Jacob and Sherem

Some things go out of fashion, and some things come back in. Fashion is always changing. What the world thinks is important or the new latest trend is always changing. Personally I can't keep up, (I can't watch or listen to anything not church related.) Now with everything that goes in and out of style, interestingly, it usually comes back in some form or another. Sometimes we make the grave mistake of thinking that God changes with the times.

" For do we not read that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and in him there is no variableness neither shadow of changing?" -Mormon 9:9

He does not.

Jacob the prophet, the man from the previous post, came up against a man who tried to say that Christ would not come. His name was Sherem. Sherem was a man who knew how to flatter anyone, and he was sneaky and deceptive. He didn't like the idea of having Jesus Christ come, because he didn't like responsibility and accountability that entailed. So he went around spread the word that their was no Christ and belief in such a being was a vain and foolish hope.

"And it came to pass that he began to preach among the people, and to declare unto them that there should be no Christ. And he preached many things which were flattering unto the people; and this he did that he might overthrow the doctrine of Christ." - Jacob 7:2

Now as y'all know from my last post, if you are keeping up;) Jacob, is a man with a testimony like fire! He knows we are all children of God and that Christ is his beloved and begotten son, sent to redeem mankind from sin. So needless to say, he and Sherem exchange some words...

"And it came to pass that he came unto me, and on this wise did he speak unto me, saying: Brother Jacob, I have sought much opportunity that I might speak unto you; for I have heard and also know that thou goest about much, preaching that which ye call the gospel, or the doctrine of Christ. 

And ye have led away much of this people that they pervert the right way of God, and keep not the law of Moses which is the right way; and convert the law of Moses into the worship of a being which ye say shall come many hundred years hence. And now behold, I, Sherem, declare unto you that this is blasphemy; for no man knoweth of such things; for he cannot tell of things to come. And after this manner did Sherem contend against me."-Jacob 7:6-7

And Jacob says:

"And I said unto him: Deniest thou the Christ who shall come?

 And he said: If there should be a Christ, I would not deny him; but I know that there is no Christ, neither has been, nor ever will be.

 

And I said unto him: Believest thou the scriptures? 

And he said, Yea.

And I said unto him: Then ye do not understand them; for they truly testify of Christ. Behold, I say unto you that none of the prophets have written, nor prophesied, save they have spoken concerning this Christ. And this is not all—it has been made manifest unto me, for I have heard and seen; and it also has been made manifest unto me by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, I know if there should be no atonement made all mankind must be lost." -Jacob 7:9-12

So what we have going on here is a battle of wits. Sherem thinks he has all the right answers. He says well, I'm not denying the Christ, because there isn't one. But Jacob's reply is do you read the scriptures? Do you believe them? They truly testify of Christ. 

Well with that kind of response, Sherem is a little stuck....so he responds with:

"And it came to pass that he said unto me: Show me a sign by this power of the Holy Ghost, in the which ye know so much."- Jacob 7:13

You Never Ask God To Show You A Sign...

To which Jacob responds...

"And I said unto him: What am I that I should tempt God to show unto thee a sign in the thing which thou knowest to be true? Yet thou wilt deny it, because thou art of the devil. Nevertheless, not my will be done; but if God shall smite thee, let that be a sign unto thee that he has power, both in heaven and in earth; and also, that Christ shall come. And thy will, O Lord, be done, and not mine. And it came to pass that when I, Jacob, had spoken these words, the power of the Lord came upon him, insomuch that he fell to the earth. And it came to pass that he was nourished for the space of many days."-Jacob 7: 14-15

So then, Sherem receives a sign...

Now, does this mean that everyone who does something God doesn't like is going to be struck dumb? No. However I do know, that we will be held accountable for what we do with our knowledge. God does not change, and neither do his ways. The things that are wrong will always be wrong, and the things that are right are always right and will always be right.

We are God's children, and he has has made it simple. "If ye love me, keep my commandments."-John 14:15

I know that as we follow God, we will be blessed to know of his love for us. This world is not the end, and he is preparing for us, mansions in heaven that we can't even dream of. We can be like Jacob who knew, or we can be like Sherem who thought he knew. In the end, who do you want to be?

