Lost and Found

It's interesting that whenever we get lost, we seem to find ourselves.

Why is it that we never realize we're being led until we look back at what we've learned?

Have you ever cared about something so much that it tickled you inside just to think about it? For example, I remember when I was a young lad in elementary school when my mom purchased our very first pet. A pair of tiny, adorable little hamsters! Now was my moment to show my mom that I was responsible enough to take care of a pet all by myself, and that I can one day get a real one... a dog! (no offense to the hamsters). I loved those little guys, though. I remember how I couldn't wait to come home from school each day to play with my hamsters. I remember running downstairs and looking in the cage with joy to see that they were still alive! Hallelujah! I loved those little guys.... then came the tragic day when they got in a fight with each other and... died. I was devastated. The only pet I ever had was gone. It always brought me to think if I'd ever get them back, or if I could have done anything better.

I remember another time when I had a 5th grade teacher that I loved to death. Mrs. Bishop was her name. She was the best teacher I ever had. Then one day, she told us that she'd be moving to Kansas. This took me by such surprise. I never would have thought that this person whom I cared so much about would be leaving, and that I'd never see them again. She was the first person that I lost in my life. I cried all the way home from school.

As my life went on, I found that there was a pattern. As I lost things, I eventually found different things of far greater worth. As I lost my grandma and grandpa, I gained a more personal experience of life after death, and a stronger testimony of the plan of salvation. As I lost my family when I left on my mission, I gained a greater understanding of the importance of my family, and a much more grateful heart for my time with them, and those little things that my mom would do for me that I at first took for granted. It seems that after experiences like these, as little as they seemed, I came away from them a better person. I came away from them with a little piece of knowledge about myself that I did not have before. I came away from it more capable to face whatever else lie ahead. The more I lost, the more I seemed to find.

"He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it." (Matthew 10:39)

 "If you think of this world as a place intended simply for our happiness, you find it is quite intolerable. Think of it as a place for correction and it's not so bad... So that which seems the ugly doctrine is one that comforts and strengthens you in the end." -C.S. Lewis

So always remember, "Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass...It's about learning to dance in the rain." ~ Vivian Greene

Tears of Redemption

Do you remember the happiest that you have ever been? I remember as a kid how excited I got when my parents told me that we were going to Disney Land for a family vacation. I felt as though even if I ran out into the street screaming at the top of my lungs at my soon visitation to "the place where dreams are made", it would still not have justified my happiness and excitement. This experience is but one of many happy moments in my life.

In comparison, there have been moments in my life where I have felt sorrow to such an extent that at the time I didn't think I would ever be happy again. I felt as though there were no hope, no return, no redemption from the pit in which I so sorrowfully sat. Experience and life has since taught me otherwise - that there is hope and there is and always will be a redemption. and this is what I wish to write about today.

Point 1 - There must be an opposition in all things. Have you ever wondered if there were no sorrow, no guilt, no pain, or suffering? At first thought it seems like a fairly appealing alternative, but if there were no pain or suffering, would there be joy? If you never felt sorrow, how would you know that you were feeling happiness? (See 2 Nephi 2:11-13). President Roosevelt once said: "Until we have been in the deepest valley, we can not appreciate the highest mountain." This statement rings so true with the atonement of Jesus Christ. Everything that he did and went through, he did it "that he might succor (help) you" (See Alma 7:11-12). Christ descended below all things (D & C 88:6) for you. He did it for you. In the last Friday of Christ's mortal life, his disciples watched helplessly as Christ was turned over into the hands of wicked men. He was beaten, scourged, and bruised for your iniquities (Isaiah 53:5). In contrast, 3 days later the doom that seemed to encompass Christ and his followers was overcome. Tears of sorrow and loss of their master were filled with tears of joy, tears of happiness, and tears of redemption. That Sunday, Christ came forth from the grave as a resurrected being - he overcame death, sin, wickedness, pain, temptation, and suffering. Everything that may seem unfair about life can be made right through the atonement of Jesus Christ. (See Preach my gospel, p. 52). Because of what he did, all of our tears of sorrow, tears of loss, or tears of pain will turn into tears of redemption and hope. (See Revelations 21:4-7). Or in the words of an Apostle of Jesus Christ, Sunday will come. "Each of us will have our own Fridays—those days when the universe itself seems shattered and the shards of our world lie littered about us in pieces. We all will experience those broken times when it seems we can never be put together again. We will all have our Fridays.

But I testify to you in the name of the One who conquered death—Sunday will come. In the darkness of our sorrow, Sunday will come.

