No Coincidences

Tag: restored gospel of Jesus Christ

  • What to do with all the Love

    What to do with all the Love

    I was meditating and thanking God for all He has given me in this life.  It was the day after Thanksgiving.  I had just watched Ivy with so much love around her, as detailed in Love has Afforded Me Much.  Ivy was surrounded by aunts, uncles, grandparents, great-grandparents, cousins, second cousins, great uncles, great aunts and the list goes on.  She was receiving so much love.

    That visual again brought me to realizing and remembering that was me 30 years ago.  I was the one having love poured out on me.  It brought me to a repeated thought: what did I do to deserve this?

    What did I do to deserve the family I was born into?  Now, how lucky I am to be one half of the uniting of two families – the Quackenbushes and the Cannons.  How blessed will Ivy be from a life of love from those two extended families she’s been born into? 

    How blessed have I been from being born into the Leaches and the Quackenbushes? An un-quantifiable amount of blessed.

    Where does that blessing come from?  Where does it stem from?  What was the catalyst of this blessed, love-filled life I’ve been given?  The catalyst, the starting point, is the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Three of my four grandparents converted to the church.  My fourth grandparent came from a faithful family back to the days of Joseph Smith.  I am forever grateful for my grandparents and the generations of love and family they’ve created.

    A similar story can be said from Beth’s side of the family, the Cannons and Vauterlauses.

    The thought that occurred to me while meditating, to add to how Love has Afforded me Much, was this: I started to pray to God to please bless all those who didn’t have all the love Ivy had on Thanksgiving Day.  All those who don’t have great family dynamics, who feel lonely, who feel lost, who feel afraid; I asked God to let them feel His love.  I asked Him to spare no angels in pouring out blessings on those who don’t feel loved in this world.

    Then it occurred to me.  Love has Afforded me Much.  God has given me a surplus of love.  A love I can’t quantify.  It’s my responsibility to share that excess of love I’ve been blessed with, with God’s children, my brothers and sisters across the globe.  I pray that I can share the love that’s been given to me with those around me.

    I believe the greatest thing I can do to share that love, the greatest thing any one of us can do that have been given (Luke 12:48) so (D&C 82:3) much (Boyd K. Packer), is to share the source of that love.  The source of that love is Jesus Christ, His Gospel, His Church.  It is our responsibility to share with others what has blessed us so.

    Love is important.  Supporting someone, listening to someone, loving someone, these are all noble.  But what of generational love?  What of the love that permeates through families – of children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren?  That’s what my grandparents created.  That love started with missionaries sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with three of my grandparents, and with the gospel being shared to one of my Great Great Grandparents by Joseph Smith.

    I am grateful for this Church.  I am grateful for the blessing it has been to me and my family.  I am grateful to my Heavenly Father for allowing me this greatest of all blessings.  I feel a noble responsibility, a beautiful weight to share it with others.  My wish is that the world can accept Jesus Christ and experience the love he has to share. 

    I love Jesus Christ, and I am forever grateful to Him. 

  • Bold Testimonies

    Bold Testimonies

    Nearly everything I write is a testimony of the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ.

    Today I had a thought that I wanted to write a particular testimony.

    As I read church history, which I’m doing a lot of at the moment, I’m often inspired by the testimonies borne by the early adopters of the faith.  People like Orson and Parley Pratt, Brigham Young, Sydney Rigdon, Orson F. Whitney, and Heber C. Kimball come to mind.  Of course, there are countless others.  Early men and women of the church were not only of devout faith, but of great courage in proclaiming the gospel.

    Parley P. Pratt

    Times have changed. But have they changed so much that we can’t powerfully declare the truth of the restored Gospel to all the world?  Missionaries are throughout the world, in every corner.  They proclaim the truth of the gospel. Christ’s Church has always been a missionary church.

    There are roughly 16 million members across the globe.

    Imagine if all 16 million of us were as outspoken about the truth as Parley P. Pratt was.  In D&C 49 we see an example of the boldness of Parley P. Pratt.  He was sent, by revelation, to the Shaker faith to give them a message.  Parley P. Pratt believed, and knew, that this revelation came from Jesus Christ Himself.  When he arrived at the Shaker church and learned those that had come ahead of him were passive in their declaring of the message, Parley wasn’t having it.  According to Elder Pratt, “they had come with the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the people must hear it.”

