Fear Not

                Finals week is fast approaching here at BYU, and with it the stress of a college student seems to skyrocket. It’s no fun. Today I want to write to all those who, regardless of their situation, feel stressed. I was recently reading in Revelations, and loved a passage I came across in chapter 2, verses 8-10. It reads something like this:

                “And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write; These things saith the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive; I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty… Fear none of these things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prision, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.”

To the stressed or distressed who read this, I want to point out a couple of points:

“I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty”

First off, God knows you and your situation. I think one of the things that can be the most depressing in the world is facing a problem alone. The opposition in life always wants us to feel alone, miserable, cut off from everyone we love. That’s simply not true. You are never cut off from God. He knows you, and he loves you! He knows perfectly the challenges that you go through on a daily basis, and He is willing to comfort and help you!

                Secondly, this verse makes an important distinction. Notice that God first says “I know thy works” and then moves on to say “and tribulation”. They are separate, different. I know that in times of trouble, it’s easy to let the troubling circumstance define you. It’s our tendency to focus solely on that problem and feel as if our self-worth is tied to the overcoming of it. That is simply not true—tribulation doesn’t define you! Even when things are at their absolute worst and you feel trapped, God still recognizes that you are still you. Making the right choice, even if it’s no more than in a thought, is still something that is seen and recognized by your Heavenly Father. Problems are problems, and you are you, and the two will forever be different. God’s love, mercy, and grace will never be conditional upon solving a tricky situation. That includes those pits that we dig for ourselves through our own mistakes as well. So take heart. He’s there for you—you don’t have to battle alone.

“Fear none of these things… Be faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life”

                The point here is simple: some things are more important the others. Getting a good grade is important, but not to the same degree that faithfulness is. I know that’s an obvious point to make, but we all need a reminder sometimes that most of daily cares really don’t matter all that much. Therefore, don’t stress out TOO much or worry unnecessarily—everything will end up right if we put our focus on being and doing good, for we are promised “a crown of life”. So keep pushing onwards!

The True Source of Joy

3 John 1:4 reads “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.” In this verse, John isn’t talking about his physical children, but rather those “children” who he helped come to a knowledge of the divinity of Jesus Christ. In other words, those he taught and baptized.

Today I can testify of the truth of that scriptures. You see, a little less than three years ago, I was received a white envelope in the mail that told me I had been called to serve in the Thailand Bangkok Mission of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. That letter started the most incredible journey of my life, as I entered the MTC and began learning the difficult Thai language, and then departed to serve in the wonderful country known as the “Land of Smiles”.

                Throughout that journey, I was called on again and again to sacrifice and dedicate more of myself to the helping the Thai people. It was a difficult mission filled with days of rejection and disappointment, but there were always peaks of pure joy when I felt like I was able to make a legitimate difference in someone’s life, to be an instrument in God’s hands to help one of his children. Throughout this entire process, one thing that kept me going was the idea that someday, the Thai people would be able to have the full blessings of the gospel—including temple blessings which were denied them due to geography.

                Yesterday was the greatest day of my life, as President Thomas S. Monson announced that the Thailand Bangkok Temple would be built. I was ecstatic then, and I’m still ecstatic today. Nothing can really bring my mood down. I’m just so happy to hear that those people who I knew, loved, and attempted to serve are doing well enough that God deems their efforts acceptable to Him. I’ve learned by experience what John teaches—the greatest joy comes from helping others come to Christ, and watching that relationship build even once your personal connection has faded.

To those of you who are looking for true joy, I testify that one of the most meaningful things you can ever do is to sacrifice and dedicate yourself to the cause of helping others receive the blessings of the gospel. In so doing, you will gain so much more than you give, and you will find a kind of joy that seeps down into your very soul.

Another Perspective on Patience

                Sometimes I find verses in the scriptures that make me sit up and scratch my head, because they are so counter-intuitive. James 1:3 presents such a puzzle for me. It reads: “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;”

Excuse me? Did that verse just tell me to rejoice when I was “falling into temptation”? That doesn’t necessarily seem like a concept inspired by the God who said “For I the Lord cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance.” (D&C 1:31) Something more needs to be going on here. The Joseph Smith translation of the verse adds a little hint, which would read as follows:

“My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into many afflictions.”

The JST makes a lot more sense because the scripture is no longer telling us to rejoice in sin, but now it presents a different and equally puzzling piece of advice—rejoice when things aren't going well. That’s not necessarily an easy commandment to follow. When things are going south, my mood tends to head in the same direction, and counting setbacks as “a joy” isn’t my natural instinct.

                Today I want to submit to you a possible explanation for this passage of scripture, and some insight I’ve gleaned into the subject. My hope is that those who feel that they are “falling into many afflictions” at the moment can take some measure of peace from realizing the greatness of their situation.

                Let’s start by reading onwards to see what James does to clarify this puzzle. The next verses shed some light on the subject. “Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.” In other words, trials give us patience, which in turn will help us become perfected. So why should we rejoice when we are being afflicted? Because we’re learning patience! That’s a good answer (and the correct one), but it’s not necessarily one that leaves me beaming among the rubble after life comes crashing down around me. Let’s dive a little deeper, because I think that there is more comfort in this concept of patience than simply the idea that it is a Christ-like attribute that we all need.

                To understand the concept of patience, let’s talk psychology for a second. I’m not a psych major or expert by any means, but in my basic high school class on the subject, we talked about something called operant conditioning. Operant conditioning, as defined by Wikipedia, “is a method of learning that occurs through reinforcements and punishments for behavior.” In other words, it’s a way of training an organism through a rewards system. If you do well, you get a treat. If you mess up, you go hungry. Using this approach, one can train animals to do incredible things, from playing fetch to running through mazes. Operant Conditioning worked so well that the U.S. even used this approach to train pigeons to guide missiles during WWII—and it worked! 

                While thinking about this concept one day, I was struck by the thought that the way the Gospel rewards system works is a lot like operant conditioning. King Benjamin explains in Mosiah 2:22 that “[The Lord] has promised you that if ye would keep his commandments ye should prosper in the land; and he never doth vary from that which he hath said; therefore, if ye do keep his commandments he doth bless you and prosper you.” When we obey God, we are granted blessings. Some are very obvious—such as stories of miraculous healings and monetary help. Others are more subtle—such as character improvement, feelings of peace and comfort, or small moments of positivity. Regardless of the whether the blessing is big or small, God is bound by His word to grant us blessings. In operant conditioning theory, that’s the same as giving rewards for behavior you want to reinforce.