Check out this video, which shares the story of a man searching to find God, and how he found Him.

http://www.mormonchannel.org/video/mormon-messages?v=3701964025001

Jacob, Defender of Morality and Rigtheousness

    I was engaged in an interesting conversation the other day, that focused on humanity and its values. We began by talking about the US Dollar. Why is the dollar worth a dollar? Why is it that for a piece of cloth with ink on it, I can go to McDonald's down the street and trade it for a big mac?

    It's because the dollar represents an amount of gold. The cloth money backs it up for the price of gold it represents. ( Stay with me, I promise this relates.) Gold only means something because we decided that it does. We as a human race decided that gold is worthwhile and we will give something in exchange for it.

    Now if we take that same analogy, but we change it just a little bit. What morals are important to our society? What has our society deemed worth it, and willing to trade? I must say as I look around it is not good. The world would have us think, that so many of things we see going on, are worthwhile and will bring us happiness, but just like the cloth representative of gold, the world's happiness doesn't last. As soon as you use your dollar to buy something, the dollar is gone, and what it has gotten you is temporary. They both do not last.

     Jacob in the Book of Mormon boldly speaks to his people on the evils in the world, and how the woman and children feel. he says:

"... It grieveth me that I must use so much boldness of speech concerning you, before your wives and your children, many of whose feelings are exceedingly tender and chaste and delicate before God, which thing is pleasing unto God..." -Jacob 2:7

Of their sins and transgressions he says:

"...I must do according to the strict commands of God, and tell you concerning your wickedness and abominations, in the presence of the pure in heart, and the broken heart, and under the glance of the piercing eye of the Almighty God. And now behold, my brethren, this is the word which I declare unto you, that many of you have begun to search for gold, and for silver, and for all manner of precious ores, in the which this land, which is a land of promise unto you and to your seed, doth abound most plentifully.

    And the hand of providence hath smiled upon you most pleasingly, that you have obtained many riches; and because some of you have obtained more abundantly than that of your brethren ye are lifted up in the pride of your hearts, and wear stiff necks and high heads because of the costliness of your apparel, and persecute your brethren because ye suppose that ye are better than they." -Jacob 2: 10,12-13

    Jacob as their prophet comes before them to tell them in other words, "You have committed sins and broken the hearts of your wives and children,and it all started because you were looking for things of value all in temporary places such as in gold and silver." Then he tells them do you think God will justify you for this? He will not. God asks "But before ye seek for riches, seek ye for the kingdom of God." - Jacob 2:18

   This is only the beginning. Seeking for riches was not what broke the hearts of the wives and children. This is what broke the hearts of the wives and children:

   "Behold, ye have done greater iniquities than the Lamanites, our brethren. Ye have broken the hearts of your tender wives, and lost the confidence of your children, because of your bad examples before them; and the sobbings of their hearts ascend up to God against you. And because of the strictness of the word of God, which cometh down against you, many hearts died, pierced with deep wounds." -Jacob 2:35

   What broke their hearts, was when riches became the focus. As the people began to focus more on riches and gaining temporal things, they lost sight of the gift of children, and marriage. They no longer found joy in gospel of Jesus Christ. They sought to have money and position, and by doing so lost the people most dear to them.

   I am not here to condemn the dollar. I don't condemn money, but as I look around the world today and I meet people and talk with them, and hear the burdens of their heart, I am just so sad. God gave us freedom to make our choices, but he also gave us the laws to follow in order to be happy. Rules and laws keep us safe and our freedom intact. Satan would have you believe it is the other way around.

  What would happen if we all just started trying a little harder to be a little better? To help those in need, and love those who need love? Morals are what build up a society. What is important to us becomes our value system. Don't we value the one who gave us life and all we have?

   I know that all though the world tries to bury us in filth, God lifts us out and by rising to his expectations, we can have true and everlasting, rather than fake and temporary happiness.

#ifollowhim

How do you follow Him?

http://www.mormonchannel.org/video/mormon-messages?v=1092112456001

Desirable Above All Other Fruit...

