Brightly Beams

Lately, I have been thinking of putting on the whole Armor of God. I remember watching a video in seminary where it showed some young men in armor and how some of them decided to remove their armor because it was uncomfortable and they needed a rest from it. When they least expected, they were attacked and those who had kept on their armor were able to defend off the attack. Some of those who had removed their armor weren't quite as lucky.  Today we live in an age of increasing dangers, not only physical dangers but spiritual and mental dangers as well. Let's take a look at the different parts of the Armor of God: Loins: Our loins must be girt about with truth. Why is it our loins that should have truth and not our head? I feel this is because there are so many eternal truths about how we are God's children and how the powers to procreate is an eternal law.  Chest: We must have the breastplate of righteousness. The breastplate is what covers our vital organs, most important...

Many have stated that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints requires too much of their members. They state being a member of the church is too hard and not worth it. Let's take a look at what is required of us by the church. "And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul." Deuteronomy 10:12 Just this past April, the leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints spoke to the whole world in General Conference. Let's read over some of the requirements which were spoken about in this conference by members of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles: President Nelson: “'Does everyone need to repent?' The answer is yes." "We need to do better and be better." "The Lord needs selfless men who put the welfare of others ahead of their own." "M...

"Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like, unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." All Christians have heard these verse of scriptures, but how many actually follow these two commandments? We should all know that Christ has said that "If ye love me, keep my commandments." So we should know how to follow the first great commandment, but how do we follow the second one? How do we love our neighbor? How do we love our neighbor when our neighbor doesn't love us? How do we love our neighbor when they believe in something we don't? I say in order for us to love our neighbor we must learn how to follow the second part of the second greatest commandment. Let's look at it another time, "Tho...

The other night I was honored to see an advanced screening of the movie Christopher Robin . First I would like to express how well it was made. Watching this movie brought back memories of when I was 4 or 5 and had a Winnie the Pooh themed birthday party. If I remember right, my mom made me some Winnie the Pooh pajamas that year! While watching this movie you see just how much someone can change once they grow up. Christopher Robin has indeed changed quite a bit from the little boy he once was. I don't want to focus on the movie plot and storyline. I want to focus on each character in the movie. It seems that each character represents a mental disorder of some kind. Winnie the Pooh has the attributes of someone with Impulsivity with obsessive fixations, ADHD and OCD. You see this with the great lengths he goes to get himself some honey. He tends to get himself into trouble, like eating so much honey he gets stuck in his doorway.  Piglet has Generalized Anxiety Disorder. Pigl...

Growing up in and being raised by goodly parents I was taught to say no. I was told to say no to drugs, to alcohol, and many other unwise actions. When I asked my parents for things I often heard the response of no. Can I stay up late tonight? Can I sluff school today? Can I get a supersized happy meal? Now that I am older I still hear the answer no. Can I buy an 85 inch TV? Bank account says no. Can I get the new Tesla Model 3? Again my bank account says no. Can I speed down the highway? The officer who pulled me over says no. On my mission, I was told no many times. Can we come in and share a message with you? No. Can we baptize your daughter? No. Can we get extra miles in our car this month? No. Growing up in the church I was taught to always try your best to say yes to a calling. When I was a youth I never heard of people saying no to a calling. Now that I am older I hear it all the time. My parents are in a ward which seems to be doubling by size each week, yet they struggle ...

On this journey we call life, we have many choices to make. With these choices, we choose how we react to the consequences of those choices. We tend to be happy when things go as planned, mad when things go wrong, and sad when the unexpected happens. The way we react has a great influence on those around us. If you want to be the greatest motivation for others you must be positive. All throughout time, there have been some amazingly influential leaders who have motivated others to do some great and amazing things. George Washington led his troops to victory for freedom, Abraham Lincoln stood up for the freedoms of everyone while Rosa Parks sat down for them. Similarly, there were powerful voices who have led to horrible things. Adolf Hitler led his troops to try and annihilate an entire race. Fidel Castro stood to block people's freedom. Mary I of England had many people be burned at the stake. Who would you rather follow? Who would you rather be?   One of the greatest leader...

I love the word love. Love is such a powerful word. You love your friends, you love your family and you love your dreams. Love has been the inspiration for many great things. Many things have been done in the name of love. That is why I believe love is the most powerful force on earth. Jesus Christ talks about how we need to love God, our neighbors, and ourselves. I feel that when we love ourselves and others, we get a glimpse of heaven. The word “love” is in the bible 310 times, so it seems like it is a pretty important word. Just think what would happen when we follow the following advice: “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.” One of my favorite songs says the following, “Can't explain all the feelings that you're making me feel, my heart's in overdrive and you're behind the steering wheel.” Love can get us to do some crazy stuff. Another one of my favori...