                The thought that once haunted me was the idea that I’m no better than a rat or a pigeon in that case. If you can give a reward to a rat every time it keeps a commandment, and punish the rat every time it breaks one, you can train that rat to keep any commandment. If that’s the case, what separates us from them? More importantly, how do I show God that I truly love Him and want to do what’s right, regardless of the rewards? Where are my conscious decisions involved in this process? Take a simple analogy here: suppose every time I tried to express my love for my mother, I received a cookie. Could you ever really say “he loves his mom”? Probably not, because there is always a chance that the only reason I would do anything kind for her was to receive the cookie. My intentions are always going to be in doubt, and rightfully so.

                In the cookie analogy, the only way you could ever really know I loved my mother was if I continued to express love even when the cookies stopped coming. Operant condition theory would teach that if the rewards stopped, so would the behavior. But if I continue to consciously do the behavior, then you can know for certainty that I love my mother, because something more than the cookie is driving me. Therein the key to this concept of patience. It’s only in afflictions that we have a chance to demonstrate sincere love for God. When it seems like we are getting punished for doing what’s right, that’s the time that we can prove to God that we are more than lab rats. In that moment you can say “I obey because I want to”. It’s in that point that the most character is built, that your conscious decisions start to matter a lot more.

                And so count it a joy when times get hard! That’s the best possible opportunity, if not the only opportunity, for you to grow. It’s the moment when you get a chance to step up and use your willpower in a meaningful way. What you do in those moments proves who you really are, and what you really value. 

To be Truly Alive

               Recently, I was privileged to listen to a ten-year old friend of mine tell me a couple of his success stories in playing a one-on-one basketball against a classmate of his. As is classic for boys that age, this friend of mine tended to play up his strengths and his opponent’s weaknesses. According to the story I heard, my friend just absolutely thrashed his opponent. The most interesting point of the story though, is what my friend said afterwards—apparently his opponent had tried to play off the defeat by blaming some outside condition, and my friend came back with this comment: “Whatever dude. I beat you by like 20 and I wasn’t even trying that hard!”

                It’s that concept of “not trying hard” that I want to tackle today. Not because I blame my friend for using that as a come-back, (or even feeling like he had to rub in his victory), but because I’ve seen that same attitude in myself, and I’ve seen it a little too much when I observe our society. I find it a very dangerous attitude, and unfortunately I don’t think it’s going away unless we make a conscious decision and work at it. My goal here is try to not use too many words to explain why you should definitely try in every single endeavor in your life and why you should never, ever, ever, use “lack of effort” as an excuse.

                 My thoughts on this topic came as I ran across a verse in 1 Timothy 4:2. In this chapter, Paul is prophesying about the last days (which very much means right here and right now), and says something that struck my interest:

                “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith…having their conscience seared with a hot iron;”

                What I find interesting here is that phrase, their conscience seared with a hot iron. From my understanding, the only reason one would think of searing anything is to stop pain. Searing a wound has got to be one of the worst ways to fix an injury, and I can think of several options that I would take before I would ever think about searing any part of my body. Searing kills everything, and more or less constitutes a “scorched earth” philosophy: destroy everything rather than let it go bad.

                So searing a conscience must mean something along the lines of killing the conscience. Since searing is a way of stopping the blood flow after a serious wound, searing a wound must be stopping a guilty conscience before it gets the pain gets too bad. Or in perhaps in a broader sense, it means dulling, deadening, or otherwise killing a painful feeling before it gets too strong.

                So why would someone want to sear their conscience? I think the answer is lies in one of the core values we’ve built our society on: comfort. In the modern era, we love ease and convenience, and I very much include myself in that category. It’s great to have dishwashers, dryers, cars, rain jackets, sick days, medicines for every pain, and chocolate to drown any sorrows. We have simple and instantaneous solutions for everything. Hungry? There’s about a thousand and one solutions for that? Tired and can’t sleep? Take one simple pill and you’re out. Bored? Turn on the nearest electronic device with a screen. Lost? Pull out your iPhone. The list goes on and on.

And all of these things are awesome—don’t get me wrong. I couldn’t imagine life without them—they are very helpful. I certainly am not preaching against using the miracles of the modern age that are so beneficial to us. But I think there is a certain danger in thinking there is a simple solution for everything: because we (thankfully) don’t have to deal with a lot of pain on an everyday basis, we tend to look for the same type of simple solution when something turns wrong in life. And one of the easiest ways to get rid of a pain is ironically what I believe Paul is trying to warn us against—pretending that we really don’t care, that it doesn’t matter.

                Listen to the words of a song featured in the popular musical Wicked: “Those who don't try / Never look foolish… Woes are fleeting / Blows are glancing / When you're dancing / Through life...” Now granted, the song isn’t designed to be a serious reflection of society, but the attitude embodied in the line “Those who don’t try, never look foolish” doesn’t only exist in make believe land. That’s the exact attitude my 10-year old friend embodied—it’s not cool to fail, and so in order to save face, when things start to turn bad, just stop trying. It’s as if there is a little voice whispering in the back of our brains. You won’t look foolish if you’ve never actually put in any real effort, right? Stop trying in whatever endeavor you’re engaged, just give it up. It’s hard, and how would you feel if you fail? It really didn’t matter to you anyways. Just turn around, go back home, and go play some video games. Eat something—that’s fun, this isn’t. This is just pain.

               

                The thing is, backing down, feigning disinterest, or walking away doesn’t actually make things better. Yes, it does take away the pain, to some degree. But at the same time, it cannot bring joy. When we take the approach of dulling our senses, we’re not only deadening our ability to feel pain, we’re deadening the ability to feel anything at all. In essence, we’re searing our conscience, and I think that’s exactly what Paul was warning us about. The attitude of “giving up before we fail” doesn’t only take away the sting of failure, but it also takes away all chances of enjoying victory. It’s simply not possible to win by conceding.

