Hi friends and those who accidentally click on this.

I was reading a lot in the Testament of John especially after the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ. The apostles after talking with Christ a few times, are unclear as to what they should be doing and looking for guidance turn to Peter who says to them that he is going fishing. As I studied this chapter I reread the talk by Elder Holland entitled "The First Commandment," in the which he talks of this experience. I love the portrayal Elder Holland gives it as these slightly confused apostles go back to what they know best without a clear direction to go in. Perhaps they had heard their call, but I don't believe they felt and understood their call until this morning coming off the lake.

Elder Holland talked about these verses with such force that I will paraphrase a little of what he said. First in verse 15, it says,
"So when they had dined, Jesus saith unto Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea Lord; thou knowest that I love thee."

After responding Jesus returns to ask him this question, a second and then really digging in, asks the burning question a third time. Peter, maybe thinking harder or perhaps confirming or perhaps even with equal sincerity responds to the affirmative.

Now why would Christ be asking a question like this after He had given them command to teach all nations? Here they were fishing! They were going back to what they knew best but leaving aside the weightier matters, the things that really mattered. Here they are, perhaps like I said knowing what to do but hadn't quite felt what they needed to do. So Jesus helps them to see the why in asking the question that should motivate all other things in our lives. Do you love me?

That is the reason we act. That is the reason we obey. It is the reason we strive diligently to serve and to share this Gospel and to lift all others around us to a higher plane of living. This is not an item for the backburner, this IS the flame that ignites the rest and it is fueled by that statement, Do you love me?

I will use Elder Holland's words to summarize, "What I need, Peter, are disciples—and I need them forever. I need someone to feed my sheep and save my lambs. I need someone to preach my gospel and defend my faith. I need someone who loves me, truly, truly loves me, and loves what our Father in Heaven has commissioned me to do. Ours is not a feeble message. It is not a fleeting task. It is not hapless; it is not hopeless; it is not to be consigned to the ash heap of history. It is the work of Almighty God, and it is to change the world. So, Peter, for the second and presumably the last time, I am asking you to leave all this and to go teach and testify, labor and serve loyally until the day in which they will do to you exactly what they did to me."

I know that we can be those disciples, and I choose to be changed forever by this message. I will return from my mission but I will not go back home. I will not go back to normal, I will live what I know and feel like Peter until the day I am called back to the presence of my Savior to very likely answer that same question, "Isaac, did you love me?"

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen

Hello dearest friends. This week I found something in my reading that really impacted me in the reading of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ especially the part where He is taken in before Pilate. Here He is, in front of the most powerful person in Jerusalem. He is the one that has all the power from Rome and gives the okay on all things regarding the Jews. This is the man to fear if there ever was one. Now picture Jesus Christ, He has already suffered beyond anything a man can suffer in Gethsemane for hours, and all night was being beaten and abused and tortured basically and I doubt He slept at all. So here He is in the lowest point physically someone can be in, and here is the ruler of the land and Christ doesn't even respond to his first question. Pilate almost mad asks why He isn't answering if he has the power to kill him. Christ responds, "Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin." (John 19:11).
Can't you hear the power there? What I take from this is the power that comes from being in good standing with your Heavenly Father, this is the power of personal righteousness and purity which is virtue. He had power when He talked and others could feel it. So much so, that when Pilate was talking to the crowd later he called Christ their King more than once. Later he wrote in on the plaque above His head and refused to change it when the Jews requested that they change it. Pilate truly believed and felt that this man was different, he felt the power when this man talked and knew that He was special. Any man could feel the absolute dignity and regality with which Christ composed himself, for it was power that is not learned, it is earned through His merits.
Not only did I learn of the dignity of Christ but also how interesting it is that Pilate knew that this man was the Son of God. Yes it is sad that he would be guilty of such an offense, but it is also worth noting that even a normal man could feel how special the Savior was and was willing to admit that he believed of the divinity of Christ. Would we recognize Him? Would we be willing to ignore the voices of the world to act upon those impressions? I feel that the two questions we ask and are answered here are 1. What can learn from Christ's dignity in responding? and 2. How are we like Pilate sometimes?
May we choose to live right and may we listen to the testimony of Christ the Holy Ghost imparts. 

Hello dearest friends,
This week I wanted to write a tiny bit about the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ, and a scripture we often quote but takes on so much more significance the more I learned about it. We know that the Christ child was born in a stable "because there was no room for them in the inns." I love this because as you look at the Greek root word for inns, Luke wasn't talking about the inns like taverns. The root word refers to the living quarters or room in the space where people stay, most likely family. Especially taking into consideration that they were in their home town and visiting, they had relatives there that would let them stay on a normal occasion. However, even for a pregnant woman, there was no room in their relatives' houses? Why? Because Mary was pregnant out of wedlock before being wed and therefore would have been a social outcast among her own family, and THAT is the reason there was room for them in the inns.

Our teacher brought up a good point that Mary had done nothing wrong, and quite to the contrary was actually highly favored in the sight of God so why the backlash? Mary was trying her best to live the way she should and still was cast out by those she loved. How many times are we like this, where when we are trying to live our best we are still not accepted by the rest. The others in our lives, even those we love dearly and are family can cast us out or cause us to feel pain. However, Mary still did what was right, and that is the point I am trying to share: being in favor with God doesn't always mean being in favor with your fellow men. God loves us so much and wants us to do the things we have asked us, since they will be always for our benefit and growth. And when we live right, although we will have the assurance that we are living according to our Heavenly Father's pleas, we won't always be popular. We won't always be the most accepted or welcomed person, because our Savior wasn't either. And can the servant be greater than the Master? We follow Him with trust and meekness, submitting our will to His and choosing first always the things of God without regard to what others may be thinking or saying. We choose to live right regardless of what others may say. Then we will hear those words from the Person who matters most, if not the only the matters, "Well done my good and faithful servant."

As I did my readings this week and worked on my project to fully study one chapter in depth, I chose to read John 4 multiple times to better understand that chapter that helped shape my mission and come to understand better the way the Savior teaches and loves. One verse that really stuck out to me this time was the verse 24, specifically the Joseph Smith Translation of it. To give it context, The Savior uses a perfect visual metaphor of living water at noonday to the woman to peak her interest and see how sincere she was about learning, especially given that He was a Jew. She has true desires so they talk and Jesus with much love explains to her about how we can truly worship the Father and then in verse 24 says, "God is a Spirit." However, that makes no sense and really the translation changes it to "unto such has God promised His Spirit." This makes way more sense, especially looking at how Jesus described the living water as something that would stay inside and burst forth and grow into eternal life. That is the Spirit, with the divine role to be with us always and help bring us back home. That is why Paul later describes it as the "earnest" of the Spirit, since it is a guarantee that Heavenly Father is serious about His promise of a large reward even the infinite gift of eternal life. So that is what Jesus was trying to teach at this time, He was trying to show this wonderful faith-filled woman the ultimate gift of the Holy Ghost and how through sincere worship she can have that and "will never thirst."

I love this promise and sublimely simple yet powerful lesson He chose to teach someone who was living well and had faith. He did not rebuke her, but instead taught her of this incredible gift that He had come to bring and invited her to live in such a way that she could have it. That is what I want, I want to always be worthy of the gift of the Holy Ghost, not just the influence. I don't want to just feel Him there, I want that living water bursting up inside of me, growing and changing me, and leading me to my Heavenly Father again. If we can live with a spirit of worship, that is what the Father has promised us. He gives us that gift as we make covenants and strive to live them with exactness. He loves us and wants each of us to have that living water. I desire that and want to live in a way that will make my Father proud. I love Him.