Patience

Patience is a virtue   

   When I was in high school, all of my friends had personal cellphones. I would see them texting and playing their online games. I have always wanted a cellphone, ever since I was back in Guatemala I had a cousin in my school called Diego and I saw how he had a phone. I would tell my parents all the time that I wanted a phone, "I want an iPhone, I want a smart phone." My father and mother would just say "later, when you are older you can get one." One day my dad even offered an old phone he used to use to give it to me! But for me it was not good enough. At the time everybody had iPhones, they where all touch screens, and all could play games. People would ask me for my number and I could not give it to them since I did not have a cellphone. When my 10th year in school ended I took a job as a lifeguard, with a goal that I would save up enough money to buy the iPhone 4. Now there was only one problem, I did not want to get a contract so that means I would have to buy the phone at full price, and I also wanted a really strong good case. In the end I knew that getting a phone was gonna be even harder. My job as a lifeguard payed me $6.55 per hour, but after 100 hours my pay would go up $0.50 and after my 100 hours it would keep going up every 50 hours. So I worked a lot my first summer, from 10:15 am all the way down to 9:00pm almost everyday. I took people's shifts and I would buy my own food, and when I would get home I would just crash at my bed. Even the few days I only worked for 4 hours, I would get home around 3:00 pm and would take a nap and the next day I would wake up scared that I would be late for the next day. The sun would burn my skin and make me extra tan, and no matter how many hours I would leave my water bottle in the freezer it would be hot by the end of the day. Eventually I had about $900 in the the bank. So I told my mom to drive me to a store, and the total price of the phone with the case and protective shield for my screen, came out around $750 plus another $35 to start paying for the month. I was excited to receive it, I felt proud of myself. This experience later helped me on my life, when the phone I had as a lifeguard got destroyed, I worked with my dad at his job helping a lady out, and after a couple of weeks I was able to buy the iPhone 4s. Patience played a lot in this story, if I would have just accepted the phone my parents wanted to give me, I would have never learned to work hard to get what you want in life. There is a quote that I enjoy from president Thomas S. Monson that says

   

          

“Life is full of difficulties, some minor and others of a more serious nature. There seems to be an unending supply of challenges for one and all. Our problem is that we often expect instantaneous solutions to such challenges, forgetting that frequently the heavenly virtue of patience is required.”

–President Thomas S. Monson

     “Patience--a Heavenly Virtue,” Ensign, Nov. 1995, 59

                      In the Book of Mormon, on Mosiah 23:21 it says "Nevertheless the Lord seeth fit to chasten his people; yea, he trieth their patience and their faith." In that scripture we must learn how to accept God's timing. Even if we don't believe in a God we must accept the timing of certain things. 

In the Bible on the Book of Job, we see a great example of patience with God's timing. After he lost everything including his children he said:

"Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord."

               - Job 1:21

Job had hope that if he remained faithful to God he would be bless, and that is exactly what happen. Later he recived many more blessings, double of what he had and he forever remained grateful.

"Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience.

Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy."

James 5:10-11

Yes, patience could give you stress but at the same time it can help you with stress. When I was trying to get my driver's license, my instructor was really rude and hard on every detail. He would be insulting and he would make you feel bad. But instead of me talking back I just drove and tried my best, even after he told me I was not gonna pass, even after he called me an idiot, I just shook it off and had hope and faith that I would pass. My patience was tested, and on the last exam after I passed the driving test, I surprised him wi how well I did and for the first time he gave me a compliment of how well I drove. Because of that experience my patience grew and has helped me a lot in other expiriances.

When you think about it, we need patience everyday. There is a promise about patience in the Book of Mormon in Alma 32:41-43 "But if ye will nourish the word, yea, nourish the tree as it beginneth to grow, by your faith with great diligence, and with patience, looking forward to the fruit thereof, it shall take root; and behold it shall be a tree springing up unto everlasting life.

And because of your diligence and your faith and your patience with the word in nourishing it, that it may take root in you, behold, by and by ye shall pluck the fruit thereof, which is most precious, which is sweet above all that is sweet, and which is white above all that is white, yea, and pure above all that is pure; and ye shall feast upon this fruit even until ye are filled, that ye hunger not, neither shall ye thirst.