In the scriptures, Lehi teaches that opposition is necessary to all good things when he said:

“And if there be no righteousness nor happiness there be no punishment nor misery.” The inverse is also true: without punishment or misery, than can be no happiness. If we avoid all misery in our lives, we become stuck in the Davy-Jones-like condition of burying our hearts in the sand, simultaneously unable to experience any kind of joy. You can’t have one without having the other, because contrary to the simple answer, misery is not the opposite of joy. Apathy, dullness, lack of emotion—those are the opposites of joy, and the opposites of misery as well. Both joy and misery involve emotion, and the opposite of emotion is indifference. Therefore, joy and misery are an inseparable pair.

The give-it-up mentality can hurt us in many different areas of our lives. I’ve seen people squander real athletic talent and give up the sports they enjoy because the going got rough. I’ve seen lots of people in school who waste their future in order to avoid appearing like they’d failed.

Perhaps one of the most prevalent examples I’ve seen of the give-it-up mentality was while I was living among the wonderful people of Thailand. You see, in Asian culture saving face is a big deal, and the Thai as a culture absolutely hated being wrong, and hated being made fun of. Most all Thai children learn English throughout their education process, but sadly, the fear of misspeaking kept them from ever actually using their language abilities beyond the classroom. I would have to pull teeth in order to get grown adults to use English in the classes I taught, and despite having extensive vocab and grammar knowledge crafted in years of study, the majority of the Thai people I met couldn’t respond to a simple greeting in English.

But most dangerous of all is in the spiritual sense. Some things in life hurt. Especially sin, especially major mistakes. That is perhaps the deepest of all wounds that can be inflicted upon an individual—the burden of sin. But if we deaden ourselves to the pain, we will never have a chance to rise up. If we sear our conscience and try to bury our mistakes, we will find that there is no way to rise to the great heights our soul could once climb to.

My friends, don’t give up. The greatest thing about the Gospel of Jesus Christ is that because there is One who took upon Himself infinite pain, the pains you and I carry by default have to be finite. Life sometimes hurts, but you and I don’t have to spend our days wallowing in the pain. We don’t have to dwell in darkness. As we turn to Christ, all of our pain can be taken away. His invitation is clear: “Will ye not now return unto me, and repent of your sins, and be converted, that I may heal you?” (3^rd Nephi 9:13)  As we do so, I testify of the abundance of life that can result. Life is a beautiful thing, and there is so much joy to be found in it. Happiness really exists, and is there for the taking for you and I if we but look for it in every circumstance. It’s entirely possible to wake up happy every single day of our lives, and to be filled with inner peace and satisfaction—but the only way to do so is the path marked by Jesus Christ. I share my witness to the world of his goodness and reality, and of the power of His love—He is real, and He really does have the power to heal us all. So don’t delay in coming to Him!

Living in the Present

                 I don’t know about you, but I love studying about the topics of true conversion and having a mighty change of heart. I’m fascinated by the case studies that the scriptures present as they tell powerful stories about people’s ability to change. I think my attraction to the subject of conversion is based in my desire to become better, to reach higher and achieve true greatness. Therefore when someone like Paul—who is one of the best examples of a complete change of heart—talks, I listen. In New Testament class this week, we ventured into Philippians, and I was really impressed with the lecture that Paul gives in chapter three of that book. My favorite verse of that passage was Philippians 3:13, which reads:

                “…but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things that are before.”

                What an inspiring verse of scripture. Let’s not forget who is writing this. Paul once went by a different name, a name that was the terror of early Christians. He had gone out and given his very best effort to thwart the growth of the church of Jesus Christ, casting many into prison and sentencing many to death. If anyone had a past that could’ve haunted them, it was Paul. But he shares one glimpse into the way in which he was able to sustain such a dramatic conversion: he used his energy to look forward, not backward.

                You see, Paul could’ve spent a lot of energy fretting about the past. We all know that the past doesn’t get changed very easily, and sometimes it’s easy to get caught up thinking about former mistakes. Or maybe we get caught in the “Uncle Rico” effect and find ourselves reminiscing about the glory days that have since passed us by. It’s pretty natural to dwell on things that have already happened, whether good or bad. But doing so will not help us in the long run. Wasting our time and energy to dwell on the past cannot bring us joy, and we will forfeit blessings now by so doing. We have to learn to forgive and move on, or appreciate a great experience yet continue to throw ourselves into the effort of “lifting where westand”.

                Elder Holland once taught: “The past is to be learned from but not lived in. We look back to claim the embers from glowing experiences but not the ashes. And when we have learned what we need to learn and have brought with us the best that we have experienced, then we look ahead, we remember that faith is always pointed toward the future. Faith always has to do with blessings and truths and events that will yet be efficacious in our lives.”

                For Paul, living in bitter regret could’ve ruined him. I’m fairly certain he was most likely subjected to the same temptations to despair and abandon hope that we all face. But Paul actively chose to “[forget] those things which are behind”, no matter how painful they were. He chose to turn around and give the future his very best effort.

                For any out there who wish to be better, the lesson is clear. Live now, and look to the future, not the past. If we consistently find ourselves dwelling on the past, we will be forced to watch the past repeat itself. No, it’s far better to look forward with faith, knowing that God can see the end already, and He is far more interested in where we’re going than where we’ve been. I testify of His love and the completeness of His masterful plan. He really can make all of the difference in our lives if we change now and don’t look back.

Is There Ever a Good Excuse?

                The shipwreck story found in Acts 27 is much more than a story of a seafaring expedition gone wrong. This past week my New Testament class studied the story in a little more detail than just casually reading it, and I was really impressed by how close the story parallels conditions in our own lives. Let me explain:

                In the story, Paul is a political prisoner being transported to Rome so that he can be tried by Caesar. After spending quite a length of time sailing along the east coast of the Mediterranean Sea, Paul and his captors found themselves in a place called “Fair Havens” before the onset of winter. At this point the party must decide whether to stay in the havens for the winter or set forth to continue on their journey. Paul approaches the centurion who commands the party and advises him that they will lose the ship, their cargo, and some lives if they continue onwards so late in the season.