Growing up in an LDS family was just like growing up in most non-LDS families. Sometimes we got along with our siblings, other times we wanted to kill them. Sometimes we loved our parents, other times we thought they were aliens from a different planet. One thing which made us stand out from the crowd is our weekly three-hour worship at church on Sundays. I always enjoyed going to church, I had a lot of friends there. During my teenage years, I noticed that something about church bugged me, something which now looking back I am so glad it bugged me. Once a month at church we have what is called a “testimony meeting.” For those who don’t know what that is, it is where anyone in the congregation can go up to the podium and share what they believe in. A lot of people use the term “I know this is true.” This line is what bugged me the most. How could anyone know if any of this is true? How could they know if the Book of Mormon is true? How could they know if Joseph Smith was a prop...

This past week I asked one of my friends what I should write about, and they told me hammocking. So here is my input on the adventures of hammocking. Hammocking has become quite a popular way to "hang" out with your friends. I have now enjoyed hammocking a couple times now and I am already hooked. But what does hammocking have to do with the gospel, well let me tell you. There are two types of hammocking, first is personal hammocking, this one you do by yourself, usually spent reading a book, enjoying nature or taking a nap. The other is social hammocking, this one is spent with others, you are interacting and getting to know one another. Just like going to church, you are able to learn and grow together. Hammocking helps you to live a more elevated life. You can set up your hammock as high as you want, you can be sitting on the ground, near the top a 100-foot tree or anywhere in between. For some being so high in the air helps them feel closer to God, just like in ancient...

Life is meant to be lived. Don't cut your life short, no matter what. You were born to live and to love. I don't know the entire story line of the latest show on Netflix called "13 Reasons Why," but I want to show you 13 reasons why you are important, why you should live and why God loves you. I really enjoy the interaction Moses has with God in the Book of Moses. This interaction really helps us understand who we are, and what we mean to God. "Behold, thou art my son." Five simple words, but these five words tell us who we are. We are children of a loving Heavenly Father, He knows us, He has and is raising us. If you go on and finish reading the chapter you'll see just how amazing that is for you. The fact that we are children of God also lets us know we are children, children who make mistakes and at times feel down about ourselves. We are all miracles, and if you don't believe that, you should read this amazing talk given by President Russe...

Proclaiming the gospel can be a difficult thing to do, but with the advancements in technology, we are better able to share our beliefs with almost anyone in the world. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has set up a website in which helps us share our testimonies on social media. The #ShareGoodness site teaches us and shows us how we can simply share the gospel and how it is important to us. Sharing our testimonies doesn’t have to be a complicated task. When we take a look at lds.org , we are able to find much great content to share. There are photos available to use, videos to share, great articles, and of course, there are the conference talks. The list of things to share from lds.org is countless! The church also has a wonderful daily subscription service which you can get Daily Messages. Here there are 5 different channels which you can subscribe to Email , Twitter , RSS Feed , Facebook , and Google+ . As humans, we are very forgetful, and getting these daily...

Steve Dalton and his wife Recently my swim coach from high school announced his retirement. After 48 years of coaching, he has decided to throw in the towel. This man had a great influence on me, helped me shape who I am today. It has really gotten me thinking, how many people have I influenced? There are some people which we know we have influenced because they have told us, but what about the people who we have but haven't told us? I would like to tell you about an amazing man, a man who passed away this last year. Steve Dalton was a mighty man in the faith. I was on my mission, I was still in my first area, and having a really rough time. Steve Dalton was the stake president of the district I was in. Every month he would have all of us missionaries over for breakfast, this breakfast was amazing! But it wasn't the breakfast which had the biggest impact on me, it was what he did for me the very last time I was in his home. After breakfast, we would have a gospel discussio...

One of my favorite stories is of Alma the younger and the Sons of Mosiah. They were the vilest of sinners, put became some of the best missionaries to ever serve the Lord. Their story truly shows us that the gospel of Jesus Christ is for everyone, the sinner, the righteous and everyone in between. They, like Saul, were confronted by an angel who told them they need to change their ways. They were told to stop destroying the church, but to help build it up. Would you change your life if you were visited by an angel? I feel all of us would say yes to this question, but would we really change? Let's take a look at Laman and Lemuel. These two men were visited by angels a handful of times, did they change? Maybe for a day or two, but then they went back to their evil ways. They, like Lucifer, chose to rebel against their father because they wanted all the glory, they wanted to be the hero, but since they chose to rebel they instead were made the loser. But they saw an angel, they hea...

Christ said the following: “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;” this seems to be something that is easier said than done. But I do know it is possible since I have seen it happen in my life. While serving my mission in the Oregon Portland Mission, I had been placed with a great companion, a hard worker, who knew how to get things done. I enjoyed every minute with him. Then the dreadful day came transfer day. I stayed in the area, but my companion was transferred. From the first time, I saw my new companion I felt like I wasn’t going to like him. And I was right, I wasn’t a big fan of him, he didn’t like to work and it was hard to connect with him. I was filled with hatred towards him. How could I love my enemy when I couldn’t even love my companion. This went on for weeks, and then months, no work was getting done and it seemed to me that no one wanted to even listen to us. It...