Showing posts with label Faith. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Faith. Show all posts
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Brightness of Hope
In life, we all will face times of doubt, despair, sorrow, tragedy, sadness, and failure. Whether from our own mistakes, or others, we all will. It's just the name of the game. Those things are the opposite of Hope, which is what Christ can give us, through His Atonement. He can do that, because he knows exactlly what each of us are going through, and understands perfectly, as only He could. In the Book of Mormon, the prophet Alma explains how this is possible. He said "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.... and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people..." (Alma 7:11-13) In the Garden of Gethsemane, and on the Cross of Calvary, Christ suffered for not just our sins, but also for, like the scripture said, our pains, afflictions, temptations, sickness, and infirmities. He has felt everything that we have ever felt, and will feel, and therefore knows exactlly how to help us, and He is more then willing. I like how in that verse he says He knows how to "succor" His people. Succor means "To help, or to run to the aid of." Christ is always extending His arm down to help us, is willing to run to our aid, as long as we invite Him into our life. Like Peter in the New Testament when we walked on the water towards Christ, but when his faith wavered, he slowly started to sink. He called out, and Christ lifted Him up. Just like us, sometimes in life our faith can weaken, and we start to sink, but christ is always there, offering hope through the Atonement. His Atonement can have a huge imact in our lives, if we let it, and can bring us great hope in this life. Another Book of Mormon prophet, Moroni, explained this when he taught "And what is it that ye shall hope for? Behold I say unto you that ye shall have hope through the atonement of Christ...and this because of your faith in him..."
I know that as we exercise our faith in Christ, by keeping His commandments, and living His gospel, our faith increases. And as our faith increases so does our hope. I know that He lives, that he guides and directs this church, and that he speaks to living prophets today, even as He did in olden times. I know that as we come to Him, and lay our budens at His feet, that He will give us peace, and that "brightness of hope" that only He can give.
Monday, October 25, 2010
We Must Go Through
Ok, so this is really the first time that I've ever done a blog, so I'm still kinda gettin the hang of it. But today, I'd like to explain a little bit why I chose "We Must Go Through" as the title for my blog. But, first I'd like to begin with a little bit of a background history lesson on the famous Hole-In-The-Rock expedition.
In the year of 1879, John Taylor then Prophet, and President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, called a group of 236 people from the Southern Utah towns of Parowan, Cedar City, and Paragonah, to be a part of the San Juan Expedition. A pioneering company that would go and settle in what is now the south-eastern corner of the state of Utah. At that time, that was some of the isolated and inaccessible country in the nation, with lots of sandstone, cliffs, mesas, washes, slickrock, sand, and cut in many places by deep canyons. Keep in mind, that a good chunk of these pioneers called to be a part of this expedition, had already crossed the great plains from Nauvoo, Ill, and other parts of the country to settle there in Utah, had just barely gotten settled, started to prosper, and now were asked to leave it all behind.
Not to mention, they had already endured many many hardships on the initial treck to the Rockies. Bishop Jens Nielson, who was called to be one of the leaders on the San Juan expedition, had crossed the Great Plains as part of the Willey Handcart Company. When rescuers from Salt Lake arrived they didn't have shoes big enough to fit his rag-bound feet. While struggling over Rocky Ridge, his feet froze so bad that he couldn't go on any farther. At one point he turned to his wife Elsie, and said "Leave me by the trail in the snow to die, and you go ahead an try to keep up with the company and save your life." To which she responded, "Get in the cart and ride, I can't leave you, I can pull the cart." Which she did. So to say that the pioneers had already faced adversity would be a terrible understatement.