                It is the next point in the story that is so eerily familiar to me: the centurion decides not to follow Paul’s counsel. In his head he begins a reasoning process that I have gone through too many times, and comes up with the following bits of information:

·         The location where they are at is “not commodious to winter in”. It’s a little uncomfortable and it would take a little sacrifice to stay there. The majority of the party doesn’t want stay around.

·         There is another port a very short distance away (on the same landmass, no less!) that would be a much more ideal place to stay for the winter

·         The expert in the matter, the ship’s captain, advises going onwards will be perfectly safe.

·         The ship’s owner, the largest stakeholder in the matter, also advises going onwards.

·         The winds shifted to provide nearly perfect conditions to sail onwards.

Faced with all of this information pointing to the conclusion “move forward”, the centurion decides to set sail. What follows is an absolute disaster: the ship sails straight into a raging storm that causes them to lose all of their cargo, the ship, and leaves them at the mercy of the wave for 14 long and terrifying days.

                The whole story is comparable is making the decision to follow the prophet. When the prophet speaks, what will it take for us to listen? Will we be like those in the shipwreck and give more importance to factors like comfort, peer pressure, “expert” advice, short-term conditions, and the seeming ease of a path more than the advice of the prophet? For in our day those same conditions exist in most major decisions. It isn’t easy to follow the prophet; the world and it’s “experts” call it foolish, and most assuredly the adversary attempts to make the path of wrong look easy, and more comfortable.  

                I share my personal witness that God is more knowledgeable than all of the intelligence in the world. Following his path, as marked by His servants, is the way to avoid misery and sin. Undoubtedly it will not be easy or popular to do so, but if we can learn from the centurion and heed the voice of God, we will be able to avoid the shipwrecks and calamity of our own lives. 

Sight vs Faith

             Sometimes in life, it seems that we are given challenges that are seemingly beyond our abilities. We’ve all been there—where the task ahead looks greater than what we can do at the moment. It could be a new responsibility, a change of circumstances forcing us out of our comfort zone, or a difficult setback while pursuing a goal. In those times, we need divine aid more than ever, and yet often it can seem like Heavenly Father is hard to reach. I don’t want to claim for a second that I’m any expert in calling down miracles from heaven (that would be awfully presumptuous as well as a complete lie), but I do want to share some scriptural insights that have taught me something about the oft-discussed but oft-misunderstood concept of faith. My hope is that you will learn something new.

              My discussion starts and ends with Romans 8:24-25. It reads as follows:

“For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.” Let’s break this scripture down into a couple of very important concepts that Paul teaches.

                “Hope that is seen is not hope”. Here is a very important distinction: “sight is not hope”. Alma words it a little differently, saying “knowledge is not faith”, but essentially they are saying the same thing: faith/hope cannot exist at the same time as knowledge/sight. This is a concept that is downright scary if you’re ever asked to put it into practice, because it means you can’t have any proof beforehand.

Let’s use an example here to contrast the difference that Paul is explaining, from the greatest TV show currently in existence: Shark Tank. On the show, daring entrepreneurs are brought before some brilliant business people with the goal to convince them to invest in their businesses. One of the things that is often brought up on the show what sales for the company will be in the future. The Sharks (the businesspeople) will only ask about the past sales, and they assume the future sales will be similar. I’ve seen a couple episodes were the entrepreneurs get bold, or perhaps flustered, and throw out a future sales figure fantastically greater than any historical number. They are often met with laughter from the Sharks and those watching. Why? Because such a high figure goes entirely against what we’ve seen. We say “it hasn’t been done before, so there is little chance that they’ll do it now.” We’ll call them overly optimistic or downright foolish, and we’ll tell them to start thinking rationally. That is, after all, what the world would teach us to do. We’d call ourselves ‘realistic’ and completely ignore the idea.

Paul is saying the exact opposite. He is encouraging us to have hope, and then says “look, if you’ve seen it before, then it’s not hope.” Hope (or faith) should challenge our expectations for what can happen. The best example of this are the miracles in the scriptures. We read over these incredible miracles in the scriptures and take for granted what was really going into those situation. Take the incredible events by the Red Sea for an example. In the Shark Tank, the investors would only lose a nominal amount of money if those optimistic sales predictions were wrong. In Exodus, Moses was asking tens of thousands of people to stake their lives, along with the lives of their families, on the idea that they could get away from the Egyptians. Had anyone ever just stopped a sea and turned it to dry land before? I don’t think so. At that point, Moses is exercising true faith; he knows nothing, he has seen nothing. Go re-read that passage in Exodus 14:10-31 again, paying special attention to the timeline of events. The Lord explains to Moses in verse 16 how he will split the sea. But rewind a little and you’ll see that Moses promises deliverance to the Israelites before receiving revelation, back in verses 13 and 14. I might add that he uses the very definitive word “shall” in that promise—not “oh boy, I sure hope the Lord will fight our battles” or “I’m guessing God can get us out of this guys.” Nope, Moses says “the Lord shall fight for you…”  

Here’s the principle—true faith means you just don’t know what is going to happen ahead of time. To the historical-fact based world, this kind of decision making seems absurd. They would ask “How can you do that when it’s never been done before, when you have no idea what you’re doing?” But that’s the wrong question. The better question is “does God have all power or not?” If God controls all of the elements in his hand, then past experience is a moot point—completely irrelevant. Going out into that hazy area by risking ridicule, failure, and loss by simply believing, even without evidences, without any foreknowledge—that’s true faith.

This concept of acting without knowing beforehand seems counter-intuitive to us, who have been raised with the world’s paradigm force-fed to us since birth. Pretty much every decision that we make is determined by what we’ve seen, read, experienced—by what we know. But God challenges us to act from a different paradigm, to make decisions based on what we don’t know, we just really hope is going to happen.

Think about Moses again—at the moment he promises to the Israelites that God will intervene, what does he know? According to the scriptures, not very much. He knows God had previously said that He’d look out for them, and Moses had already seen God’s hand in the plagues that swept Egypt. But up until that point, God hadn’t really made specific mention and said “Hey Moses, here’s what will happen when you happen to get trapped on the beach…” Moses doesn’t know the future any better than you or I can predict what will happen tomorrow. What is he using as the basis of that promise then? He just hopes that God will come through. He has chosen to believe, chosen to think optimistically.