Due to the fact that I am a week behind, I decided to mix things up and start with a picture! The reason I chose this topic is because of the question we missionaries get asked so frequently:
 "Why are you out here sharing the gospel?"

This picture when given a first glance is probably kind of different. You have several different people all holding onto a rope or rod of some kind, some people are on the side by this giant building that pretty much looks like it's in the middle of the dessert somewhere; not to mention the glowing tree that everybody is going to at the end of the rope/rod thing people are holding onto.

Sister Allen, what are you even talking about?

Friends, family, and any others who read this blog, I give you the Tree of Life.

Let us turn to pg 14 in our Book of Mormons, starting in chapter 8:

"And it came to pass that while my father tarried in the wilderness he spake unto us, saying: Behold, I have dreamed a dream; or, in other words, I have seen a vision." - 1 Nephi 8:2

So to give a little background, Lehi is the father of Nephi, the very first prophet to write in the Book of Mormon. Lehi is a prophet, and has been told that he and his family need to leave their beloved homeland, because it is going to be destroyed due to the wickedness of the people. They live in Jerusalem. 

This part takes place after they have already left Jerusalem, and are traveling in the wilderness. Lehi tells his family he has had a dream or a vision, and the picture above is depicting his dream.

So Lehi begins to tell his family, which consists of his wife, and four sons, about the dream he has had. He starts it off by telling them, that he saw a man in a white robe who told him to follow, but as he followed, he became lost in what he calls a "dreary wasteland." 

I want you to stop and think for a minute. What is your dreary wasteland? We know who to follow, he has said come follow me, and yet sometimes we lose our way in the dreary wastelands. What does Lehi do when he comes to this dreary wasteland? What do you do?

"And after I had traveled for the space of many hours in darkness, I began to pray unto the Lord that he would have mercy on me, according to the multitude of his tender mercies." -1 Nephi 8:8

I love prayer. It is one of the most powerful tools we have. Stop and think for a moment, that the most powerful being in the universe has reserved a quiet and deeply personal communication between you and Him. Lehi finding himself alone, begins to pray. When we find ourselves in darkness, spiritual or other, do we turn to our God? Do we pray and ask for his help? Do we know how to have deep communication with our Father in Heaven and really talk to Him about how we feel?

Lehi finds solace in his prayer. 

"And it came to pass after I had prayed unto the Lord I beheld a large and spacious field. And it came to pass that I beheld a tree, whose fruit was desirable to make one happy." - 1 Nephi 8: 9-10

"And it came to pass that I did go forth and partake of the fruit thereof; and I beheld that it was most sweet, above all that I ever before tasted. Yea, and I beheld that the fruit thereof was white, to exceed all the whiteness that I had ever seen. And as I partook of the fruit thereof it filled my soul with exceedingly great joy; wherefore, I began to be desirous that my family should partake of it also; for I knew that it was desirable above all other fruit." - 1 Nephi 8: 11-12

You gotta love the scriptures. Look at the detail used to explain the tree and the fruit. Look at the wording used to describe how it tasted. I bolded and italicized some of the words that stuck out to me. I also love how after finding out how sweet the fruit tasted, the first thing he wanted to do was to share it with his family. That's what I would want to do! :) My family means the world to me, and if I found something that meant that much to me, oh yes, I would want to share it. Sharing is sometimes the sweetest part; when we get to watch someone else taste that delicious fruit as well. 

So maybe now you are starting to see where I am going with this. What gives us joy beyond anything else in this world? Really think about it, when you have been the happiest, why were you so happy? I can honestly tell you that the happiest I have ever been, is out here on my mission. Missions are hard! They are excruciatingly hard, people are not very nice sometimes, the weather doesn't always like you, people tear down your most cherished beliefs and things you hold sacred, you live with someone 24/7 that you hopefully like, when you just start getting things figured out you get moved, and you grow so close to people and watch them be so close and then they let it all go. 

Why in the world would anyone in their right mind, want to go on a mission?