Then, my brethren, ye shall reap the rewards of your faith, and your diligence, and patience, and long-suffering, waiting for the tree to bring forth fruit unto you." 

You need patience in your everyday experiences and relationships, especially with yourself. Marriage without patience would destroy thousands of families. To love somebody, even yourself you must have patience. Even when it's hard or seems impossible, it is possible we can accomplish it. 

Patience also helps us overcome our faults and weaknesses 

"And now my beloved brethren, I would exhort you to have patience, and that ye bear with all manner of afflictions; that ye do not revile against those who do cast you out because of your exceeding poverty, lest ye become sinners like unto them;

But that ye have patience, and bear with those afflictions, with a firm hope that ye shall one day rest from all your afflictions." Alma 34:40-41

"And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;

And patience, experience; and experience, hope:

And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us." Romans 5:3-5 

As a missionary I had to exercise a lot of patience with my companions. I used to have a companion who enjoyed doing missionary work his own way. His ideas were the only ideas we could use, and even when he tried to include me or help plan out. It never become our vision, only his. Now he had really good ideas, and was always ecxited about missionary work, and I was always agreeing with him. Att times I felt frustrated and irritated and left out, but I kept showing patience and did what he told me to do. It got to a point where I was about to snap, I knew my patience could not longer be pulled. So I prayed and prayed and after a couple of weeks I knew what to do. It was time for me to help him with his patience. The next day he asked me to do a chore, and I respectfully declined, he would get annoyed and frustrated and he would write angry emails about me on how he wanted me to become like him. He would ask me about an idea and I would respectfully give him my opinion and disagree with him. Again he would get annoyed and frustrated, and it keeped going for quite some time, until eventually our last week together, he told me I was a really good missionary and how I had great patience with him. Later he become a trainer and witnessed many baptisms. That experience helped us both overcome our faults and weaknesses, he helped me learn to stand up for my self and my ideas and with patience. And I helped him become a trainer and have patience and be a good leader to others. I promise you that if we grow our patience we will grow ourselves and others. Without it, families, communities and countries would be destroyed. 

Goals

Without a vision, we are left to wonder.

   

 It was my high school year when my parents decided to put me on the swim team. I swam all my life, ever since I was little in Guatemala, swimming has always been one of my strongest sports. However in the swim team in high school, I did not take the sport seriously. The swim team would practice, in the morning around 5:00 am, until 7:00 pm, and then we would have an afternoon class starting at 3:00 pm until 5:00 pm. For me at the time, I was less than exited to wake up extra early in the morning to go swim and then spend the rest of my time at school and then again go to practice for another 2 hours. However I decided to go to the afternoon practice instead, this being my first year in the high school team, I started off being in the first lane where all the new swimmers meet. However I was faster than them, and I would watch them struggle to try to keep up with me. I would often hear the other swimmers talk about, how much they want their time to drop, and how exited they where for competitions against the other schools. But for me, I could honestly care less. My coach would encourage me to come to the morning class from time to time, but I never did. 

It got to the point where I would not socialize fully with the swim team, I would wear my jacket showing I was part of the team, but only for bragging about it. After a couple of weeks, I started to notice something interesting, the other swimmers seemed less tired, and more energetic. After a few months, a lot would pass me, leaving me behind and some even moved up lanes to be with the fastest swimmers in the school. I was angry with them, wondering why they have gotten faster, if I been swimming longer. Eventually I was left in the first lane with only 3 other swimmers, who also would come to practice from time to time. And I saw the other swimmers, be with the fastest ones at school. And after a swim competition, my coach would tell me, he was not even paying attention to how I was swimming. Later on, my mother took me out of the swim team. And I left with the feeling that I never even joined. 