Therein lies another very important concept: Faith is a choice. If you haven’t seen a miracle before in your education, in your social life, that doesn’t mean you can’t have faith. Decide right now that you will trust in God’s incredible promise that “If ye have faith…nothing shall be impossible unto you.” (Matthew 17:30) Faith isn’t made from experience—that’s knowledge, not faith. No, true faith is springs up from a conscious decision. And make no mistake, that decision is gutsy. It takes a lot to say “don’t worry, God will make it will happen” without anything to visibly back it up. But don’t worry, there are unseen heavenly forces that are ready to stand beside you when you make that kind of faithful commitment.

                I don’t have space left to share my personal experience with this concept, but I could tell you stories of truly miraculous things that I’ve seen when I’ve tried to apply this principle. Let me briefly say that I’ve been in situations where everything seemed completely out of my control, but yet by prayer and by trying to take the same bold attitude as Moses, God stepped in to open doors that seemed locked forever.

                So take heart. If things ever seem beyond your ability, trust in a higher power. True faith can call down the power of God in our righteous causes. If you feel like your faith is lacking because you haven’t seen tons of miracles in your life before, that’s okay—just make the choice to believe. Everybody’s faith had to start with a blind leap into the unknown. My testimony is that God comes through to catch us when we leap into His arms. Choose faith and watch the miracles come for yourself!

A Culture of Struggles

                

               In recent months, I’ve seen a trend that troubles me. Most of these incidents happen in fast and testimony meetings, which in LDS culture is an interesting sounding board from which one can gather many candid opinions on life. The trend that is disturbing me is that everyone seems to talk often of struggles, trials, and challenges in these meetings. I’ve heard many well-intentioned people who want to be realistic about their lives get up and say things like “Look, I know life is hard for you—it’s been hard for me—but the Gospel has helped me through the hardships, and it can help you too.” The theme that I’ve been hearing is this idea that life is a constant struggle, and left unchecked, everyone would be wallowing in sorrow and depression. I am in no way trying to criticize what’s been said over pulpits under the influence of the Spirit. Several of these very testimonies have touched my heart. But there are also a great many times when people have looked over the crowd and said “I know that life is really rough for all of you” where I’ve started to squirm a little in my seat. I’ll ask myself if life is really that hard for me, and I would venture to respond negatively, and I don’t even consider myself that good at being a happy person. Why does “life is hard for everyone” have to be the fundamental premise of these testimonies? I’m starting to think it’s becoming a cultural norm for us here at BYU to assume that it’s normal, natural, and realistic to perpetually be struggling with despair. And that mindset worries me.

                In a verse from 2 Corinthians 4, Paul beautifully teaches a concept I think directly opposes this trend I’ve been seeing: “We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed but not in despair;” (emphasis mine)

 When I think about these truths that Paul is teaching, I can’t help but be filled with hope. I think that we are meant to be hopeful. In fact, Preach My Gospel explains that through relying upon the Atonement “we can be filled with joy, peace, and consolation.” (PMG, 52). But yet it seems like there is a cultural idea that life will always be difficult, turbulent, and draining. I’m not attempting to say that bad events don’t happen in life—they do and they always will—but I’m saying that if we really understand and believe Paul’s teachings, we ought to think twice before we accept “life is hard” as a fixed truth. What’s wrong with the “life is hard” mentality? I think it boils down to matter of perception.

What is “hard”? What is “easy”? You and I might define the most recent calculus test we took as “hard”, while the genius next to us who hardly studied and aced the test would say it was “easy”. That difference can exist because at root, the words “hard” and “easy” are words based in perception, not in reality. The exact same event can be perceived as life-altering by one person yet be viewed as simply routine from a different viewpoint. It’s all a matter of where you stand. And the beautiful thing is, the perspective we take is largely determined by what we know and how we apply what we know.

This is the essence of that 2^nd Corinthians scripture. Paul is trying to inspire hope by reminding us that because of the glorious reality of the Atonement, the objective events of life don’t have to make us subjectively unhappy. The facts that we got a low score on a test doesn’t mean that we need to be beating ourselves up because of it. We can still be single yet with patience not be despaired because our goal of marriage hasn’t been fulfilled yet. We choose to take an eternal perspective, at which point any bad day, no matter how low, seems rather inconsequential.

There’s a second eternal truth at play here that also backs Paul’s teachings, found in 2 Nephi 2:27. That scripture reads as follows: “Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man.” (my emphasis added) Look at that underlined phrase for a second. “All things are given them which are expedient unto man.” Given the scripture given just two verses earlier (2 Nephi 2:25), which explains that “men are that they might have joy”, we ought to understand that joy is something that God finds “expedient”. In other words, we are promised that we will be given circumstances which can lead to our happiness. What Lehi is teaching is that we don’t have to wait for this semester to end before we can be happy, and we don’t have to wait for a terrible day to end before we can feel peace. This verse is a divine promise that at any given moment in time, we will have all of the tools available to us with which to build joy. Conversely, we will also always be given all of the ingredients for misery at any given moment of time. The difference is that we get to choose what we make.

My point is this: there is a very real difference between bad events in life and going through struggles. Thanks to the agency Lehi explains in 2 Nephi 2 and the supplementing power of the Atonement that Paul teaches in 2^nd Corinthians, we can experience setbacks in life and still see life as enjoyable. When we say something like “life is hard for everyone”, we are assuming two things: (1) that everyone has problems, which is true; and (2) that everyone is being brought down to despair by those problems, which doesn’t have to be true. We need to get out of this glass-half-empty mindset and start to rely upon the Savior more so that we can smile more and really enjoy life as we are meant to.   

Perhaps a personal example could illustrate this. Last Monday, I was asked multiple times how my weekend had gone. I could have easily answered:

“Terrible. My intramural basketball team forfeited the rest of our season, I did poorer than expected on several tests at the end of last week, I spent Valentine’s Day very much single and alone, I had to work most of the day Saturday, I came down with a cold, and I really didn’t get to enjoy any of the good weather.”

