Saturday, July 27, 2013

?Por qué escogemos levantarnos e ir a la iglesia los domingos?


                     
?Por qué escogemos levantarnos e ir a la iglesia los domingos? Para dar respuesta a mi propia pregunta, yo voy a la iglesia porque amo a mi Salvador, Jesucristo, y quiero respetar Su día santo.

 Y tambien voy para tomar la Santa Cena. Hay mil cosas que nos distraen cada día, pero cuando vamos a la iglesia, podemos estar apartados del mundo. Estamos con nuestro Dios, nuestro Salvador, los angeles de los Cielos, y con nuestros hermanos Cristianos. Qué ocasion gozosa! Nosotros sentiremos el poder de La Expiación de Cristo cuando no dejamos que el facebook, ni el telefono, ni los juegos nos controlen. Hagamonos tiempo para ir a la iglesia y para alabar a nuestro Creador.

Antes de la misión, no me daba cuenta de cuan distraida estaba yo por el mundo. Claro que si, me gustaba ir a la iglesia, pero yo siempre traía conmigo una parte del mundo. Y francamente, la única persona que fue lastimada era yo. Fue una lección aprendida. También me he dado cuenta de que muchas personas van a la iglesia por muchas otras razones. A algunas les gusta la musica, otras les gusta ir porque se pueden vestir de la manera que quieran. A otras les gusta disfrutar un café con los amigos, y traer con ellas las cosas del mundo para que se miren popular. Aquí está la cosa, yo creo que es major ir a una iglesia que cualquier otro lugar, pero necesitamos no estar distraidos por las cosas del mundo mientras estamos en la capilla. Nosotros vamos a la iglesia para adorar a Dios!! Está bien tener eventos sociales, pero no deben de estar en la iglesia. La iglesia es un humilde casa de adoración. Yo sé que si guardamos el día de reposo, el Señor nos bendecirá abundantemente.

Aquí está una analogía de un miembro de la iglesia:Dijo Derek: “Hace muchos años, escuché una
analogía: Cada seis meses, por veinte años, un hombre traía su carro al mecánico para darle una afinación. A veces toda la obra del carro fue muy fácil y a veces se necesitaba más de una simple afinación. Un día, el mecánico preguntó al hombre por qué él se dedicaba tanto a cuidar su carro. Le dijo el dueño del carro, ‘ Me preocupo tanto por el carro para que no me sorprenda cuando pasa algo malo. Cuando observo lo que se ha hecho a mi carro y lo que se le necesita hacer con ello, puedo solucionar bien cuando vengan los problemas.’ Me siento igual de acuerdo con el ir a la iglesia cada semana. Es probable que mi transmisión espiritual no necesita tanta revision, igual que el carro en cada inspección. Pero en el gran curso de tiempo, he visto las bendiciones de la asistencia a la iglesia: una abilidad más profunda de poder reaccionar bien a las pruebas de la vida. Cuando la vida te lanza una bola curva, yo puedo confiar en Jesucristo mas plenamente porque yo ya hice un hábito de servirle y confiarle a él. Asi que, en tiempos de gran dificultad, inseguridad emocional, falta de empleo, cancer en la familia, y un carro que no sirve, me enfoco en permitir que Dios me muestre el camino.”

Yo sé que nosotros recibimos fortaleza cuando nos esforzamos por mostrar al Señor que lo amamos y que lo respetamos. Aún cuando parezca que no valga la pena, o que estemos cansados, yo les prometo a ustedes que el Señor les bendecirá abundantemente en toda la próxima semana si le den a él unas tres horas de su tiempo cada semana en la iglesia.

Thursday, July 25, 2013

Modest is Hottest


Have you ever wondered why mormons dress so modestly?
Growing up I thought modesty meant wearing clothes that are covering certain parts of the body.. well that's close I guess, but only the tiniest fraction of it. Modesty is more internal than external and more spiritual than physical. I never understood the "why" of modest growing up. So today I'd like to share what I've learned about modesty. I'm not directing this soley at women, but men equally, however most quotes are directed at woman.
Accra Ghana
First to try and explain what modesty is i'll share a quote from lds.org, "Modesty is an attitude of propriety and decency in dress, grooming, language, and behavior. If we are modest, we do not draw undue attention to ourselves. Instead, we seek to “glorify God in [our] body, and in [our] spirit”"

When we know where we come from and why we are here, the fads of the world suddenly seem less important. We know that we are children of God and that our bodies are temples that our Savior Jesus Christ bought with a heavy price. One of my favorite scriptures about our bodies and how important they are is in 1Cor. 6:19 :What? know ye not that your abody is the btemple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your cown?
Aba Nigeria
20 For ye are abought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.

So how can we glorify our body in God and not the world? Just like a temple of God we can keep it pure, clean, and beautiful. When we respect ourselves, others will recognize you as a disciple of Christ and a person who deserves respect. When we are truly comfortable with ourselves, we don't have to show the world everything. We can be more than an object to be looked at.

