Keeping An Eternal Perspective

I just went visiting teaching today and as part of the lesson Henry B. Eyring says:
"The purpose of God's creations and of His giving us life is to allow us to have the learning experiences necessary for us to come back to Him, to live with Him in eternal life. That is only possible if we have our natures changed through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ (despite hard stuff), true repentance, and making and keeping the covenants He offers all of his Father's children through His Church."
This reminded me of Helaman 15:3 …they have been a chosen people of the Lord; yea, the people of Nephi hath he loved, and also hath he chastened them; yea, in the days of their iniquities hath he chastened them because he loveth them.
Then this reminded me of a conference talk given a few years ago where they quoted Brigham Young. It was something to the effect of… Every trial that we experience in this life is essential for our salvation.
So I guess what I am trying to say is that Heavenly Father loves us so he has given us a way to return to him. Even if it means a little heart ache; whether it’s a natural consequence for poor choices or something that just can’t be avoided like the loss of a loved one. We need to remain faithful even when it’s hard and try to see the purpose behind the trial. Heavenly Father doesn’t give us trials for no reason. There is always a little progression to be had. I can only pray that when “the mighty winds” come my way that I can remain steadily grounded in my faith in Jesus Christ and find the purpose of the trial.

Take Courage

Alma 58 8-12
When I read this I had a few things pop into my mind, First:
One time when we were helping my parent's move, we had been working, & cleaning, & packing all day and towards dinner time we were all getting very tired and losing steam really fast. It was getting to the point that we were ready to call it a day even though we needed to be out that night. Just when we were about to quit some of my siblings walked through the door with enough energy for all of us. With their help we were able to complete the job in the time required.
Second: Have you ever watched Lord of the Rings - Fellowship of the Ring? If you have, you will know what I am talking about. At the end of the movie there is a small army of men fighting for good at a strong hold called Helm's Deep. They are matched up against a massive Ork army. All as brutal and mean as they come. The future looks bleak and hope seems to have fled away. They begin the battle and things go well for a while then the Ork army manages to penetrate the defenses and begin to take lives and hope. When hope is gone and the end seems inevitable they gather their hope and faith and make a courageous last stand. As they ride out into the midst of the Orks their hope and energy is rekindled by the sight of Gandolf with his beacon of light who arrives just in time to save the day using his wizardly awesomeness to kick some serious Ork patooty.
We are not unlike these two scenarios. We are all engaged in an eternal battle between good and evil. The good is vastly out numbered by the beliefs and actions of the wicked. It may seem impossible to raise children and live in such a wicked world, but if we gather our hope, faith, and dedication to the Lord and pray for guidance and support and practice a little obedience there is nothing that we can't overcome.
Go ahead and read this excerpt and you will see what I am talking about. Leading up to this Heleman's army is feeling a little desperate. Things seem very bleak and they ask for support from the government and receive very little.
Alma 58 8-12
8 But it came to pass that we did receive food, which was guarded to us by an army of two thousand men to our assistance; and this is all the assistance which we did receive, to defend ourselves and our country from falling into the hands of our enemies, yea, to contend with an enemy which was innumerable.
9 And now the cause of these our embarrassments, or the cause why they did not send more strength unto us, we knew not; therefore we were grieved and also filled with fear, lest by any means the judgments of God should come upon our land, to our overthrow and utter destruction.
10 Therefore we did pour out our souls in prayer to God, that he would strengthen us and deliver us out of the hands of our enemies, yea, and also give us strength that we might retain our cities, and our lands, and our possessions, for the support of our people.
11 Yea, and it came to pass that the Lord our God did visit us with assurances that he would deliver us; yea, insomuch that he did speak peace to our souls, and did grant unto us great faith, and did cause us that we should hope for our deliverance in him.
12 And we did take courage with our small force which we had received, and were fixed with a determination to conquer our enemies, and to maintain our lands, and our possessions, and our wives, and our children, and the cause of our liberty.

War-What's it Good For?

Why do we have these war chapters at the end of Alma? Bryan says it's so that boys will read the scriptures. Someone in our ward mentioned it was a good source for learning primitive war strategy. Although those are both good reasons for recording this type of history, I am inclined to think that there must be something a little deeper that we are to learn. Something along the lines of an example to us of how our belief in the Savior can impact our lives. How our faith and obedience can directly influence the happiness that we experience. We won't be exempt from trial and hardship, but can avoid some things and we will be better prepared to handle the inevitable. It's truly a comfort to know that the Lord is watching over me and that I can call on His name whenever I need a little help from someone who loves me.

We are blessed

Alma 25

This chapter talks about some of the martyrdoms that occured. We are so blessed to live in this time when we are free to belong to any church we choose. We don't have to worry about mobs or being burned alive just because we believe what we believe. It makes me sad to think of all of the people who died standing up for what they believed in.
Why is it so hard for us today? A lot of times we have a hard time just telling our friends no or speaking up when conversation goes astray.