Another similar situation happen to me, when I first applied to what would be my first job. It was almost summer, and I was turning 16 years old. My father suggested me to become a lifeguard at a water park called, Seven Peaks in Provo Utah. I was super excited. I always wanted to be a lifeguard, and I could imagine myself being one. When I first got interviewed I wore my best clothes, washed my face, practiced, and showed up early. The interview went great, and I got asked to join a class where I would learn how to do CPR and use equipment and do the swim test. I said I would join the class, and about a week later I found out the classes where one week, from 3:15 pm to 7:45 pm. Basically the swimming part of the exam was a peace of cake since I was on the swim team, and I ended up being one of the first to finish it. However the written exam was a struggle for me. We got two chances for each test, and there was three tests in total. I was never good with tests, and unfortunately, I failed all of them in my first try. Me being disappointed in myself, I went on the last day to try to retake them. I studied and studied and marked as much as I could, I prayed and tried to find any way to help me pass those test. I wanted to become a lifeguard, and that was my main focus. I went and took the first exam, and passed! Then I had a small break, and during that break I had other people helping me study for the next one. I took the second one and passed. I was excited, but the third one was the hardest, so I studied even more. I took it and just had enough points to pass. I was proud of myself, I felt accomplish and I took the job proudly. I even worked there the following summer and managed to save a couple of lives. 

            

 So what changed in those two situations? 

In my experience with the swim team, I had no goal or no vision, and with me being a lifeguard, I had the exact opposite attitude. So what are your goals in life? Do you have a vision for yourself in the future? Why are goals so important in our lives? 

    Goals helps us become what we want to be

   It's true not all goals will be achievable, but that's why we need to make realistic goals, and we won't know if we'll succeed unless we try. I had a couple of friends at school during my high school year, that could care less about going to collage and all they wanted was to just finish high school. Unfortunately many of them now are in a dead end job where the money they earn pales in comparison compared to the money they would have earned if they would have gone to college. 

To get the most succes out of our lives we need to set those goals and have a vision of who we want to become. Vision leads to action, and without a disire, we will only stay in the same spot until we die. Goals can also have the most disappointment in our lives, but that's why we learn from our mistakes. 

  There is a story would like to share by Elder Ballard 

    "Fifty-eight years ago I was asked to operate upon a little girl, gravely ill from congenital heart disease. Her older brother had previously died of a similar condition. Her parents pleaded for help. I was not optimistic about the outcome but vowed to do all in my power to save her life.

Despite my best efforts, the child died. Later, the same parents brought another daughter to me, then just 16 months old, also born with a malformed heart. Again, at their request, I performed an operation. This child also died. This third heartbreaking loss in one family literally undid me.

I went home grief stricken. I threw myself upon our living room floor and cried all night long. Dantzel stayed by my side, listening as I repeatedly declared that I would never perform another heart operation. Then, around 5:00 in the morning, Dantzel looked at me and lovingly asked, “Are you finished crying? Then get dressed. Go back to the lab. Go to work! You need to learn more. If you quit now, others will have to painfully learn what you already know.”

Oh, how I needed my wife’s vision, grit, and love! I went back to work and learned more. If it weren’t for Dantzel’s inspired prodding, I would not have pursued open-heart surgery and would not have been prepared to do the operation in 1972 that saved the life of President Spencer W. Kimball."

Elder Russell M Nelson 

   We all had that vision as kids, we all wanted to be a firefighter or an astronaut, and then we grew and our hopes for some of us changed. Let's not give up, and let's try our best because if we do, then we will know how far we can really get in life. 

Prophets- Family Councilors from the Lord

                          What picture comes to mind when you think of the word "Prophets"? Old bearded men in robes, kindly pastors, or lightning bringers? Maybe something like this?

Would you consider going to someone like this for family advice?

                    Our Heavenly Father has organized the human race into family units. Our family will be the source of some of the greatest joy we will feel in our lives. That isn't to say that the they will be without their problems, but they have been divinely ordained to be the means through which we can grow and learn in a loving environment. 

                    There is safety in numbers. Since the beginning of time humans have found shared ideals and joined into societies and countries. At the foundation of every strong society there have been strong families. Happy families and peaceful societies are ideals, and despite the reality of trials in life they are achievable ideals. So how can we achieve this? We are ruled by simple laws of cause and effect. It is easy to determine some of them such as gravity because the effects from it are so immediate. It is more difficult to determine others such as the proper way to raise a child because it isn't until they are older that we see what worked.
 