The company took established wagon trails to Escalante, and then from there on out had to blast their own trail into the slick rock the remaining way. Their biggest obstacle came when they reached The Colorado River. The 2,000 ft. gorge had to be crossed somehow, and the snow had finally come which blocked their way home, so their only choice was to find a way across. It took them six weeks to build the road across. Built by chiseling and blasting a path through a steep crevice named the Hole-In-The-Rock, the construction consisted of cutting away a 40 foot drop off at the top of the crevice, moving huge boulders, leveling high spots, filling depressions, and widening the crevice walls. After they made it past the first drop off, and reached the first ledge, they were faced with another sheer wall of fifty feet. A narrow ledge for the inside wagon wheels was chiseled out along the walls. Just below the narrow ledge, holes were drilled every 2 feet parallel and about five feet below the ledge. Stakes were pounded into the holes, and then covered with logs, brush, and gravel to form a road that was literally tacked onto the side of a cliff. That section of the road was called Uncle Ben's Dugaway, named after a Welch miner, Benjamin Perkins.
The road was finally completed, and on January 26, 1880 the wagons started down. Elizabeth Morris Decker, wrote about the trip down. "If you ever come this way it will scare you to death to look down it. It is about a mile from the top down to the river and it is almost straight down, the cliffs on each side are five hundred ft. high and there is just room enough for a wagon to go down. It nearly scared me to death. The first wagon I saw go down they put the brake on and rough locked the hind wheels and had a big rope fastened to the wagon and about ten men holding back on it and then they went down like they would smash everything. I'll never forget that day. When we was walking down Willie looked back and cried and asked me how we would get back home." The settlers continued on and eventually settled the towns of Bluff, Verdure, Blandin, and Monticello.
The quote I mentioned at the very beginning comes from Bishop Jens Nielson when the company had first reached the Hole-In-The-Rock, and many wanted to turn back. But Bishop Nielson remained calm, and is credited with saying. "We must go through. Even if there is no way through, we must go through."
Their story has a lot of meaning to me. I didn't have ancestors were with that company, but I did have many who came from Nauvoo to Utah with Brigham Young. I am in awe, and so grateful for the things that all of those early pioneers faced. Their lives have been a lesson to me. Even though they were faced with so much adversity and trials, they never quit. Never gave up. They forged on. It kinda puts my life into perspective a little bit. If they could face everything they went through with an eye of faith, then my personal trials and struggles, which pale in comparison, I should face with that same determination.
I know that the Lord strenghens us in our extremities if we will but call on His name. He knows us each individually and lets us face opposition so that we can learn and grow. He has felt all of our pains, our sorrows, and our affliction, and therefore knows how to help us. (Alma 7:11-13) Sometimes lifes struggles seam to much to bear, but the Lord is there for us. I just hope that I can follow the example of those early pioneers, and when faced with things that at the time, seam to much to handle, say, "Even when there is no way through, I must go through."
I added pictures of The Hole-In-The-Rock, from the top, and also looking up from Lake Powell, and also Uncle Ben's Dugaway, which shows the holes drilled and used for the road.
In the year of 1879, John Taylor then Prophet, and President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, called a group of 236 people from the Southern Utah towns of Parowan, Cedar City, and Paragonah, to be a part of the San Juan Expedition. A pioneering company that would go and settle in what is now the south-eastern corner of the state of Utah. At that time, that was some of the isolated and inaccessible country in the nation, with lots of sandstone, cliffs, mesas, washes, slickrock, sand, and cut in many places by deep canyons. Keep in mind, that a good chunk of these pioneers called to be a part of this expedition, had already crossed the great plains from Nauvoo, Ill, and other parts of the country to settle there in Utah, had just barely gotten settled, started to prosper, and now were asked to leave it all behind.
Not to mention, they had already endured many many hardships on the initial treck to the Rockies. Bishop Jens Nielson, who was called to be one of the leaders on the San Juan expedition, had crossed the Great Plains as part of the Willey Handcart Company. When rescuers from Salt Lake arrived they didn't have shoes big enough to fit his rag-bound feet. While struggling over Rocky Ridge, his feet froze so bad that he couldn't go on any farther. At one point he turned to his wife Elsie, and said "Leave me by the trail in the snow to die, and you go ahead an try to keep up with the company and save your life." To which she responded, "Get in the cart and ride, I can't leave you, I can pull the cart." Which she did. So to say that the pioneers had already faced adversity would be a terrible understatement.