Because of that fruit. That fruit is the reason. The fruit that bears the love of God, and his gospel that makes us all whole. Who of us, would not want to see the Savior? To live in His and the Father's presence once again? We all have that desire to be with Him, and feel of His love for us. There are many of us who struggle to find that fruit. The path to get there is long and hard, and full of those who will pull you away or mock you for trying. There is a rod of Iron. That is what will get us to the tree which bears the fruit we all so long for. The rod of Iron is the word of God. What He has given us to make it safely back to Him. 

So why am I a missionary? Because I wish to share the fruit that is Most Sweet, and fills us with Exceedingly Great Joy. 

I know that the gospel message that we share brings that joy, and leads to that fruit, and I say these things in the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen.

You like this story? Check out a talk by one of our church leaders:)

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2008/04/one-among-the-crowd?lang=eng&query=tree+of+life

The Prodigal Son Returns

 
   I named this post the prodigal son returns, because this is a story about another prodigal son. We know the story of the prodigal son in the New Testament. Jesus tells the parable of the prodigal son. I want to share a story in the Book of Mormon that is similar and sometimes very relate-able, at least to me it is.

  Meet Alma. Alma is strong! Confident! Handsome! Okay, you caught me, I don't actually know if he was handsome. This was about 100 years before Christ, in America, and lets face it, I wasn't there. :) However by reading the scriptures we get a feel for what kind of person Alma is. This Alma we will refer to as Alma the Elder, as he has a son who is also named Alma, but since he's young, he is called Alma the younger. Funny how they did it that way. To describe Alma the Elder, we will go to the scriptures:

  "Blessed art thou, Alma, and blessed are they who were baptized in the waters of Mormon. Thou art blessed because of thy exceeding faith in the words alone of my servant Abinadi. And blessed are they because of their exceeding faith in the words alone which thou hast spoken unto them. And blessed art thou because thou hast established a church among this people; and they shall be established, and they shall be my people.Yea, blessed is this people who are willing to bear my name; for in my name shall they be called; and they are mine. And because thou hast inquired of me concerning the transgressor, thou art blessed. Thou art my servant; and I covenant with thee that thou shalt have eternal life; and thou shalt serve me and go forth in my name, and shalt gather together my sheep." - Mosiah 26: 15-20

  So we come to find that Alma is blessed, he is obedient, he loves God, he is a hard worker, and he is promised by God that if he continues to be faithful, he will have eternal life. That is a pretty strong promise. Well Alma is pretty great, but he is not the prodigal son I am referring to... his son is.

Meet Alma the younger.

  "And also one of the sons of Alma was numbered among them, he being called Alma, after his father; nevertheless, he became a very wicked and an idolatrous man. And he was a man of many words, and did speak much flattery to the people; therefore he led many of the people to do after the manner of his iniquities. And he became a great hinderment to the prosperity of the church of God; stealing away the hearts of the people; causing much dissension among the people; giving a chance for the enemy of God to exercise his power over them." -Mosiah 27:8-9

  So we can definitely see some differences. Alma the younger does not want to be like his father. He is a little rebellious, and he wants to be his own person, he doesn't want to be held back by rules and boundaries.

  How many of us are like him? How many of us see the rules as restraints that block and interfere with our freedom? How many of us have been in fights with our parents because they were trying to keep us safe, but we thought they were restricting our fun? I know I have. I'll be the first to admit I have been in younger Alma's shoes. I have felt a little rebellious and did things I knew I shouldn't.

How does younger Alma, return back to God, or does he even return? Well, he needed a little bit of help, let us read what he encounters.