All of that would have been true. If you look at the facts, all of those events happened. They were bad events. But I subscribe to a simple philosophy: “No problem is so bad that whining about it won’t make it worse.” I believe that despite what challenges I ran into last weekend, there were still positives. So I would answer with something like this:

“It was a good weekend. I got to go to a great stake conference, spend some time relaxing, and play basketball for a long time on Monday. It was a really good weekend.”

Friends, there is no need to despair when going through life. There are bad things that happen in life, but that doesn’t mean that life has to be hard. There is joy in every moment of every day if we have the eyes to look for it. There is no need to assume that life will always be difficult. Let’s build each other by talking about the positive more, instead of only sharing the bad in life. Let’s take upon ourselves an attitude of positivity and rejoice as we walk through this life together.     

The Fight Within

To Keep Under the Body

                In 1 Corinthians 9:26-27, Paul writes the following passage: “So fight I, not as one that beateth the air: but I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.” I love this scripture for multiple reasons, and I think it illustrates a great principle regarding self-mastery:

Self-mastery is a spiritual endeavor. Paul equates losing control of his body with becoming “a castaway.” Simply put, without self-mastery, we cannot continue on our course to eternal life. Why? I think to understand, we need to revisit the basic point of the gospel.

The point of the Gospel is to help us throw off imperfections, with the end goal of becoming like our Father in Heaven. Because He is perfect in every aspect, there are many different “lenses” we could look through to describe Him. One way to describe God’s perfection is that He is the perfect master of himself. He has mastered his own desires to the point where He can devote Himself entirely to His children. He has mastered every attribute of perfection and conquered every imperfection. And truly, that’s what the varying commandments of the Gospel point us to. The Law of tithing teaches us to master our budgets. The Law of the Sabbath teaches us to master our time. The Word of Wisdom and Law of Chastity teach us to master our physical appetites. In the end, the goal is the same: master our wills entirely so that we can consecrate ourselves to God and love Him “with all [our] soul, strength, and mind” (Luke 10:29) Exercise, eating right, sleeping for enough time, time management, and all of the other facets of self-mastery might not appear like spiritual undertakings on the surface, but even these activities bring us closer to God because as we master our bodies, we become more like Him.

For me, this is a very liberating principle, because it teaches me that on my quest to master myself—even in mundane matters like healthy eating—I’m not alone. Because it’s a spiritual fight (not just a matter of temporal desires, or one of those “either option is good” choices), I’m entitled to divine help. Physical battles alone can at times seem daunting, but nothing looks too hard when you know that the Savior of the world is standing besides you. In other terms, the Atonement of Jesus Christ covers not only the temptation to commit serious sins, but also covers the temptation to eat that extra cookie or the temptation to stay on the couch and be lazy, or any other desire of the natural man. Elder Jorg Klebingat of the Seventy taught this simply in the October 2014 conference:

“Spiritual confidence increases when your spirit, with the help of the Savior, is truly in charge of your natural man.” (Emphasis added)

                So for all of those who like me, find life a constant struggle between the natural man and our spirits—perhaps not over matters that show up on a temple recommend interview, but important lifestyle choices still the same—take heart. All of the incredible promises that the Lord extends to those attempting to keep His commandments also apply here. Realize that such a struggle for self-mastery is a spiritual struggle, and with an all-powerful Savior on our side, all spiritual struggles can be won by turning to Him.

The Lower Lights

In the October 2012 session of General Conference, President Packer told a story of attempting to cross a dangerous reef by boat in the middle of the raging storm. He explained that a light was set up on a nearby hill, and a second one was to be lit on the beach. When the boat was at the location in which the two lights lined up in a straight line, it could safely cross the reef. President Packer related his experience to that of the hymn, in which is sung:

Brightly beams our Father’s mercy

From his lighthouse evermore,

But to us he gives the keeping

Of the lights along the shore.

Let the lower lights be burning;

Send a gleam across the wave.

Some poor fainting, struggling seaman

You may rescue, you may save.

                The words of this hymn teach a concept that can also be found in 1 Thessalonians 1:6. In this verse, Paul tells that people that “ye became followers of us, and of the Lord.” When we read that verse, it’s not hard for us to understand what Paul is saying when he tells the converts that they have become followers of the Lord. Perhaps what is more surprising is that he acknowledges the fact that these converts have also become followers of Paul. I believe that in this verse, Paul is simply teaching the same concept taught in that hymn: there are two important examples we need in our lives—the “upper light” of Christ, and the “lower light” of human examples.

The “upper light” is obviously the Lord Jesus Christ. President Kimball explained that the reason why we needed a perfect example such a Christ. He terms the word “fixed principles” to explain the perfect qualities that Christ embodied. In President Kimball’s words: “He really does embody all those virtues and attributes the scriptures tell us of. If we don’t accept that truth and that reality, then we will not have the fixed principles or the transcendent truths by which to live out our lives in happiness and in service.” In other words, if our best example had only lived 99% perfect, then we could never shoot for 100%. Knowing that everyone has weakness, it becomes immensely easier to justify what you or I might consider “the 1%”, and excuse weakness or mistakes as an unchangeable part of our nature. The perfect example of Jesus Christ takes away that excuse, because from a position of perfection Christ could command us to be perfect, even as he is. Of that command, President Kimball said “In urging us to be perfect as our Father in Heaven is perfect, Jesus was not taunting us or teasing us. He was telling us a powerful truth about our possibilities and about our potential.” It’s only through looking at the perfect “upper light” of Jesus Christ that enables us to reach higher within ourselves and find the way to struggle for perfection.

 In His perfect wisdom, Heavenly Father knew that the very perfection of Christ would also open the door for Satan and his lies. Compared with such an incomparable standard, can you or I ever help but occasionally wonder when Satan whispers “You’re not good enough. You’ve already made mistakes, and you’re a lost cause?” It can at times be extremely disheartening and depressing to see our own inadequacies and have to compare them to the bar set by the Savior. That is why we also need “lower lights”—the examples of good men and women, who fight through their imperfections and show us that while they too make mistakes, they also have the potential to do great and amazing works of righteousness. I find such examples invaluable in those moments when it seems I’m too wicked or sinful to ever measure up to the Savior. In those moments, I look around at family, friends, acquaintances, and church leaders, and I take hope from knowing that they have made just as many mistakes as I have, yet still go on to accomplish incredible things.