The company took established wagon trails to Escalante, and then from there on out had to blast their own trail into the slick rock the remaining way. Their biggest obstacle came when they reached The Colorado River. The 2,000 ft. gorge had to be crossed somehow, and the snow had finally come which blocked their way home, so their only choice was to find a way across. It took them six weeks to build the road across. Built by chiseling and blasting a path through a steep crevice named the Hole-In-The-Rock, the construction consisted of cutting away a 40 foot drop off at the top of the crevice, moving huge boulders, leveling high spots, filling depressions, and widening the crevice walls. After they made it past the first drop off, and reached the first ledge, they were faced with another sheer wall of fifty feet. A narrow ledge for the inside wagon wheels was chiseled out along the walls. Just below the narrow ledge, holes were drilled every 2 feet parallel and about five feet below the ledge. Stakes were pounded into the holes, and then covered with logs, brush, and gravel to form a road that was literally tacked onto the side of a cliff. That section of the road was called Uncle Ben's Dugaway, named after a Welch miner, Benjamin Perkins.
The road was finally completed, and on January 26, 1880 the wagons started down. Elizabeth Morris Decker, wrote about the trip down. "If you ever come this way it will scare you to death to look down it. It is about a mile from the top down to the river and it is almost straight down, the cliffs on each side are five hundred ft. high and there is just room enough for a wagon to go down. It nearly scared me to death. The first wagon I saw go down they put the brake on and rough locked the hind wheels and had a big rope fastened to the wagon and about ten men holding back on it and then they went down like they would smash everything. I'll never forget that day. When we was walking down Willie looked back and cried and asked me how we would get back home." The settlers continued on and eventually settled the towns of Bluff, Verdure, Blandin, and Monticello.
The quote I mentioned at the very beginning comes from Bishop Jens Nielson when the company had first reached the Hole-In-The-Rock, and many wanted to turn back. But Bishop Nielson remained calm, and is credited with saying. "We must go through. Even if there is no way through, we must go through."
Their story has a lot of meaning to me. I didn't have ancestors were with that company, but I did have many who came from Nauvoo to Utah with Brigham Young. I am in awe, and so grateful for the things that all of those early pioneers faced. Their lives have been a lesson to me. Even though they were faced with so much adversity and trials, they never quit. Never gave up. They forged on. It kinda puts my life into perspective a little bit. If they could face everything they went through with an eye of faith, then my personal trials and struggles, which pale in comparison, I should face with that same determination.
I know that the Lord strenghens us in our extremities if we will but call on His name. He knows us each individually and lets us face opposition so that we can learn and grow. He has felt all of our pains, our sorrows, and our affliction, and therefore knows how to help us. (Alma 7:11-13) Sometimes lifes struggles seam to much to bear, but the Lord is there for us. I just hope that I can follow the example of those early pioneers, and when faced with things that at the time, seam to much to handle, say, "Even when there is no way through, I must go through."
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
"...With Healing in His Wings"
President Dieter F. Uchtdorff, part of the first presidency of the church, once told a story about how "one woman who had been through years of trial and sorrow said through her tears, 'I have come to realize that I am like an old 20-dollar bill—crumpled, torn, dirty, abused, and scarred. But I am still a 20-dollar bill. I am worth something. Even though I may not look like much and even though I have been battered and used, I am still worth the full 20 dollars.'”
Life isn't easy all the time. We all make mistakes, and we're all gonna end up kinda like that 20 dollar bill. But no matter how bumped and bruised we get from the world and our mistakes, we're all still sons and daughters of a living, loving Heavenly Father, and we're worth something! He knows us each individually be name, I know that, and because of that love, he provided a Savior for us, Jesus Christ. That through Him we can have eternal life in the life to come, and peace and healing in this one. Christs invitation to all of us is to come unto Him, that he may heal us, and bring us peace and rest, no matter what kind of shape, or circumstance we're in. (Matt. 11:28-30, 2 Nephi 25:13)
If ya want to read the whole talk from President Uchtdorff, I attached the link to my wall on Facebook.
Have a good one!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)