  So lets imagine you are maybe walking home from school, or maybe work or something. As you are walking, (keep in mind you have been going around doing bad things and wreaking havoc) you see an angel of God, and this what he says to you, imagine him speaking with a voice like thunder:

  "Alma, arise and stand forth, for why persecutest thou the church of God? For the Lord hath said: This is my church, and I will establish it; and nothing shall overthrow it, save it is the transgression of my people. And again, the angel said: Behold, the Lord hath heard the prayers of his people, and also the prayers of his servant, Alma, who is thy father; for he has prayed with much faith concerning thee that thou mightest be brought to the knowledge of the truth; therefore, for this purpose have I come to convince thee of the power and authority of God, that the prayers of his servants might be answered according to their faith. And now behold, can ye dispute the power of God? For behold, doth not my voice shake the earth? And can ye not also behold me before you? And I am sent from God." - Mosiah 27:13-15

  As I try to picture this in my head, I know what I would be doing. I would probably be on the ground crying. I would be scared, and I would be feeling horrifically guilty. There is nothing like an angel of God coming to tell you to repent because the Lord had heard your father's prayers.

Well with an eye opening experience like that, you have to wonder how Alma the younger took it...

But, I'm not going to tell you yet. :) I'll tell you next week in my next blog post. Gotta keep you in suspense sometimes.

Has anyone ever had experiences like this? Maybe not an angel, but an eye-opening experience? One you would like to share? Please feel free to post your comments below and share your experiences and how you came to know God cares, then we will find out what happened to Alma. :)

I want to thank you all for your support. I know I probably get much more out this than any of my readers do, but this is something I thoroughly enjoy. I hope some of you get something out of it. I do.

Have a wonderful week, and watch for the tender mercies of the Lord. Until next time!

-Sister Allen:)

Why She Read The Book of Mormon

Hi I'm Brooke, and I'm so excited that Sister Allen invited me to be a guest on her blog today! I'm a member of the ward that she is serving in- or congregation, if you aren't a Latter-Day Saint and so the word ward only means "mental hospital" to you. :) 

I thought that since Sister Allen is always sharing stories from The Book of Mormon on here, that today I would talk about why I read it. 

As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, we talk a lot about The Book of Mormon. Like, a whole lot. And we try to explain to those not of our faith just how powerful and life-changing it is. I gave a copy of it to someone a few weeks ago and I told him that reading it every day has changed my life. And it has. 

But sometimes I wonder if maybe people don't really understand why that is. 

I know I didn't always. 

I think that maybe for someone who's never read it and has no idea what it's about, when they get a Book of Mormon and are told what an amazing thing it will be for them, they might then open it up to the first page and read "I, Nephi, having been born of goodly parents...." and then think, "Wait, what?" 

Because sometimes I wonder if people are expecting something different. Like the mysteries of God laid out in plain view from page one. And I think that sometimes even those of us who grow up in the church don't always get it. After all the hype, we want to crack open the cover and see light pouring out but instead what we get is much more subtle. 

But what I've learned is that that is part of it's beauty. 

Because the mysteries of God ARE there.

And things I never thought I could know about the Savior's Atonement and His great love for me, are all there. 

But in order to find them, I have to be looking. I have to read it every day with the intention of being taught. And I'm taught through the lives of other people, who's lives on this earth happened long before mine, but who were just as real as I am. And by reading about their lives, and their struggles, and their faith in Jesus Christ, I learn so much about my own life. Because even though their lives looked different than mine, so much about them is the same. And by trying to learn from their mistakes, and strengthen my faith by remembering theirs, I become better. I'm stronger. I'm happier. And I feel a security about my life that I wouldn't have otherwise. 

Right on its cover The Book of Mormon says "Another Testament of Jesus Christ". And I have come to know that that's exactly what it is. My very favorite Book of Mormon scripture is Jacob 4:4, because one day when I read it, after reading it countless times throughout my life and never really noticing it before, it hit me that the things I was reading about really did happen. The people who wrote this book really did live, and they wrote about their experiences and the things that they knew, so that someday others could read it and know those same things. 

The scripture says "For, for this intent have we written these things, that they may know that we knew of Christ, and we had a hope of his glory many hundred years before his coming; and not only we ourselves had a hope of his glory, but also all the holy prophets which were before us." -Jacob 4:4

I know that this book exists to bring us closer to Christ. That God commanded prophets on this side of the world to write what they knew about Jesus Christ, just like He commanded the prophets of the Bible to write. And the fact that it exists is more proof to me of God's love for us. By reading it I come to know the Savior better, and learn how I can be more like Him. So that someday, as the prophet John in the Bible says, and the prophet Moroni in the Book of Mormon, I will "be like him" and will "see him as he is". 

