understand they are on their own journey filled with heartache and pain that I cannot see, and that their timetable is in God’s hands. I have Christ as an example of pure love to model my own behavior after, and that is a blessing that will last a lifetime. Knowing all this actually lightens my load considerably. I am not responsible for the actions of others—I am only responsible for myself. If I can be the best “me” there is, I will be doing my part. If I can shine with the countenance of the Savior, others will see the gospel message in all its splendor and they will glorify God in heaven—when the time is right for them.

Nanette ONeal

Nanette O’Neal loves the gospel and is very happy to share her testimony on LDS Blogs. She is a convert to the church and still feels the spirit burn strong within her heart. She graduated from Mason Gross School of the Arts with a degree in music education and has taught children and adults in the private and public sphere for over twenty years. Nanette continues to study the gospel and the art of writing. She writes weekly inspirational articles on her blog and is currently working on an LDS fantasy novel series, A Doorway Back to Forever. You can find her at NanetteONeal.blogspot.com. Nanette has a wonderful husband, talented son, and three beautiful dogs.

But a week ago I saw a sign of hope—robins, harbingers of spring. Four plump red-breasted birds sat on our garage roof. It happened on one of the milder days sandwiched between two storms that had each dropped ten inches of snow. Even though Mother Nature was not about to give up on winter, the robins had other plans. They came.  And with their arrival came other signs of renewal—a steady rise in temperature, melting snow, and sunshine that made it warm enough outside to wear my baseball jacket for my daily dog walks.

Spring has indeed come—was there really any doubt? It comes every year. We’ve all witnessed it. Never in the history of modern civilization, below the Arctic Circle, has a steady twelve-month cycle of bitter cold been responsible for wiping out spring, summer, and autumn altogether. But when we are living through a cruel winter, one that seems void of any warmth and sunshine, there is a sense of hopelessness that makes us wonder if spring will ever come. And yet it does, without fail. At the first sign of revival, we forget the harshness we lived through for those short months. We welcome it with open arms. We forget we ever doubted its return. The seasons are our teachers. They teach us patience and faith. They show us that hope is part of the pattern of God’s plan for us.

The seasons reflect God’s perfect plan.

We know our Savior helped to create the world. We learn this in the Holy Bible when we read in John how God and Jesus were together in the beginning and how “all things were made by him, and without him was not anything made that was made.” (The Holy Bible, John 1:1-3). This includes the seasons of winter, spring, summer, and autumn. We cycle through them year after year. They give the earth new life. And as long as we act as good stewards over the earth, keeping nature in balance and harmony, we learn to maintain our earthly home. Can we learn from the pattern of the seasons how to maintain our spiritual homes as well?

Doubt not, fear not.

There are times when we live through spiritual winters that seem to never end. This can look like poverty to some, while others may be plagued with health challenges. The disappointment of withheld blessings, the agonizing sufferings of abuse, the snares of addiction and the consequences that follow—all appear as spiritual winters to those who are in the midst of these trials. So why would a loving God pattern nature to have a healthy revival, only to leave us to suffer in the loneliness and cold? A loving father would not turn his back on his children. Likewise, our Father in Heaven as not turned his back on us.

We can talk to God.

“If any of you lack wisdom let him ask of God that giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not. And it shall be given him.” (The Holy Bible, James 1:5). I used to believe that only the higher-ups in theology had access to God. This is what many people are taught. But when I began to see God as my Heavenly Father, I began to feel differently about our relationship. He is our Eternal Father—the Father of our spirits. We lived with Him before we were born. We had a relationship with Him then. And we can maintain that relationship now. The way to do that is through prayer—personal prayer directly to Him. He listens because he is the kindest, most loving father there is. And he blesses us with comfort and peace through the still small voice of the Holy Spirit.

Before I knew I was a child of God, I felt alone. Now that I know my Father in Heaven loves me, listens to me, and answers me, I am awakened to the knowledge that I matter to someone great—someone who cares, someone who has the power to heal me. If I pray with a sincere heart, with real intent, and if I listen for that still small voice of peace, I feel connected to something far greater than what I see around me. And if my trial is particularly difficult, I know my Heavenly Father has faith in me to overcome it. Through prayer, I take comfort in renewing my relationship with a father who knows me more than I know myself.

Our Savior Jesus Christ has been through your trials.

Part of the reason why I love my Savior so much is because I know He felt everything I have felt and will feel in life. We know His Atonement (his suffering in Gethsemane, crucifixion and resurrection) cleansed us from sin and death, but it did more. “And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people.” (The Book of Mormon, Alma 7:11). This means when I feel like I am alone, when I feel that no one could possibly understand, that nobody has been through what I’m going through, I can stop and remember the truth—someone has. And that someone is Jesus Christ. And even though Jesus has been there, He’s willing to walk through the trial again, with me. He won’t let me do it alone. There is an unmistakable comfort that comes when I remember I am not alone. As if a weight is lifted from my shoulders. Or, more appropriately, as if a sign of spring has perched itself outside my window.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is God’s Promise of Spring

Morning Devotional
To read more of Nanette’s devotionals, click the picture.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (The Holy Bible, John 3:16). There is a reason this scripture is most often quoted in all of Christianity. It is profoundly true and it is overflowing with love. And just as spring comes every year without fail, Christ our Savior will heal us from our spiritual pains and afflictions through the Atonement. When we remember this, we cannot fail, because He cannot fail. Some trials may last longer than others, just as some winters may be more heartless and cold. But spring always comes. And the Savior always saves. He saves everyone. No one can escape spring. No one is left out of our Heavenly Father’s and Jesus Christ’s eternal love. The seasons have taught us the pattern of eternity. Spring is a gift of renewal both of life on earth and life eternal.