The question that now lies in front of you and I is simple: will we be a lower light in our light? There are those out there who are waiting for us, who look to us as their second beacon in the night. We have a powerful potential to help out others and draw them closer to the true light of Jesus Christ. I conclude with the words of President Kimball:

Each of us has more opportunities to do good and to be good than we ever use. These opportunities lie all around us. Whatever the size of our present circle of effective influence, if we were to improve… even a little bit, that circle would be enlarged. There are many individuals waiting to be touched and loved if we care enough to improve.

I Will Do Mine Own Work in Mine Own Due Time

A new video put out by the church tells the story of a young man who lost his faith in Christ and his process to regaining it. Of note in the video is the part in which the man is telling of his fall from faith, and how he thought he could rationally prove away the existence of God because of all of the evil and the mistakes in this world. He’s not alone in that argument; there are many who claim that an all-powerful, all-loving God, and they point to the much pain and suffering in our world as proof. Wouldn’t an all-powerful God have the power to change those evils? Wouldn’t an all-loving God feel obligated to help? This logical train of thought can also be extended to talk about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. There are those who point to flaws in the church’s past decisions, citing things like polygamy and former policy towards blacks and the priesthood as mistakes that the church has made. If the church seems to have made a mistake, how can it be run by God? Wouldn’t God know of the bad mistakes ahead of time? Why wouldn’t He warn the leaders of the church before they made a bad decision?

                I for one feel that those questions are valid and do deserve an answer, but they reflect a misunderstanding of who God is and how He operates. The simple truth for why God doesn’t operate is contained in a telling series of scriptures in 2^nd Nephi 27. In these verses the Lord declares:

“For I will bring [my work] forth in mine own due time; for I will show unto the children of men that I am able to do mine own work… For behold, I am God; and I am a God of miracles; and I will show unto the world that I am the same yesterday, today, and forever; and I work not among the children of men save it be according to their faith.”

(2 Nephi 27:21, 23, emphasis added)

                In these verses the Lord specifies that there are two conditions that must be fulfilled before He steps into a situation; the intervention must be in line with his purpose, and it must follow man’s faith. 

a)      The first condition is contained in the words “in mine own due time.” This means that God waits to act until a specific time condition has been met, which by implication means that God has a purpose and a reasoning for acting every time He does, and a reason for why in certain circumstances He chooses not to act.

b)      The second condition is clearly shown by the phrase “I work not among the children of men save it be according to their faith.” What is interesting to note is how forceful this statement becomes when it’s put in the negative. The Lord could have said “I work among the children of men according to their faith”, which in modern terms means “I’ll act when people have faith”. Contrast that somewhat ambiguous statement to the modern rendition of what He really said: “I will not do anything until people have faith.” The Lord is making it very obvious that he works with and through men. Men who, by definition, are flawed and imperfect.

When we understand these two conditions, suddenly the explanation of these puzzling questions about blacks and the priesthood or polygamy make much more sense. The Lord says himself that He will only operate through the faith of men: no faith; no blessing. Likewise, in looking through the history of gospel dispensations we see that the Lord has pulled his ordained servants off the earth to avoid condemning rebellious groups of people with knowledge of the gospel. No obedience (an outward expression of faith); no knowledge (a blessing).  

                The story of Acts chapter 10 provides an instructive glimpse into the way the Lord operates. The Savior had always planned for the gospel to go forth to everyone. 600 years before Peter even knew what the gospel was, Christ had declared to Nephi that “all are alike unto God, both Jew and Gentile”. (2 Nephi 26:33) In his parting words to the apostles, Christ commanded them to “go ye therefore, and teach all nations.” (Matthew 28:20, emphasis added) God’s purpose was clear; He wanted everyone to hear about the good news of Christ. Yet somehow the church was still operating under a preach-only-to-the-Jews policy. So what had happened?

                First off, we could claim that Peter was uninspired, like many claim about Joseph Smith and the polygamy question. In Peter’s case, I would hesitate to say that he was simply being disobedient. Look at the facts in the story; once he received his revelation, he acted faithfully and immediately. I’m pretty sure he would’ve done so had he received that revelation at any point in the timeline of events.

                No, much more likely is the fact that the Lord didn’t have the faith necessary to implement his plan. The people weren’t ready for this new step. Preaching to gentiles went against their culture background, and with still fledging testimonies and incomplete conversions, such a move would probably have driven them out of the church. Look at what happened after Peter made this declaration; immediately “they of the circumcision contended with him.” This move causes a rift in the church among the more orthodox Jews-turned-Christians who couldn’t seem to give up on their traditions. These people weren’t ready for God’s purpose, and so God had to wait until they had sufficient faith before giving them their next commandments.

                This story proves the point made by Jeffery R. Holland when he said:

“Except in the case of His only perfect Begotten Son, imperfect people are all God has ever had to work with. That must be terribly frustrating to Him, but He deals with it. So should we. And when you see imperfection, remember that the limitation is not in the divinity of the work.” (Lord, I Believe, April 2013)

So why is there evil in the world? Because people choose evil over good sometimes. Why does it appear that the church occasionally makes mistakes? Because it’s run by people who have flaws. Yet none of this disproves the divinity of God; He is perfect and His plan is just. But because he honors agency, he’ll wait until we have faith before He acts. To all who struggle with those tough questions like the man in the video, I would advise you to hold on. God is real, and if you put your faith in Him, you’ll see a real-life manifestation of the divine principle you seek to understand.

Without Knowing Beforehand

I think at root I am strategist. I love nothing more than walking into a situation where I should be disadvantaged, yet end up succeeding because of my plans and strategies. I like to try to maximize the resources that I’ve been given to achieve something that I shouldn’t be able to do. This way of thinking involves always having a plan, and making sure that all of my actions are deliberate; that I know what I’m doing, how to do it, and that I have a good reason for why I’m doing so.

                Consequently, there are few things that can throw me out of my comfort zone like acting without any sort of vision or plan. That’s not easy to do. As we read in the New Testament this week in my religion class, we talked about the example of Phillip, who does exactly that. I found his story and the insights we discussed together very inspiring to help me in those times in which I don’t hold all the answers.