                   To teach the harder-to-distinguish principles of happiness, The Lord provided two means of communication for us. The most readily accessible of the two is the Holy Ghost. Everyone has the potential to receive direction from the Holy Ghost if they will be humble and receptive to his inspiration. Consider the following verse:
                   "But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you." (John 14:26)
                   If you have a concern or question you can pray to our Father for guidance and He promises to provide it. The answers we receive from the Holy Ghost are firm, but gentle. Unfortunately, due to our nature of being "hard of heart"(Mark 10:5) we often miss those subtle promptings of the Holy Ghost. We shake off those little feelings and try to do things "our way" instead of the Lord's way. Our Father in Heaven knew we would need a plain and simple way to receive undeniable instructions from him and so he provided us with prophets.

                  This following verse,  found in Deuteronomy, is specifically about Jesus Christ, but it is instructive to help us understand what makes prophets special:
                  "I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him" (Deut 18:18)
                  Prophets such as Moses, Abraham, and the 12 apostles are unique for the simple reason that they were chosen by God to be his mouth-piece. No one can simply choose to be a prophet; they need to receive that authority from the Father. (Heb 5:4). Prophets are righteous men who have developed great faith and follow the promptings of the Holy Ghost. They record scripture as dictated to them from God and teach the gospel to the world.

                    The Lord has always worked through his chosen servants and he continues to do so. (Amos 3:7). So how do we learn from the prophets? In biblical times, a prophet might travel from city to city or write epistles to the believers scattered thought the world. In our day, The Lord has instructed that twice a year, the Church should gather and hold a meeting for the world to learn from the prophets. This meeting is called General Conference. The most recent general conference (as of this post) occurred in the first week of October, but don't worry! Thanks to modern technology, we have the privilege of watching it over and over again! I will include a link to general conference at the end of this post, But before you run off to learn from messengers of the Lord I want to explain a few final things.
                      I started by talking about families. The reason for this is because prophets were not sent for any one country or type of religion or people. Everything God gives us is to strengthen the family. I testify that our Father in Heaven knows about the things that trouble us. He knows our fears and needs.  He has prepared the prophets to speak words of comfort and council.

                      In order to take advantage of this blessing I want to give a couple suggestion that will help you get as much as you can from this conference. The first suggestion is this; come with a question.

         For example
https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2014-10-1020-ryan?lang=eng&category=topics/revelation&cid=HP_FR_9-18-2015_dPTH_fMLIB_xLIDyI-1_

                     Come with a question and actively seek your answers and you will find them. The second suggestion is after you have found your answer, pray to our Heavenly Father to confirm the answers through the Holy Ghost. You will know you have come to the right conclusion when you feel the Fruits of the Spirit "love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance" (Galatians5:22-23).

                     The link below will take you to the conference which took place over the space of three days. While I would encourage you to watch all the sessions you can also make your search for answers more specific by clicking on "Topics" which will help to narrow down your search. The talks sometimes have jargon unique to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, if you are ever confused by anything please leave a comment or message and we will try our best to answer and clarify.

           Come with an open mind and a humble heart and learn from the Lord's chosen servants

                                               ~~October 2015 General Conference~~
                      https://www.lds.org/general-conference/sessions/2015/10?lang=eng

The Little things in life

As we grow up, those little moments and fears become who we are. 

    There are a lot of moments in our life that create a change in the way we view things or see them, it can even affect our actions. Sometimes the smallest moments can make the biggest differences. 

When I was younger around my junior high years, my father and mother decided for read the scriptures as a family. At first for me it was pretty uninteresting, at the moment i would think it was a waste of time. Yet my parents would still read the Book of Mormon and the bible. That small moment where I would not even join every day, helped me understand more about the doctrine of Christ, as well as helping me connect with God. Now I love the scriptures, and I want to do the same with my family. Something as missionary I learned to do, was to just do simple nice things with the companions I serve with. Like cooking them breakfast or ironing their shirts, it really just made our day more edifying every time I did it. Yes it is true that a lot of times we forget those small moments in life, but we only forget if we chose to forget them.