That's why I read The Book of Mormon. 

The Very Last Lonely One.

I want to thank my beloved companion, Sister Elliott for her lovely post about her family. :) I appreciate her guest blogging for me:) in a couple of weeks I have asked a sister from our congregation to also guest blog. I find that hearing what others write helps me have a broader prospective. If there is ever something you would like me to write a blog post on, a question you have or something you want to know more about, I would love more ideas and any and all questions.:) Please don't hesitate to ask, this blog is meant to be interactive!

Today I wanted to focus a character named Moroni, no not the Moroni in the last couple of posts, though they are both amazing.:)

I don't know about any of you, but sometimes life gets me feeling down. Even being a missionary, life has its ups and downs. I know that personally this week has been a struggle. (sidenote: missionaries only think about time in a span of weeks because so much happens in a week it feels like a month!) Missionaries have hard days too, the difference is we can't go to our normal "feel better" things. For instance, missionaries can't watch Disney movies. For those of you who know me well, you know this one of my "feel better" things. When we have rough days, we just gotta keep trucking and as my grandma says "put one little footie wootie in front of the other little footie wootie and your little body wadi will follow." A fun saying that has actually helped me get through quite a bit.

When I am feeling alone or sad, I have always been told to go to my scriptures. I want to share with those of you who have ever felt alone or sad, or like you just can't do it anymore, the story of Moroni, the son of Mormon.

The very first verse in Moroni starts like this:

"Now I, Moroni, after having made an end of abridging the account of the people of Jared, I had supposed not to have written more, but I have not as yet perished; and I make not myself known to the Lamanites lest they should destroy me."-Moroni 1:1

In other words, he thought he wouldn't live this long, but since he is still alive he figures he will write some more.

Moroni's father was Mormon, who abridged the Book of Mormon (go figure from its name...) He and his father are descended from the people of the previous posts. After the wars that had been going on, the people had turned their hearts back to God for a time, but ultimately they forsook God and His commandments. After some time of the prophets trying to get them back on the right course, the people became so wicked they began killing all the righteous people until only Mormon, and his son were left.

"For behold, their wars are exceedingly fierce among themselves; and because of their hatred they put to death every Nephite that will not deny the Christ. And I, Moroni, will not deny the Christ; wherefore, I wander whithersoever I can for the safety of mine own life." -Moroni 1:2-3

Talk about lonely.

To make matters worse, Mormon, Moroni's father and only living relative and confident is also killed. So Moroni is completely and totally alone.

However at this hour of his greatest need, and most lonely time, he finds solace in the words of scripture and in the Lord, God.

"Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen." -Moroni 7:48

Throughout the scriptures he shows compete devotion to Christ.

"Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God" -Moroni 10:32

and last but not least, his very last words to us are:

"And now I bid unto all, farewell. I soon go to rest in the paradise of God, until my spirit and body shall again reunite, and I am brought forth triumphant through the air, to meet you before the pleasing bar of the great Jehovah, the Eternal Judge of both quick and dead. Amen"- Moroni 10:34

Moroni cannot be saddened by the things that happen in this life, because he knows what awaits him at the end of this life. He knows that he has been a good and faithful servant.

I try to remember when the ways of the world make me sad, that I can rise above. I am a daughter of God and I have a divine heritage. I know that if I do my best in this life, it will be for my good in the life to come. At the end of my life, I wish also to say in the words of Moroni, " I soon go to rest in the paradise of God, until my spirit and body shall again reunite, and I am brought forth triumphant through the air, to meet you before the pleasing bar of the great Jehovah, the Eternal Judge of both quick and dead. Amen"

I know we all can, and I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

GUEST BLOGGER: Bonds that can never be broken

Well, hello all! This is Sister Elliott and today Sister Allen has asked me to share some of my thoughts with y'all.