                In the story of Acts 8, Phillip is preaching to the people of Samaria, and having great success. He’s baptizing and I’m sure enjoying himself. In the midst of this awesome experience, he is called to go into the desert, with absolutely no details of what he is supposed to do or why the Lord would take him out of the place in which he is doing a lot of good. At this point, all of his plans have been ruined, and if I were Phillip, I would probably be a little upset by the command.

                But Phillip is a much better man than I, because the next verse begins with five very powerful words:

                                “And he arose and went”

                This story demonstrates is that most of the time, the Lord doesn’t give us all of the details. Doing so would inhibit our agency; think of how much Phillip must have learned by trying to figure out what he was supposed to do down in the desert. It was also a great test of his faith because the Lord didn’t reveal to him why he was being sent down there. But Phillip didn’t complain and didn’t delay. He immediately did as the Lord had asked and was able to see success by helping a very influential Ethiopian get baptized.

                In our lives there will be times when you and I will not know all of the details, and the plans that we make will be irrelevant. We will be asked to do something without knowing exactly how to do so or why we ought to. The story of Phillip stands as a beacon to us in those times to remember that when we put out trust in the Lord things will inevitably turn out alright as we patiently follow him. The Lord called Phillip to the middle of the desert, and it just happened to be the place where he could do the most good in baptizing the Ethiopian. When he calls you and I into our own spiritual “deserts”, the result will be just as wonderful. So keep your faith in Him and trust that His commands have a purpose.         

"What Shall I Do?"

               I love the account in Acts chapter 2 of the sermon preached by Peter. The account has numerous passages that I find inspiring, such as the miracle of the speaking in several languages at the same time Peter’s bold declaration of truth, and the wonderful result of seeing nearly three thousand converts in one day. All of these accounts spark my faith and help me to understand that miracles are indeed possible if we put enough faith in the Lord, as Peter did.

                But perhaps the most touching part of this chapter is the response of the multitude. The account states that after hearing Peter’s message, they were “pricked in their heart” and then asked the following question:

“What shall we do?”

                When I read this verse, I get another call to humility. As a missionary, I used to study this chapter and search for a way I could teach like Peter and invoke such a response for my investigators. I knew that if I found someone who would ask that simple question—“what should I do?”—I had found someone who was ready for the blessings of the gospel. But much more important than whether or not I can get someone else to ask God for direction is whether or not I can find the necessary humility to plead for advice in such a simple way. When one asks Heavenly Father for such simple direction, it is a huge demonstration of faith and trust in His plan. It is a sign of humility, a sign that we genuinely want to do what He asks, and thus implies we are becoming converted. It’s a question we all ought to be asking on a daily basis, because the answer holds all of the secrets for our lasting peace, happiness, and eternal salvation. I’m determined to try better to have the humble attitude of these men and regularly ask “what shall I do?” from my Heavenly Father. I encourage all of you to do the same.

Is Happiness a Choice?

                I’ve thought a lot about the question “is happiness a choice?” a lot over the course of this semester, and I’ve come to the conclusion that happiness isn’t necessarily a choice, in a sense that one can look at the window and say: “Wow, today is a miserable day, but I’m going to choose to be happy” and have that work. I’ve tried multiple times throughout the semester to do so, but it hasn’t really worked out in making me suddenly happy with no further thought or effort. Through my own personal experience, I realize much more clearly that outside influences do play a HUGE role in happiness; environmental and biological factors are very real and do very much influence the way that we feel in our daily lives.

                That being said, I do feel like there are certain factors that remain under our control, independent of outside factors. My personal interpretation of the concept of agency as taught in the scriptures requires a certain realm of inner control. But that inner control isn’t just a switch that toggles between “happy” and “sad”. If such a switch did exists, we would rightfully call ourselves mental midgets whenever we felt a little blue, and we would say those with depression are simply choosing to feel sad. No, such a switch doesn’t exist. But our minds do have the power to take on certain attitudes and actions which I feel can bring joy in most situations. Having an attitude of gratitude is one such conscience choice that can make a huge difference in our mindset. Accepting and applying the Atonement of Jesus Christ is another. Willingly serving others is also a great way to minimize pessimistic thinking. To be blunt, I believe that living the gospel of Jesus Christ has the most power to make one happy.

Yet even the gospel doesn’t directly equate to happiness. There is no guarantee that doing all those things will automatically result in pure joy, or an instant increase of emotions. It’s not a guaranteed formula that gospel living means a perfect life free of sorrow. It’s simply the best formula I know that can get you within striking distance. I think that’s all the control anyone ever has: you can sure get pretty dang close to happiness through exercising your agency, but in the end, happiness isn’t a choice, because there is that outside 1% that isn’t under your control. Without the proper use of agency, there is a very slim chance that you will be happy. With the proper use of agency, you’re much more likely to be happy, but it’s still no guarantee. So keep striving to do the right, and if sometimes you feel disappointed because happiness seems out of reach, don’t give up; the gospel method works, but it never promises not to give you the ups and downs of life. Experiencing both the good and the bad is just another beautiful aspect of what it means to be alive.

Remote Team Meeting

                The Globetrotters team used the program Asana to remotely coordinate our work together. It was quite an experience. Asana is a program that is designed for group projects like ours, and we used the free trial to create accounts for everyone on our team. Once inside the program, we could chat, assign and accept tasks, create deadlines, and see how everyone’s progress was doing.

                One of the things that was nice about Asana was how frequently it reminded me about the project. I was getting email blasts daily, reminding me that I was expected to complete part of my project within the next day. After so many reminders though, it was more stressful and annoying than helpful.

                Overall, I learned a lot about collaboration without face-to-face encounters from this meeting. I learned that it is really important to be clear in those types of communications, because emails to send clarification questions and answers sure add up quickly. If I was able to express my point simply in one email, then everyone would be spared constant messages back and forth. I also learned the importance of being timely—at one point our team got a little behind our project deadlines and it made things pretty stressful. At one point, I was assigned to do data analysis on data that wasn’t collected yet, and I was stressing out because I felt pressure to perform on time, yet there was no way to get my piece done without the prior work. All in all, I feel that working remotely, although more convenient, isn’t as effective as meeting face to face.