    

 

       

    

    Doing simple activities of service and love can really impact our own lives or somebody else's. For example helping the poor, that can change the way our lives are, we can have more love toward other people. When we where children, we can probably remember our saddest childhood story, and it's probably something we cannot forget. But how about the happiest childhood memory? Can we think of one? When somebody showed us love or when we received help when we thought nobody would?

What if we do nice things to others to just give them a better day? I remember once when I was a kid in Guatemala, how me and my cousins from my fathers side of the family, would always playground, either outside or inside. Eventually when I moved to Utah, those memories still existed, and when I returned after 9 years, I could still remember those little memories, and I still saw my cousins as my best friends. 

       

     I remember when I was a child I told myself I was going to pray every night to God. The first time I did it, I sleept well and because of that small action I pray every night before I go to sleep. Sometimes we want to have huge memories, like going to parties or doing somehting completely insane, and when I was in high school everybody else wanted to accomplish something crazy so that they can remember it for the rest of their lives. But are those memories really necessary? I can be honest I remember more the times when I went camping with my family, than spending time at the pool with my friends. Let's make memories the right way, let's make them something that we are proud for doing. Yes we can have fun with our friends but let's also make memories with our families otherwise when they are gone, we will be full of regret. My father also once shared me a story when he was on a mission in Guatemala. He said he once saw a boy and him and his companion walked up to him and asked "are you a member of the church of Jesus Christ of latter day saints?" The boy then answered "no" then they asked him "do you want to become a member of the church of Jesus Christ of latter day saints?" He boy then said "yes". My fathers companion then looked at him and asked him "should I just baptize him in the river?" And my father told him "no we don't have his parents permission." Instead they gave him a blessing, telling him that when he gets older he will find the church again.  Years later after he came home and lived in Texas his companion sent him a message reminding him of that story. And because of that small little action he was able to remember the joy he felt on the mission. He then sent me this picture. 

                      

      Let us slow down our fast moving life, and let us enjoy the small peaceful moments we have, and if we do, then our lives will be more at peace. Let's try to be good people, let's be kind, let's help others and those memories will always make us smile when we look back at them. 

Enjoy the videos :)

    

    

      

    

                                                                                   

Love and Charity to others

Without love and charity we are nothing 

    

      What exactly is love? What exactly is charity? These two words have a great impact with society ever since humanity ever started. Charity can take many forms and love can be viewed many different ways. One idea most of us can agree on is that love is a deep feeling or care we have for someone. For example I know my parents love me, since they made time for me and with that they also had charity since they would always have food on the table and always giving me advice for the problems I was currently having or that will lay ahead in the future. You could say that sexual preferences or feelings is love, and it can be but do we really care about that person? Or have those sexual feelings or preferences become meaningless? Now charity is more of an act of service, giving to the poor or helping out a friend. Many of us have expirianced love and charity from someone, they honestly go together, if we have no love then how can we expect to give charity to others? And if we have love and give no charity then why even love at all? As a missionary many families have told me stories that impacted their life. One of them is about a family that lived in Colombia. A lady told me that when her and her brothers where children how there was always food on the table even when their father or mother did not make much money. They also noticed how there was this neighbor who would always slide a plate full of food under their door. And how their mother would split the food for each of her children and she would starve herself so that her own children could eat and enjoy the food. She told me one day how she would see her mom crying looking sad and lonely. And when she would ask what's wrong her mother would say "nothing things will get better". She did not understand at the time what was going on, but now she does and is thankful for the love and charity her mom did to raise all her kids. So why do we need love and charity? Why is it a big part for the plan of eternal happiness? 

      It's very simple, it just leads to a happier, more positive life.  

  It is almost natural that when people love you, and do nice charitable things, you would want to do the same. As a Missiomary you get to see a lot of other young ministers personalities. One of those personalities is from Elder Kemp, who right when I first got to a new area, he welcomed me with a warm handshake and gave me some tips and ideas of what I was going to expect. He was honestly friends with all the other missionaries, never did he say anything bad about someone or made you feel un welcomed. That made us just love him more, just because he had love and charity towards others. I also had an expirianced once, when me and my current companion Elder Prado, on a preparation day as we where emailing our families, a handicap boy invited us to play basketball. So we played with him and so did other elders, and that made his day and seeing him happy made us feel good about ourselves. And now we are some of his best friends at church. Everybody wants more friends and more people that don't have a hostile feeling towards us. In fact I can tell you, that a lot of the other young ministers that I am friends with is because they had that love and charity towards me and other people. 