Nanette ONeal

Nanette O’Neal loves the gospel and is very happy to share her testimony on LDS Blogs. She is a convert to the church and still feels the spirit burn strong within her heart. She graduated from Mason Gross School of the Arts with a degree in music education and has taught children and adults in the private and public sphere for over twenty years. Nanette continues to study the gospel and the art of writing. She writes weekly inspirational articles on her blog and is currently working on an LDS fantasy novel series, A Doorway Back to Forever. You can find her at NanetteONeal.blogspot.com. Nanette has a wonderful husband, talented son, and three beautiful dogs.

There are so many awesome ideas on Pinterest on how to clean and organize your home! I love it! I have switched over to all green cleaners too and it makes me feel good especially with my daughter, to get rid of the toxins and yucky chemicals.

At church, I am attending a Gospel Principles Sunday school class. Gospel Principles is a class that teaches the basic doctrine and teachings of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS church) in a more simple way. This past Sunday our lesson was about fasting. We talked about what fasting is, and how it applies in our life. In the LDS church, the members are encouraged to fast, or go without 2 consecutive meals at least once a month when needed. When we fast, we usually do so with  a purpose in mind. This can range from fasting for a friend in need, better health, answers to prayers..anything! The key is to fast with prayer. If we don’t fast with prayer and real intent, we are just going hungry, so prayer is essential! As we talked about this, I thought of how not only are we cleansing our bodies by going without 2 meals, but our spirits are being cleansed as well.

It’s no secret being a wife and mother has its challenges, so I have found myself fasting for that purpose–to be a better mother. During this fast, I pray to my Heavenly Father to help give me guidance, to help me be more patient, and to be able to recognize the blessings I receive on a daily basis. I tend to get down on myself a lot, and I realize that like the green cleaners I use to get rid of the toxins in my home when I clean, I need to purge the negative thoughts from my head because that is Satan trying to take over my spiritual home with his poison. After my fasting period is over, I have been able to face the daily things so much better, and have felt the Lord’s hand in my life.

As I reflected on this experience, I realized how these gospel principles I learn every Sunday can be used as a resource for spring cleaning…but spring cleaning for the soul.

1. Purge, Purge, Purge! When I clean, I like to go around to each room in my home, I have 2 bags. One for trash, and one to donate. Think of all those negative thoughts that take over your mind, and throw them out!! You don’t need them; they are taking up room and are just plain trash! Surround yourself by positive influences that will lift you up instead of bring you down. The lessons you learn from a trial–donate them! So many of us go through the same experiences, and it’s easy to feel like we are the only ones,  but if we donate our experiences with others, we can really be useful and help someone else in a time of need!

2. Organize yourself. Once school is out a lot of you have kids who are home for the whole summer, and having a schedule of some kind keeps you sane! Well, make that schedule for the spiritual things also. Make a list of things you’d like to incorporate in your family life, whether that be family prayer, scripture study, or family home evening, and work it in your schedule. I plan to start doing a scripture study with my daughter in the morning. We usually eat breakfast together and just kinda talk or listen to music, but I want to take that opportunity to teach her a little bit about the gospel with a story, or a fun morning activity.

3. Clean! How could I forget the most obvious thing! Actually clean! We scrub baseboards, wash windows, and clean carpets!

   

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   Clean your soul. Repent for things you are doing that are dirtying your minds and your spirits. Your Heavenly Father wants more than anything for you to be closer to Him, and is waiting to forgive you. Get rid of the dirt and become clean again.

As you get ready for spring, getting rid of junk is a great start, but don’t neglect you! Take the challenge with me and lets do some home spring cleaning, and some soul spring cleaning. I promise you will receive so many blessings because of it. I have a testimony when we clean both spiritually and physically it invites the spirit into our home. You’ve heard of the saying “cleanliness is next to godliness?” Well, I truly believe in this. When my home is organized and free from chaos, and we are doing the things we should be doing as a family, such as scripture study, and family prayer, our house becomes a house of order. It becomes a home where the Spirit can dwell and we, as a family, are much happier. Try it out this spring, and let me know how it goes!

Krystal Wilkerson

Krystal is a latter-day mom and Holy Homemaker to 3 beautiful kiddos who is striving to find joy in the everyday trenches of motherhood and life! Her passion is sharing her experience of decluttering with a purpose to help others create a Holy Home where the messes subside and the Spirit resides. She is a lover of books, nature, music, food, the gospel, and all things Texas! Follow her at her website,
Latter-day Mom!