Diggin' in the Garden

     What a good morning, spent diggin' in a garden. Boy, do I love serving, especially when it allows me to get out of this church shirt and tie once in a while. I also love the many things I am learning as I get to spend two or three hours each Saturday going over and workin in a member's garden - AKA a huge monstrous overgrowth of flowers, weeds, and poison ivy. What a blast!
    Well, I guess today, something that really struck me was the teamwork necessary to get some of these stinkin weeds out. One of the worst was a huge group of grapevines that had intertwined themselves in some Japanese Maples. The problem was, we didn't want to cause too much damage to the Maples, but if anyone knows grapevines, they will know what a pain they can be. I learned that what would've taken me hours to accomplish by myself, took about thirty minutes as all four of us surrounded, and then annihilated those grapevines. Goodbye grapevines, you won't be missed....



(Not the actual grape vines, but you get the picture)


    Our relationship with the Savior is a lot like this. In our life, we come up against massive grapevines that would be very difficult to remove. If left alone, as those we removed today had been, they will grow and intertwine all around us, blocking out everything else that truly matters. By ourselves, we are going to be hard-pressed to remove them. But, with the Savior, when we put our lives in His hands, He will work side-by-side with us, to help us remove these grapevines of life.
    Looking back on earlier posts, I realized that I seem to relate everything to our relationship with the Savior and how important it is for us to rely on Him. I guess that that's because it is something that I have come to learn quite profoundly over the past couple of months, as I have struggled to learn compassion and heal from past wounds. It took me so long, but I have finally come to realize that I can't do it by myself. When I finally realized, and admitted that, I learned that the only way to find peace was to rely on the Savior. I am so much happier, and feel so much more whole than I have ever felt before. I encourage everyone to do the same. Come unto Christ, just as Peter did, and He will rescue us, no matter who or where we are in life.

The Power of Deliverance

     This morning, I read a really awesome scripture in the Book of Mormon. I wanted to share it with ya'll. "...But behold, I, Nephi, will show unto you that the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty even unto the power of deliverance." (1 Nephi 1:20). I had to read this over a few times to get the full meaning of what this was saying. Here are a few important notes in understanding this scripture:
 
    First, the tender mercies of the Lord are over all whom He hath chosen.
    Second, the way we become "chosen" is by exercising our faith in Him.
    Third, it is not their faith that makes them mighty unto deliverance, but it is the Lord that makes them mighty unto deliverance, because of their faith.
    
     As I studied this scripture, I learned that there is a very personal application in all of this. Though for Lehi and his family it was being delivered from the imminent destruction of Jerusalem, it can be applied more generally to all of us in each of our lives. We don't necessarily need to be delivered from a city that is about to be destroyed, but for us, it can be applied to the storms of life that we all must face from time to time, and from whence we seek deliverance. Thankfully, Christ performed the Atonement and is capable of delivering us from anything that may come our way, so long as we put our faith in Him. That is why He is called our Savior.
      
    If we will but put our faith in Him, He will, just as He did for Lehi and His family, make us mighty even unto the power of deliverance. I have seen this in my own life and I know firsthand that He will make good His promises. 

Poison

     There are lots of different kinds of poison in this world. In my case, it's poison ivy. Don't ask me how I got it, although my guess is I got it when we were pulling some weeds the other day. It was a lot of fun, although I must admit, having poison ivy is a lot less fun. The worst thing about poison ivy is that it is difficult to contain once you get it, thus making it difficult to get rid of. The best way to not have to deal with it is to avoid it all together.

     There are also lots of other poisons in the world today, like jealousy, grudges, and hate, that can poison the soul, and cause a lot of problems. And, just like poison ivy, once we have it, it is hard to get rid of. The best way to keep from living with these kinds of poison, like all poisons, is to just avoid it. We do this by filling our minds and our hearts with the good things in life.




    At one point or another, we are all going to have to deal with poisons in our lives. The best antidotes for the internal kind all come from the Savior. We must learn to trust Him and have faith in Him, and as we do, He will heal us. I know this is true. I have seen it many times in my own life. If we do have poison, let us work now to get rid of it, before it spreads even further. The Savior can heal any wound, whether it be great, or small, whether it be on the surface, or buried deep beneath years of pain and hurt. There is nothing better than having that taken from us, and the Savior will do it if we come unto Him.

Thought-Provoking Doors

   Today, I found a really interesting quote that goes along with something I have been thinking about  recently.

     "When one door of happiness closes, another opens,
      but often we look so long at the closed door that
      we do not see the one that has been opened for us"
                                -Helen Keller

   I love that. To me it says that we have to be proactively searching for those doors that are opened to us, and that if we spend time staring at those doors that are already closed, we are sure to miss out on a lot.
  The other day, a friend posed an interesting thought to me. They said something to the extent that when one door closes, another door opens, but just because it is an open door doesn't mean that it is the right door.
     So, how do we know that the open door that is looming in front of us is the right door? Well, since God is the one that opens and closes the vast majority of those doors for us, I think it would be safe to say that God will know the right door for each of us, individually. I know this to be true. God loves us and wants to bless us, and all we have to do is ask Him what is best for us, and He will show us the way.



         Another interesting thought since we are on the subject of doors. Thinking about Christ and something He said while among the people in Jerusalem. "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me"  (Revelations 3:20). I love the painting of Christ at the door. It never has a doorknob, showing that Christ will never force His way in, but that we must allow Him in. This can be applied generally to many doors in life that we ourselves have to go forth and open, instead of waiting for someone to open them for us. Just like the door that Christ knocks on, there are other doors which only wait for us to make a conscious effort in opening them ourselves.





     Lastly, I really like John 10:9. It says, "I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture." (John 10:9). Going back to the beginning, though there are many doors that constantly are being open and closed all around us, ultimately the most important one is Christ Himself, who is the way, the truth, and the life. If we look to Him as an example, and strive with all our might to follow, we will find a greater joy and happiness than by any other way.

Transfers and Changes

  Well, today was transfers and I have a new companion. His name is Elder Waltman. I will be with him for at least six weeks, although depending, I could be with him for twelve. Every time I am going to be getting a new companion, (this will be my 9th companion in about as many months) I wonder what they are going to be like, and if I am going to have a more difficult, or an easier time of it. Although I have had some difficult companions, most of the time they have been pretty easy to get along with. Generally at the beginning of every transfer, I strive to go into the new six-week period with an excitement and optimism that it is going to go well, and I am going to have an easy time of getting along with my new companion.

    I think all of life is like this. Throughout life, there will always be changes ahead of us that we might be unsure about. Will these changes be easy to live with, or will this new challenge be one of the most difficult things we have ever had to deal with? If I were to go into a new companionship dreading it, knowing that it could never work out, and that it is going to be the worst time of my life, chances are pretty good that that's what will happen. Same with life. Some changes are just plain awful and can be very difficult to find anything good in them. Guess what, there are companions like that, too. But, I have a firm belief that there is a silver lining to EVERY gray cloud. Whether it's easy to spot, or it takes some very deep digging to find, it's there. A lot of it depends on the way we look at it - our perspective. In order for me to find the silver lining, it becomes imperative that I go into a new situation with optimism and a hope that things are going to work out for the better. When this happens, my chances of finding the positive are going to drastically and exponentially increase.

        I am super excited for this transfer and for this opportunity to work with Elder Waltman. I know that if I do my part in looking for the good in this change, I am bound to find it, and to learn and grow from it as well. I have no doubt that if we apply this perspective throughout my life in any situtation that we may come up against, we will be able to find much joy and postivity in life.