Sometimes I have to admit it's hard to love or have charity towards somebody who just does you wrong or who you just can't stand. It could be because of their personality, actions, past history, or issues. I also have this problem, and when somebody doesn't cooperate or let you decide on your own, it can be very difficult to love that person or have charity towards them. I had friends, acquaintances and companions where charity and love is just something you don't want to bring out. During my junior high school years, I had a "friend" who would talk to me and give me some advice. At first I saw him as a friend, however I started to notice that when others where around he would just make rude jokes about me. I just wanted to be nice, I would not say anything and just take it and move on. For 2 school years I feel in that cycle, where he would pretend to be my friend and then pretend not to be my friend. On my 9th grade year I decided to just ignore him, I would avoid him as much as possible, yet he would always try to find me and we'll be around me. However I started to notice he did not have many friends, people would make fun of him a lot, and he seemed alone. Around my 10th grade year in high school he decided to follow a girl that he liked and go to her high school. I still remember the last time I saw him, how I regretted ever being his friend, but I never told him how I really felt, unfortunately my anger towards him stayed. Towards my senior year when I moved to Texas, he added me on Facebook, I then told him in a comment that I never appreciated what he did and I called him some pretty rude names. He tried to explain how we where still friends but instead I ignored him and never talked to him again. Some time after that I can now see I am not even as good as a person he was since I also made him feel bad. People say you can't love everyone, especially those who have done you wrong, they also think that pretending that they don't exist is also okay. I am here to tell you, you can love those who have done you harm in the past. Why be filled with hate towards that person? If it's in the past well it's in the past you can't change it. And if it's in the presence well at least we can change the presence we can learn to love and have charity and if we pretend that they don't exist then where is the charity? There is a scripture in the New Testament of the bible in Luke 6:37 "Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven". 

         

 

 

      The world would just be a happier place of charity and love where given by every person, I had a companion in Winston Salem on my mission ministry named elder Flores. He once told me a story of a young teenager that wanted to commit suicide. He prayed and asked God "if you are really there and care about me, then tomorrow make at least one person look at me and smile, and I promise I won't jump off the bridge." As he arose in the morning, but his parents where busy and his sister would not even look at him. During school nobody talked to him, the teachers did not even pay him attention. He then started to walk towards a very high bridge, and underneath was pure concrete. As he stared down thinking how he would jump. A man then all of the sudden bumped into his shoulder, and as he turned around to see him, the man smiled and said "oh sorry" and walked away. 

   What if we all smiled at each other? Even if it was a fake smile, it still shows happiness and love towards another person. Haven't we all wished for mercy for the mistakes we make? We all have to make changes in our life, let us not push away others or secretly envy another person. If I could go back towards my high school years or even when I was younger, I wished I could have changed and become more full of love and charity. 

Jesus Christ, Ghandi and Buddha where all full of love and charity towards others. And yes people still hated them, but what do we remember them for? Ghandy because of him and teaching about how we can win without war and hate, he almost untied India. Buddha writing a book started one of the biggest religions since he also had love and charity. And Jesus Christ being the son of God, he said "This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you." Jhon 15:12. And Jesus Christ gave his life for us. 

  I invite you all and myself to have more love and charity towards everyone! It won't be easy and we might need to make a lot of changes, but in the end those little changes will be worth it. 

A real wholesome family

                      

                                                          A family is a basic unit for society

                       

    On June 5 1996, I was born in walnut creek California. My parents being a young married couple, tried their best in raising me. Although I can't remember a lot of the many sacrifices they did to raise me, I do remember the many times they would care for me and correct me in order to become what I am now today. Although my family was not perfect and we had our ups and downs, it was still successful in helping me come to the knowledge of right from wrong, good and bad, and in making wise choices over other ones although of course I was not a perfect child. 