No matter our desperation, no matter our grief, in this life or the next,Sunday will come." -Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin

I remember as a missionary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, I was able to experience this very thing. Missionaries are called to leave their families and all they own and possess for 2 years - called to serve the Lord. At the beginning of my mission, it was a very hard time for me. There were a lot of changes that I was not used to. I did not feel I was capable of what I had been asked to do. I felt weak, helpless. In the missionary training center in Provo, Utah, I shed tears of loss, tears of worry on my pillow almost every night. I did not think that I was capable of doing this for 2 years. Gradually, I began to learn that I should have faith in Christ and his power, and not solely in my own capabilities. I began to learn and understand that with God, all things are possible. (Matthew 19:26). I began to have an unshakable faith that I could do what I had been called to do. (Jacob 4:6). Months down the road, I found myself shedding tears of joy and redemption on my pillow one night, and I realized that I had been changed. My life had been touched by the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I had been redeemed from my sorrow and my worry. Sunday did come.

The lessons that I learned on my mission have blessed me every day of my life since. I know that in my current situation, everything will be OK as I put my trust in the Lord.

I know that Sunday will come. I know that I will once again shed tears of joy, and redemption. Because of Christ, there is and always will be a redemption. A redemption from our trials, from our confusion, from the pit in which we may sit. He is the way. He is the light.

This brings me to Point 2 - having the proper perspective is key. In the Book of Mormon, in the very first chapter and first verse. Nephi explains how he went through "many afflictions", and in that same verse he explains how he was highly favored of the Lord. (1 Nephi 1:1). How can this be? How can one go through trials and at the same time they have been greatly blessed? Further on in the book of Nephi, Nephi and his family had been traveling in the wilderness for many days. Again, Nephi explains that they had "waded through much affliction", yet again, right after that, he explains that "so great were the blessings of the Lord upon them..." 1 Nephi 17:1-3). He goes on to explain all of the blessings that they had been privileged to receive, how happy they were, and how great God had been to them. Yet, in that same chapter, the same situation that Nephi was in, his brothers said that they had gone through everything "save it were death", they say that it "would have been better that they had died" before leaving their home, and that they might have been happy. (1 Nephi 17:20-21). How can this be? Nephi and his brethren are in the same position, yet their attitudes are on the opposite ends of the spectrum. What perspective does Nephi have that his brethren do not? Reading through the book of Nephi, we find that the proper perspective that we need to have is Christ. That he will redeem us, that every trial we go through can be to our benefit. That though it may seem that we our encompassed with sorrow, we will soon be encompassed by joy and peace. On just about every page in the Book of Nephi, I found that it says "The Lord will deliver", and in some way or another there is reference to the Lord delivering us from bondage. This is the perspective that Nephi had, and the perspective that we need to have as we go through life. 

Sunday will come. Whatever you may now be going through, whatever confusion, sorrow, or pit that you may be in, you will be redeemed from it. As we have the proper perspective and try to remember Christ in all that we do D&C 20:77,79), we will find that it is much easier to be happy. You will find that though you may shed tears of sorrow, despair, or pain... you will soon shed tears of redemption.

Do your very best - A Latter Day Saint perspective

When the world grows quiet,

and the day is put to rest,

remember you've succeeded

if you've tried your very best.

-In Memory of Jonathan Glen Lewis

Across the street from the Logan temple on the southeast corner sits a bench with a single plaque in front of it. The plaque talks of how we need to do our best. It's something that I have heard all my life: "do your best...", "give 100%", "give your all"... I have often struggled with trying to find a definition of what is my best. At times I have felt satisfied with what I have done, but even then... could I have done better? Hearing the phrase "Do your best!" is something that has grown to be very annoying to me. Is it really possible to do ones best? Can we really give 100%? Or, as some say, 110%? 

As I sat there on the bench pondering, ideas began to flood my mind. 

I was taken back 3 years ago to an internet cafe in a small town in Russia. I was serving as an LDS missionary and I was troubled by this very question. I wanted to know if I could do my best... if it was possible... and why everyone was telling me to do so. My father replied with some things that I still think about to this day. I still have the e-mail that I printed off tucked away in my mission journal:

"I think it is very important to distinguish between doing our best, and doing the best that could have been done. Most of the time we do what we feel should be done, and in a way that we feel should be done... and we are limited by our capabilities and our current state of physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual being. When we look back many times we think, "I could have done that better" or "I should have done this or that". Those thoughts are only productive to the point that we learn, make note for next time, and move on without looking back and dwelling on it. Next time we do that thing, we will hopefully do it slightly different or better based on our experience; and we can always learn from the experience of others so that we don't have to stumble ourselves."

