"But these are written..."

"Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed. And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: But these are written..."(John 20:31). Thomas, one of the Lord's Apostles had a hard time believing that the Lord had come again, I imagine it was because he had not fully understood the words of the Savior before His crucifixion. Upon appearing to the disciples with Thomas in their presence this time, the Lord gave what I feel was a gentle rebuke to Thomas yet a great lesson to us, "blessed are they who have not seen, and yet have believed". With our celebrations in commemoration of the birth of Jesus Christ I hope we ponder upon the words of Christ a little more fully and apply them into our lives a little more often. As I looked at this chapter of scripture what stuck out to me were the words "but these are written", I think of our lives and how many "other signs" we have seen in our lives. A woman on my mission commented on the grim condition of the world today and how many have strayed from the path and do not believe; I think these words could be adapted, "but these/[we] [believe]". Then completing the scripture "... that [they] might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing [they] might have life through his name".

Triclinium

We get to learn some pretty interesting things in my New Testament class. For example, we learned about the last supper and what the setting was probably like. Our teacher explained the very probably set up of the place where Jesus and the apostles dined that night. He talked about the triclinium which is a customary way of placing three couches where those eating would recline during dinner. They were placed in a "U" shape and in the middle of that "U" would be a low square table. It is a little odd for me to think of eating while reclining, although I do enjoy it on the occasion, but it is definitely different than what we are used to in a dinner setting with guests. I think that as we understand the culture and traditions of the time we are able to understand certain teachings better. I have not yet learn any particular significance to know about the triclinum except for the fact that it explains how the beloved disciple was able to lean of Jesus' chest, but I'm sure there may be more to learn from this cultural fact.

No Other Way

"I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man commeth unto the Father, but by me" (John 14:6). This sounds so exclusive but what does it really mean? I'm not saying that this is the all inclusive answer but this is what I feel this means. I have found myself many times wondering, "OK, so I'm in a tough situation, what do I do?". Sometimes I just want to know more or just know what it is that I need to do to be happy and help others be happy. My life experience, short as it may be, has allowed me to see the truth to Jesus', statement, "I am the way, the truth, and the life". To gain more insight I want to site a scripture from the Book of Mormon. This scripture is in 3 Nephi 27:21 "Verily, verily, I say unto you, this is my gospel; and ye know the things that ye must do in my church; for the works which ye have seen me do that shall ye also do; for that which ye have seen me do even that shall ye do;". He came down and showed us a perfect example; He showed us the way to true happiness. This is amazing to me! He tells us, this is the way ("I am the way"), it's like having the answers to a test-- that would be nice especially now during finals:). But why so exclusive? It makes sense to me that there is no other way but it may not be so clear to others. I'm not sure I can explain myself clearly but I will do my best. The plan is simple, not ambiguous, nor confusing; there's not many ways but just one and we are told what it is. Every single person to live on this earth will know; it is a God given promise to us. Each one of us will have the opportunity to accept Christ and His true gospel; no one can choose for us, we must make that decision for ourselves. What about our exemplary friends who live great lives but do not believe in Christ? Each and every single one of us will be given the opportunity to accept this plan, created since before the earth came to be. In us is the ability to discern truth; within our hearts we know when something is right or when something is wrong. Our Heavenly Father loves us and wants us to return to Him and thus it is clearly given to us "no man commeth unto the Father but by me". We must follow Him, do the things that we have seen Him do, keep the commandments which He has given us and if we so do He tells us "blessed are ye, for ye shall be lifted up at the last day" 3 Nephi 27:22). As we follow Him in this life we will see the "fruits" of our actions. We will find peace in our lives, guidance, and a clearer understanding of life and who we are. I am grateful for my Savior Jesus Christ and I am happy for this season in which we celebrate His birth.

"charity...seeketh not her own"

We covered something really neat yesterday in my New Testament class. We are currently reading in the Gospel of John. I'm thoroughly enjoying this non-synoptic gospel which offers a very original perspective of Christ's life. We read in John 4 and 5 last class period and talked about Christ's response to ignorant critiquing of His Sabbath day healing. What impacted me the most was Jesus' instruction concerning judgement. In verse thirty of the fifth chapter, Christ states, "I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me." These rulers who confronted Him were seeking their own will, they wanted their own pleasures and their judgement reflected this. The correct way, the true perspective, was not to seek one's own but the will of the father. This reminded me of the lesson taught by prophets concerning charity, "And charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things"(Moroni 7:45). To understand this better we read in Moroni 7:47 "But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him". We read in the New Testament "He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love" (1 John 4:8). Now that we have this vast array of scriptures I want to tie it all together. God is love; charity is the pure love of Christ; charity seeketh not her own. I feel that as we seek to have charity in our lives we will find ourselves seeking not to do what will gratify us at that moment, but what will make our Eternal Father happy. The secret behind this is that what makes our Heavenly Father happy is what really makes us happy; He knows all things and gives us commandments so that we can find true happiness in our lives. I love how we can learn so much from each example of the Savior. I hope I can do a little better in not "seeking [my] own" but in seeking to do God's will more often.