Something awesome about modesty is that you know that the people around you respect you and like you for you, not what you are wearing.. or what you're not wearing.
“… Your dress and grooming send messages about you to others and influence the way you and others act. When you are well groomed and modestly dressed, you invite the companionship of the Spirit and can exercise a good influence on those around you” ([2001], 15).
Modesty was something that I had to learn for myself. It's something that naturally happens when you truly begin to understand that you are a child of God with a divine nature. We believe that we are God's children and with that we have a big responsibility to live up to that title.
Sister Rosemary M. Wixom said, "children learn in Primary a strong message of identity: I am a child of God. It is time to start talking about the responsibilities that come with that knowledge. “Because you are a child of God, then what? With that comes the answer: ‘It is how I dress, it is how I talk, it is my relationship with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Because I am a child of God I will reflect His will in all I do.”."
Hong Kong China
“It is a condition of the heart. It is an outward manifestation of an inner knowledge and commitment. It is an expression that we understand our identity as children of God. It is an expression that we know what He expects us to do. It is a declaration of our covenant keeping."
Sister Carole M. Stephens said, “The more we look like the world, the more we act like the world.”
She said that when a person walks out of the waters of baptism, they’ve made a covenant to “walk out of the world and into the kingdom of God.”
For me I started to ask myself questions like, "Would I feel comfortable wearing this in front of the Savior? What message am I sending to others? Am I living how the Lord would like me to live? etc."
When we have the courage to answer these questions honestly it can lead us to make changes in our lives pertaining to how we act, dress, speak, etc. When we realize how much we are worth, we can begin to magnify our inner beauty which will then radiate into our outer beauty, both men and women.

Sometimes being modest in a world of confusion can seem like a challenge, but it's totally doable! We can be our own person instead of conforming to fads of the world that come and go. We can create a style of our own that reflect our love for the Savior. If you don't know if you believe in a Savior or believe in yourself, now is a good time to do soul searching.
Like temples, we can reflect our inner beauty by our outer beauty. We are sacred and we are Christ's. And just like temples, we can look different, but equally beautiful children of God with the same purpose. We like temples are houses for the Spirit of God.
Salt Lake Utah
I know that when we love and respect ourselves, Heavenly Father, and Jesus Christ that we will naturally stand on higher ground and let our light shine through our holy temples. I'm grateful for the gift of the Holy Ghost and all of the guidance that he brings to me in my life.

 

Saturday, July 13, 2013

Why Do We Worship in Church?

Why do we choose to get up and travel to church on Sundays?
Well I know why I go to church, it's because I love my Savior and I want to respect His day and I want to partake of the sacrament.

There are so many distractions each and every day, but when we go into that chapel, we can be away from the world, with our God, our Savior, the angels of Heaven, and fellow Christians. What a joyous occasion. When we put the time and effort in to make each church meeting a time between you and God and shut out facebook, texting, and games, you will feel the cleansing power of the Atonement. I never realized how distracted by the world I was before my mission! I always liked going to church, but I didn't always set myself out of the world, I brought some of it with me... and frankly the only person hurt from that was me. Lesson learned.

I've also noticed that people go to certain churches for other reasons, like certain music aka mini concerts, because they can dress how they want, because they can have a coffee social, and bring whatever other worldy things in to make it seem cooler.
Now here is the thing, I think it is better to go to church in any setting rather than none, but we need not be distracted by the things that make church seem cool. We go to church to worship the Lord!! It's awesome to have church social events, but they are not there to be in place of humble worship of the Lord.
I know that if we remember to keep the Sabbath Day Holy, the Lord will bless us more abundantly.

An analogy I read from mormon.org by another Latter Day Saint was this:
"I heard a simple analogy many years ago: A man took his automobile into a mechanic every six months for a tune up for over twenty years. Sometimes more work was needed than just the tune up, and sometimes it was a routine job. One day the mechanic asked the man why he was so dedicated to taking care of his car. The man replied, "I take care of my car so that I am not surprised when something goes wrong. When I observe what has been done and what needs to be done with my car, I am able to deal with the issues as they come." I feel the same way about going to Church each week. I may not always need an overhaul of my spiritual transmission, just as the car may not have needed serious work at each inspection. But over time I have seen the great blessings of Church: a greater ability to deal with issues as they come. When life throws a curveball, I am able to rely on Jesus Christ more fully because I have made a constant habit of serving and relying on Him. That way in times of trial, emotional insecurity, un-employment, cancer in the family and a broken-down car I am more focused on letting God show me the way through it than the seemingly insurmountable tasks ahead."

I know that we receive extra strength and energy when we put in our effort to show the Lord we love and respect Him. Even when it doesn't seem worth it or you're too tired or too busy, I promise that the Lord will bless you more abundantly throughout the following week if you give Him just a few full hours of your time to Him each week.