But what makes families so important? Why even have one? What is a perfect family? These questions are asked frequently in today's world. We can see how visions and aspects of a family have change, for example, modern family, two and a half men, Malcom in the middle, all of these are examples of what the world says what a family is like. But in most of these shows the family is disfunctional, either by the parents or the kids or influences they both get. So how do we as an individual have a wholesome family of our own? 

There are three steps we can use, now these steps alone will not make a perfect family, but it is a hard rock base we could all use. Having a wholesome family, takes time, patience and being willing to learn new ways to apply to our lives.  

The first step is to realized that families are necessary 

Can you imagine a world without families? Without role models, teachers and guides? This is why families are necessary in the world today just like they have been in the past. Most of us in at least in one point of our lives as children saw our fathers and mothers as role models or superheroes! Of course there is an opposition to this. But parents have a huge role in what their child is gonna become, wether is positive or negative. However the greatest family history work that we will do will be within our own teachings and our own home. But what should those teaching be? As a young child, my parents would give me life advice in stories they would makeup or from their lives and share them with me. Other stories they would also tell me from the Bible or Book of Mormon. Small steps like that made a huge impact on me. I still remember the stories and actually makes me want to share them with my future kids one day. When you think about it, what if all children where taught good principles and would have good virtues as role models? Honestly our society would be better, that doesn't mean every child will grow up to a responsible adult but at least the majority will have that solid rock base we want our children to have. Since Adam and Eve left the garden of Eden God commanded them to multiply and replenish the earth! What could we love more than a child that came from our own blood? Some of you might say "well families are to much work" and it's true they are, it's one of the hardest priorities out there. But what is more precious than preparing our own children to become what we could not? It will help you become a better individual yourself that is a promise I will leave you. 

The next step is to be a loving Mother and Father. 

What is a child's best interest? Many of you might think differently, but how would you think if you where a child and your parents where not loving or maybe different than everybody else. Children have a mind of their own they think, feel and act differently. Having a father that comes home drugged or drunk, is not being a loving father, and a mother that anger quickly sparks out and all the time spends ignoring her child and feeding her bad habits is not being a loving mother. When I was a child even toward my teenage years, I would see the example my parents would use around me. My mother would make me food and teach me good manners she would also follow. My father after a long day of work, would spend time talking to my mother and me, witch made me feel loved. Even as I grew up I knew not what I would become but I knew I wanted to be like my father. Of course there where bad days where yelling, anger and sadness would be in our house, but that is not what I focused on at my home. Some of you might be divorce or raising a child on their own, for example I have a companion who I am serving with right now, that only his mother raised him. For him, his mother was the role model and hard worker to maintain his family strong. If we are in a situation like that being a single father or mother. Let us not give up! Be of good courage and strive to become the best example he can love. Others might suffer from same gender attraction or suffering from depression or anxiety, witch makes you feel that having a family would be impossible for you to accomplish. I would like to share a scripture in 1Nephi 3:7 in the Book of Mormon, this is a story of how a young man needed to go back to Jerusalem to bring forth a precious brass plates containing the law of Moses and his genealogy, after his father told him what God wanted him to do and how the survival chance would be small, he wrote saying "And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said unto my father: I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them." To multiply and replenish the world is a commandment and God gives no commandments without preparing us a way to accomplish it.  Of course there are those who can't bare children, but still let us not give up, adoption will always be an option for children looking for those loving role models they could look up to. Of course a mother and father is the key to be that role model. You might say you can change roles, but why change our selfs from what we really are? Mothers and fathers are the start of reaching good values and why is that? 