Your best friend

I teach at the Missionary Training Center for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Before missionaries go to their assigned location around the world they enter into the M.T.C. Here they learn more about the very unique message of Christ that we have and want to share with the world. Many of them learn a second language which is part of their assigned mission. The missionaries I teach are assigned to Spanish speaking missions. I love working there. I have a blast everyday at work. I had a really uplifting experience recently. As teachers we are assigned to a group of missionaries until it is their time to leave; for Spanish speakers this is a period of about nine weeks. I just recently sent a group of missionaries off to their assigned areas. You get pretty attached to them after nine weeks, well really over a very short period of time. They each have the opportunity to write a teacher evaluation at the end of their M.T.C. stay and I have a chance to read an anonymous summary of their evaluation. I was really struck by what one of them wrote. They wrote saying that they really enjoyed the way that I made it seem as if every time we teach the gospel we need to feel as if we were teaching the most precious thing in the world to our best friend. I smiled as I read this. This is true! They really are sharing the most precious thing in the world with their best friends. "In as much as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me". It is amazing the opportunity that our Heavenly Father gives us to be able to share something so special to us with all of our friends. During my mission I felt I realized the words spoken by the Savior, "whosoever will lose his life for my name sake shall find it".

Water, Blood, and Spirit

Ok so the title of this entry is a bit peculiar but it's really neat. Yesterday, I went to the Museum of Art and viewed the exhibit on Jesus Christ. There was one particular painting that caught my eye. It had very few colors but they were very vibrant and it drew my attention. The painting was of two cloths laid on a wooden floor. The cloths were laid in such a way that you could only really see the wooden floor on the top and bottom. A red cloth was partially covered down the middle vertically by a white cloth so that the left and right sides of the painting displayed the deep red color. On top of the white cloth are three bowls. The first, closest to the bottom of the painting, has a very bright reflection of light so as to not be able to tell what the liquid is. The middle bowl is filled with a dark red liquid. The last bowl is filled with a clear liquid. As I read the caption of the painting I understood the significance of the symbols. I imagine there are many layers of symbolism but I understood the top layer. The scripture that inspired the painting was from Moses 6:59. It speaks of our birth having been of water, blood and of the Spirit. In order to return into the kingdom of heaven we must again be born of water, cleansed by Christ's blood and sanctified by the Spirit.

Oh say does that star-spangled banner yet wave?

Last night I went to a play in the Provo Theater. The name of the play was "God for President" by Katherine Gee. I wasn't sure what to expect at all; I went into a very plain theater that did not gleam with promise. Some friends from church were there with me and we all sat down together. The play started and still I wasn't very impressed. At first it seemed to me like another political statement by just another typical college student, but then it grabbed my attention; something in the play hit close to home. In this play the actors gave several monologues many of which were true fragments of their personal stories. Some spoke of their conversion to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Others spoke of their experience as foreigners in the United States. All spoke of what meant the most to them and thus naturally I think the audience was connected to at least one of them. In a dramatic portion of the play, one of the characters sang "Amazing Grace". As she sang some of the other actors spouted out monologues. One spoke of a young woman's complaints on the U.S., this was contrasted by a foreign mother's love of America. Here, I got a lump in my throat and I began to see the picture clearly in my mind. This was perhaps my interpretation alone or it could have been the intent of the writer. As this actor portrayed this woman, my own story began to unfold on stage. This woman with broken English described why she loved America. Here she was free to help her family progress. Here her children would learn and grow in safety. Here she could prosper with her family. This is a God-created country. I do not say that God favors Americans, but I do say that He has established this land for a purpose. He has brought many to it's soil where they can find a haven for their families and where each has an opportunity to extend a loving hand to those not so blessed. As the Lord spoke to Peter He asked, "lovest thou me?" then His call to action "Feed my sheep". Peter both literally and symbolically was privileged to dine at the Lord's table and the Lord asked Him as He asks us "feed my sheep". During the play I felt so motivated to get involved and make a difference however large or small. There have been many through whom the Lord has answered my prayers and I wish to likewise feed the Lord's sheep and be an answer to someone's prayers.