"Our swords have become bright"

What had once been described as a "blood-thirsty" people, became a society who literally buried their weapons of war to never again fight or take the life of another person. They did this "as a testimony to our God." (Alma 24:16) So why would they do this? After years and years of wars and bloodshed -- what would move them to totally turn their lives around? To go a bit deeper than the Sunday school answer -- it wasn't just that they gained a testimony.  It wasn't just that they now believed in God. But rather, they stopped fighting -- entirely lost their desire to -- when they came to see their enemies as "their brethren." The gospel suddenly wasn't some arbitrary belief connected to an arbitrary being in a far off universe. God became "our God", the enemy became "our brethren", and so life took on real meaning as they realized they weren't just people grabbling over land, but they were children of a Heavenly Father. When we truly understand who we are -- and each of us is a child of God -- our behavior and desire will follow in the only way that makes sense. So if there is something that isn't right in your life, a habit you would like to change, or a frustration that you just can't get over, I invite you to learn more about who you are and let that knowledge change you and change how you think. I promise your desires will change and understandings will come to mind that inevitably bring peace -- truly your "swords" (challenges, weaknesses, sins, frustrations, etc.) will become bright as well. Take even one minute to pray and you'll know, as I'm often reminded, that you have never been anything less than a child of God.

"Have ye received his image in your countenance?"

If you had to rate your spiritual well-being on a scale from 1 to 10, where would you be? If you're anything like me, that's a difficult thing to measure! I wouldn't know where to start, and even if I did, it could change on an hourly basis! I was encouraged by my professor this week, however, to use Alma 5 as a good "spiritual mirror" -- a way to look into your spirit and see how you're really doing. I would extend the same invitation to each one of you and really take each question personally. As I did this, I was impressed deeply by the question he asks of "have ye received his image in your countenance?". Countenance is defined as "a person's face of facial expression" or even "support". It goes deeper than a mere muscle or eye movement -- a countenance is an expression of what we are inside. It made me think of what the Savior's countenance would be like, if he were in front of me right now. And I pictured what President Kimball said once when he was asked by an artist what the Savior looked like in order to complete a painting. He said "paint him with love in his eyes." If any of us were to look into Christ's eyes, I am sure we would see exactly what President Kimball saw. And in that same spirit, I think it is the evidence of our ultimate spiritual well-being when we too can have a countenance like the Savior's -- one that literally extends love.

"O how ye ought to thank your heavenly King"

Neal A. Maxwell, in speaking of what God has given to every person, reminds us that whatever we give up or give to God may as well be stamped "Return to Sender". King Benjamin gives us a similar understanding in how he spent his days in the service of his people he was only in the service of his God. (Mosiah 2:16) It made me realize that all that I have now, and all that I ever will get --- in terms of money, relationships, time, abilities, etc -- is given to me through the goodness of God. And with that in mind, I ought not to ever be stingy with my giving. After all, it never was mine to begin with and giving something away when others are in need is only doing what God needs me to do. So for anyone who has felt like I have -- a tinge of hesitation when a roommate asks for a ride or a feeling of frustration when someone asks to borrow your last pen... (among other more serious things) -- remember how good and gracious God has been to you in giving you those things. And I invite you to use "return [those things] to sender" by giving them to the people around you who are in need.

Free to choose faith

A few weeks ago, I was tasked with the pleasure of taking the LSAT (the law school admission test) and needless to say I was nervous. Granted, I had been preparing all summer for this.  For four months I had gone to classes, done homework, and taken countless practices tests; and yet I still was struggling to not sink into despair because I just couldn’t get some of the questions.

It was during this time that I was studying a talk given by Elder Jeffrey R Holland and he said something that completely blew my mind, making my fears seem so small:

“Trouble has no necessary connection with discouragement.” (originally said by F. Scott Fitzgerald)

It reminded me that even when something is hard; even when we are deeply troubled or worried about something – it never has to be discouraging. We choose how to respond, and in those troubling times, we are meant to respond faithfully and confidently, being “free to choose lierty and eternal life… or to choose captivity and death” (2 Ne. 2:27) and I, like Jacob, “would that ye should…be faithful… and choose eternal life,” (v. 28) remembering, even if you take the LSAT, that trouble has no necessary connection with despair.

We have need for more of the word of God

I wonder how many of us, when thinking of going to Sunday school again or watching another session of General Conference, have thought "I've already heard this stuff... I've already had this lesson..." and then silently resign to boredom or ignorance. I know that I have, at times, been tested with this sort of feeling. In reading the Book of Mormon this week, I noticed that Nephi makes clear that even the people of the church of Jesus Christ and humble followers of Christ will be tempted to think that they "have received the word of God and [they] need no more the word of God, for [they] have enough."

In response to that, Nephi gives us this thought:
    "...thus saith the Lord God: I will give unto the children of men line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little; and blessed are those who hearken unto my precepts and lend an ear unto my counsel, for they shall learn wisdom; for unto him that receiveth I will give more; and from them that shall say, We have enough, from them shall be taken away even that which they have." (2 Nephi 28:30)

I am confident that at every stage of life we are all in need of more of the word of God. Even the same basic doctrines, when taught repeatedly, can become new again as we learn more about them. In this season of General Conference I am grateful for a God who will never stop speaking, and a God who promises that he will not just teach us once but "will give more" as we receive what he is saying.