The next step is about the gospel of Jesus Christ 

                                                  

This should be the center of our home not in the backround. But why? What about other values and teachings we could use? The reason why I want to focus on the gospel of Jesus Christ is because of the many attributes that parents and children could gain. I am not gonna focus so much on the doctrine of Jesus Christ (faith,baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end) witch could be a topic for another blog. But the gospel itself is critical in the role of a family. There is a scripture in the Book of Mormon that I always look back at whenever I think of families "Pray in your families unto the Father, always in my name, that your wives and your children may be blessed." 3Nephi 18:21

The teachings of Jesus Christ have been on the earth for over 2000 years! It was such a big impact that his teachings are being tought today. "Judge not, that ye be not judged" Mathew 7, "A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another." John 13:34,  the parable of the Good Samaritan. These are all great teaching virtues and stories we could all use for our families! The world changes its virtues and ideas of what's right from wrong. 20 years from now what's morally straight might change and go and different way. The gospel of Jesus Christ does not change neither will it ever change, and will always remain popular in society depending where you live. Ever since his death it helped change society and made it possible for many virtues and values to come alive that we have today. And of course you could add other virtues or ideas, but what could bring a family closer than the gospel of Jesus Christ? Children will grow up to be kind, responsible and loving, parents will learn for them selfs, expectations will be made, and their impact on society will be known by man and if not, then by God himself. 

As a child my parents tried their best in teaching me and taking care of me, even when I did not come out perfect I know it is because of their effort I managed to make wise decisions in my life. From being a loving Mother and Father, to teaching me the importance of having my own family and the gospel of Jesus Christ I know and testify that if all the families would just use these 3 simple steps, the world would be a brighter place. I thank my family for all the teachings and sacrifices they made for me, in helping me grow up in this world that i live in.  










                                                                                                                                                                 

The world that we live in

    Have you ever wondered why you are here? What is it all about is that what you hear? And everywhere you look, all you see is hatred, secrecy, segregation, death and fear. We live in a world that's continually moving forward, new ideas are brought out, new cultures, new ways of life and new virtues. If we could pause time and see the actions the world has taken, and see how repetitive those actions have been taken and how ideas are changed or started, would it not make you wonder yourself how your ideas will soon be changed or looked down upon by yourself or others?
Is it such a world we want? Where we strive for perfection and be worried free yet seems like something we can't achieve? But what if we changed the world in our views, would it not look wrong to somebody else? The hard reality is, we can't achieve all we want, there will always be some desire for something new a desire to change someone's opinions or ideas, a desire to do more of something we have already done, or at least the desire to change actions in the past. Unfortunately that it self makes us always unhappy, either with ourselves or with others.
 But what about everything we need, would that be achievable?

There was a story once told to me about a young husband with his family. The man was a fisherman and he lived close to a river by his house. The man would fish every day, catching fish and selling them but would only spend a few hours a day and the rest he would enjoy it with his wife and family at home. One day as he was selling his fish, another man saw him and started asking him where he would get the fish. "I fish them myself on my backyard" the fisherman answered, as the other man looked at his fish he asked  "have you ever thought of getting your business bigger?". The fisherman all confused answered "what for? What would I get out of it". The man then explained the many objects and precious gifts he would receive, "you can spend more time selling" the man said, "invite your children to help you and spend more hours a week putting different places where people can buy your fish, after a few years of accumulating money you could open a small store and hire some workers then after no less than 2 decades you could spread your business even more, and later on help your children run the business and you could retire being worried free for the rest of your life". As the fisherman thought about it he then asked "what would I do after I retire?" The man looked at him, smiled and said "well you can buy a small house by a river, and you can fish a little, spend time with your wife and family and sell some fish for part of your day." 

What can you learn from the story of the fisherman? What was it that he needed? What is it that you need in your life? 

 Dieter F. Uchtdorf said "We shouldn't wait to be happy until we reach some future point, only to discover that happiness was already available all the time!."

My life experiences I have always wanted what I did not need. We all fall in this pattern, but we can all stand back up. Something that has helped me realized what we need instead of the want is the gospel of Jesus Christ. Although some of you might be familiar, what could be more perfect than to learn from his gospel? One of the many resources he has given the world is the Book of Mormon another testament of Jesus Christ. I invite you all reading this blog, whether you are a stranger, or whether you are familiar with the Book of Mormon, to visit Lds.org and learn with real intent and find out for yourself what God wants you to do. I know it has helped me realized what I really need, and what happiness and eternal happiness feels like. I know it can bless your life as well and that is a promise I leave with you.