    Sometimes I think I take for granted, or forget, the veracity of the message I have been sent to this earth to deliver.

    Sometimes I’m ashamed of my lack of boldness.

    I’ve been meeting with a small group of guys to study the Bible.  I have only met with them a couple times but have loved both meetings immensely.  These few gentlemen come from different faiths than me.  Mostly non-denominational Christianity.

    In these discussions so much light, knowledge, and truth is exchanged.  I know we are all edified by the discussion.  I know that I benefit greatly from the faith and example of these men.  Especially as the youngest in the group, I can look to these family men as examples of raising faithful families, striving for truth, and striving to be better.  In the couple meetings I’ve had, I’ve come to admire these guys.

    I had a thought today that struck me.

    So much goodness is happening in these meetings, no doubt.  Studying the Bible will seldom lead anyone astray.

    My thought recently was this – I’m basically a secret agent in the group.  The person who invited me knows I’m a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  But does he know what that means?  Have I shared with him my testimony that I have what he’s been searching for:  the message of his Lord and Savior, the message of Jesus Christ’s restored Church. 

    Maybe this friend that has invited me has let the others know my faith background.  It’s no secret.  The “secret agent” part comes from my demeanor.  Throughout the discussions I’ll drop things here and there that show I’m peculiar.  I have learned different things in my faith journey. I understand different things.  Why?  Because of revealed truths that prophets in THIS dispensation have revealed.  Because a prophet in the 1800s saw Christ on the right hand of the Father and restored Jesus Christ’s Church.

    It occurred to me recently what I should do.

    At the end of one of these meetings I should thank these men for all they teach me and how I grow by learning from them.

    Then I should share what Jesus Christ has commissioned me to share.

    Here is the testimony I imagined giving:

    “Thank you, guys, for another great meeting.  I always learn so much from you.  I have something I need to share.  What you’re seeking, what you’re studying in the Bible, what we’re studying in the Bible in each of these meetings, the truth you’re seeking, it is here.  Christ’s Church, as it was in the meridian of time, has been restored.  The principles taught by Christ are here on the earth today: faith, repentance, baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost, apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists.  The Church of Jesus Christ exists today.  It is led by a prophet, just as Christ left the Church in the hands of his prophet, Peter, before he ascended to heaven.  A man saw God the Father, and His Son, Jesus Christ.  Christ’s kingdom exists today, and it is growing.  All the ordinances of the gospel are restored.  The second coming is upon us, and the long-prophesied gathering of Israel is taking place.  Today thousands gain the testimony of Jesus Christ and His restored church and unite themselves with the Saints of the Lord.  The gathering is happening as tribulation in the world continues to increase and come upon us. As a member of this church, fully aware of this truth I have been blessed with, I would be a selfish, abominable person, if I didn’t share with truth-seekers like yourselves this great and important message.  Christ lives!  And He leads His church.  The heavens are not sealed and blocked.  God has not forsaken us.  He is our Father, and He loves us.  The time is coming that we all must unite and gather under one banner.  The strength of Zion is increasing.  It’s my responsibility to share this with you.

    You don’t need to take my word for it.  A book exists that will testify of this truth.  The Book of Mormon is a book inspired of God just as the books of Moses, the Book of Acts, the Book of Revelations, the Book of Isaiah, all the books that were written by men of God and brought forth to help us, these many books are all from the old world, Jerusalem.  What of America?  History now tells us God had millions of His children on the American continent.  Are we to believe Christ was only sent to the old world?  Are we to believe that the word of God was never shared with those on another portion of the earth?  God loves all His children; how could it be?

    Read the book.  Please.  Don’t take my word for it.  Read it.  If it doesn’t touch your heart and scream of the power of the spirit of God that you have spent your lives cultivating the ability to hear and feel, if it doesn’t spur your spirit to know that it is true, then set it aside and continue in your faith.  But read it.  Please.  Determine for yourselves.”

    Do I have the boldness to say these words?…

    I don’t know.

    I’ve written them.

    Maybe I’ll share it with these men. 

    For I am on this earth with the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the people must hear it.