Sister Allen is an amazing storyteller, so I would not even want to attempt to continue where she left off in the ongoing saga that is the Book of Mormon. Quite simply, I will do my own thing and talk about something very near and dear to my heart.....my family.

This seems like somewhat of an odd topic, but I swear that there is relevance.

Now, my family. Honestly I could talk about them for hours on end, I really could. However, I will keep it fairly short and condensed for times sake.

I am the 4th of 7 kids. Yup, I come from one of those huge Mormon families you hear about. I have a mom a dad, 3 brothers and 3 sisters, a brother-on-law, a sister-in-law, 3 nephews, 4 nieces (with a 5th due in September), two cats and a dog. It gets pretty crazy when we are all together. But, looking back, I wouldn't change it for anything in the world.

I was the youngest child for the first 6 years of my life. Life was great being the youngest, honestly, it was pretty much perfect in my eyes, but my parents told us that a new baby was going to be joining our family....a few months later we got a surprise and found out my mom was having twins! God seriously has a sense of humor :) I went from being the baby, to having two new babies around. Needless to say, I was not completely over joyed with this change in the status quo. This change was to be compounded when my baby sister was born 2.5 years later.

After that, all the attention was on my younger siblings (who needed help) or my older siblings (who were getting involved in high school things), I was pretty much left to my own devices. Some days it was fun, but more often than not it was lonely. I'll be honest and say I hated growing up in a big family, I didn't like having all those siblings.

When I was in high school our family started getting bigger. My older siblings were moving out of the house, getting married and having children. Now, this was all good, since that meant I was given the title of "Auntie" and got to do all the fun things that go with that (yeah, I am one of those cool, fun aunts). Now, this meant I was the oldest at home, which was fine, but it just meant everything was that much more crazy. At times it was overwhelming, but good.

I went away to college and didn't really miss anyone. I actually would get in trouble for not calling home and letting my parents know I was alive (on average it was about 3-4 weeks between calls). I stayed out at college for almost 2 years straight (I came home for about 2 weeks at Christmastime), and still didn't quite miss everyone. However, as I drove home for the summer, I started getting excited as I started recognizing my surroundings. The closer I got to home and my family the worse my lead foot got ;) 

My time away from my family taught me a lot of things. One of the most important was that I truly loved my family. I loved them and missed them and being away from them was hard. As a child I may not have liked having all those siblings, but as an adult I wouldn't want to have been raised in any other environment.

But the most important thing I learned was how blessed I am to have the knowledge that my family is an eternal family, I can and will be with them through the eternities; death will not separate us.

Ecclesiastes 3:14 says:
"I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be forever"

As a member of the LDS church, I am blessed with the knowledge that this includes marriage and families. Peter was given the power to seal things on earth and in heaven, as was Elijah and Nephi. Marriage is ordained of God and is one of those things that can be sealed on earth and in heaven.

Such wonderous knowledge this is. It does not have to be "till death do us part". Instead it can and ought to be "for time and all eternity". This kind of marriage, an eternal marriage in the temple is what my parents have. Because of this I know that because of the sealing power, which has been restored to the earth, I will live with my family again. I will someday be sealed to a man for time and all eternity and together we will have the opportunity of having an eternal family, never to be torn asunder by death.

In the temple we are able to make bonds that are truly unbreakable. This is the future I want, the one I know I will be able to have. The family I currently have, and the one I someday will have, the family I love so much will always be mine.

"I have a family here on earth
They are so good to me
I want to share my life with them through all
eternity.

Families can be together forever
Through Heavenly Father's plan
I always want to be with my own family
And the Lord has shown me how I can
The Lord has shown me how I can

While I am in my early years
I'll prepare most carefully
So I can marry in God's temple for eternity

Families can be together forever
Through Heavenly Father's plan
I always want to be with my own family
And the Lord has shown me how I can
The Lord has shown me how I can

"Families can be together forever" Children's songbook pg 188

I know that I can and will be with my family forever, and it is something that God wants for all of His children. He does not want us to be singular and alone. We were sent here in families and in families is how He wants us to be through the eternities.  I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

The Seattle Washington temple, where my parents were sealed for time and all eternity :)