The thoughts kept coming as I sat there on that bench kitty corner to the temple. A scripture from the Book of Mormon came to mind:

"And because thou hast seen thy weakness

thou shalt be made strong, even unto the

sitting down in the place which I have

prepared in the mansions of my Father."

Ether 12:37

Heaven will not be filled with people who never made a mistake, but with people who recognized their weaknesses, and made the necessary changes to overcome them - including allowing Christ to come into your life - to let him change you:

..."And if men come unto me I will show unto

them their weakness. I give unto men weakness

that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient

for all men that humble themselves before me;

for if they humble themselves before me, and have

faith in me, then will I make weak things become

strong unto them."

Ether 12:27

I have noticed that as we try to do our best, we begin to realize our weaknesses... one by one. I found that it is the same way in a gospel sense: As we come unto Christ, we begin to realize our weaknesses one by one. I've often thought of life as a staircase: step by step, trial by trial, weakness by weakness, we move up the staircase. As we get higher and higher up the staircase, we may get to that one step - a single step - and we can not go further than that. We are too high, what if I fall? I can't do it, I don't have the strength. Whatever the reason, we find ourselves standing in front of that one step, and then we slowly begin to back down the staircase. We give up. 

I testify that the strength to overcome, the strength to go the next step lies in Jesus Christ, His gospel, and His atonement. As we strive to do our best, he will bless us - because of Christ, we can do our best. The last thought that came to me as I sat on the bench, is that there is nothing greater than heaven - the temple is a symbol of that very thing. The temple - a gift from our Father in Heaven. As we strive to be worthy to enter the temple, and live the covenants that we have made therein, we are doing our best - because there is nothing greater than that - there is nothing higher, nothing more glorious, nothing greater than what our Father in Heaven has in store for us, and the temple is the great symbol of all of that.

The prophet Joseph Smith, in the dedicatory prayer of the Kirtland temple, taught that as we go to the temple, we receive a fullness of the Holy Ghost (D&C 109:15). And, as we receive a fullness of the Holy Ghost, we are purified, changed, perfected, sanctified: 

"Reception of the Holy Ghost is the cleansing agent as the atonement

purifies you... That is a fact you can act on with confidence. You

can invite the Holy Ghost's companionship into your life. And you

can know when he is there, and when he withdraws. And when he 

is your companion, you can have the confidence that the Atonement

is working in your life."

-Henry B. Eyring

Therefore, the decree of the Savior "Be ye therefore perfect..." begins to make a little more sense. (Matt. 5:48). This causes one to look at commandments in a different light. Commandments are not "if you do not do this, you are condemned", but rather, commandments are a loving plea from our Father in Heaven saying: "You can do it! You can become as I am!" Commandments are the beacons on our path back to our Father in Heaven. Commandments are the steps up the staircase back to Him. We must work at it - as we allow Christ to change us, we will be transformed little by little into someone who is more capable of keeping the commandments - someone who is more capable of relying on a Heavenly Father to bless and help you, until you get to the point where you will become as Christ is.

 "The most important commandment is the one you're having the greatest difficulty living." -President Harold B. Lee 

That commandment that you are having the' greatest difficulty living' right now at this moment is the next stair lying before you on the staircase back to our Father in Heaven. It is the step that is keeping us from all of the other steps after it. In this staircase, no stairs can be skipped. We thought we were doing just wonderful going up the staircase... until we came to this one step. We can get past this step... and the one that can help us do that is Jesus Christ. That is the reason that He came to this earth - to walk the staircase for us. He knows what we each need to climb the staircase - because He climbed it. I believe that he is the Son of God, and that by faith in Him, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost and continuing devotion, we can become our best selves and return to live with God. He has promised each of us:

"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy

laden, and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I

am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find

rest unto your souls." (Matt. 11:28-30)

picturesofheaven.net

Additional Study:

1. Scripture chain explaining how we are changed to become like our Father in Heaven through the Atonement of Jesus Christ (see Henry B. Eyring quote): 1 Corinthians 13:12 -> James 1:23 -> 2 Corinthians 3:18 -> 5:17 (17-21) -> Rom. 8:29-30 (note here that Justify is another word for Sanctify: the process of becoming free from sin, pure, clean, and holy through the atonement of Jesus Christ) ->Alma 5:14,19 -> Colossians 3:10 -> 2:10-14
2. As stated above, "No step can be skipped" - in the scriptures, we learn that "no unclean thing can enter heaven", and we must be cleansed of every sin, every impurity - see 3 Nephi 27:19 - because the Lord can not look upon sin with even the least degree of allowance. see D&C 1:31-32
3. Elder D. Todd Christofferson - Born Again

Learning to trust the wind

 TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

     Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

  And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

     I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

     And that has made all the difference.        

"The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost

It seems that all of us will at one point in our lives come to that fork in the road of two diverging paths - "one path paved with the knowledge and reason of man, the other paved with faith in God." 

-"The Infinite Atonement" - p.g. 108 - Tad. R. Callister

At times it may seem that everything in the world points us

to go down the path that makes sense, the path that we want, 

the path that would be easier to follow... 

and we stand there at the fork in the road wondering

 why the wind is pushing us towards the path less taken,

 the path we have never before walked,

yet, the path that we know is right.

At times we may push against the wind,

thinking that through time it will make us stronger;

yet, we soon find that doing so has only made us tired,

and the wind continues to push us towards the path of faith...

The path that for some reason we fear.

I am comfortable with the path that I know.

The path that has been trodden down by many footprints.

Why must I go down the path I do not know?

Why must I choose the way that does not make sense to me?

What's in it for me?

I stand there wondering where these paths came from,

wondering why I am the only one here,

who made these paths anyway?

And as I sit there wondering, it all begins to make sense.

This is my path... This path was made for me...

Although I do not know what lies ahead 

or why I need to go down the path,

I find comfort in the pair of footprints 

that lie afresh on my path ahead of me,

the footprints of Him, Who walked all of our paths 

for us.

Nothing may make sense to me, 

but the path seems right. 

I don't know where I am going, 

but as I strive to do what is right,

the wind pushes me here.

I have learned that pushing against the wind

is not what makes us stronger,

but letting the wind take us to where we need to go

is where the true growth lies.

So, whatever my future holds,

I have learned to trust in the wind.

Sunny with a chance of glasses

Well, it happened again. 

That's probably the fifth time this week.

It was a lovely day on campus...

 'twas absolutely lovely I might add.

Key word - was.

I just got out of class, and I was walking on campus.

The weather was splendid.

The kind of weather that puts a smirk on your face.

And we all know how stupid we look when

we smirk to ourselves.

I was walking amidst the hustle and bustle of students

rushing from class to class.

The college atmosphere is such a wonderful thing.

Most the time...

Off in the distance I saw someone wave at me.

But I wasn't sure if I recognized them.

What a wonderful thing - someone waved at me!

But on the other hand, what if she was waving

to someone behind me?

In these situations I've learned to not take risks.

So I didn't wave back.

I  smiled in her general direction, though.

There I go again... smiling to... myself?

When we were about 5 feet from each other 

she looked awkwardly away.

Then my eyes let me recognize her.

Hey how are you doing!

No, I didn't remember her name.

She said she was doing good as she walked away

I think she thought I was ignoring her. 

Maybe I should get glasses?

I wonder if glasses would help me 

remember people's names better

Oh... that's what her name was.

luke the puke, I am your father

Dear everybody,

I decided to make a blog. I'm hoping that it won't turn into a rant... although at times I think it may. I enjoy writing and hope to become better at the process, so I decided to take my friends advice and start a blog. My name is Luke. Since we're at the beginning of our blogging relationship, I suppose I could let you in on a little secret. My name does not rhyme with puke. You don't believe me do you. Well, I don't want to embarrass you, but I will go into the details if I must. First, say the words out loud. Luke. Puke. Luke. Puke. You really did it didn't you. Now that we're past the embarrassing part, you may have noticed that Luke has an 'oo' sound, where as puke has a 'yoo'.  If Luke and puke rhyme, then I am Martha Stewart. And I am not Martha Stewart. On the other side of the spectrum you may be my father and want me to use the force. Yes, I am Luke. And I love everything about it. Life is good, and I hope to share a piece of my life with you if you'll take it - sometimes it'll be a banana cream pie, sometimes key-lime, and on other days, you get the pie thrown in your face. Whatever kind it is, I've learned to make the best of it. The wonderful thing about pie is that you can always choose what you do with it. You can snarf it down, cut it in little slices and share with the whole neighborhood, or throw it in the face of that one kid next door. I believe that we are all masters of our own fate.  And as for pie, I'll just be leavin mine here on the window - and you can swing on by whenever you feel free to have a slice.

Yours truly,

Luke