Choice

I've been thinking about a new topic lately. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints calls it agency, but when we talk about agency most everyone else gets a little confused. But if you think about it, it's not too confusing. When we talk about agency we're talking about having the ability to make choices. When most others talk about agency they're talking about those who help you find the best deal, which is helping you make a choice right? So we're all talking about making choices. Choosing, that's what I want to talk about today. In life we are faced with an infinite amount of choices to make, each one presenting a different course of life. Some choices are small: what to eat for dinner, what clothes to wear that day, what song to listen to in the car. Others are big: what to study in college, where to live, who to marry. Some choices we take little to no thought in, others we think about forever, and sometimes till it's too late. We're not alone in our choices though. In the Book of Mormon we find council from the Lord to consult Him in everything. "But behold, I say unto you that ye must pray always, and not faint; that ye must not perform any thing unto the Lord save in the first place ye shall pray unto the Father in the name of Christ, that he will consecrate thy performance unto thee, that thy performance may be for the welfare of thy soul." (2 Nephi 32:9) So when we are faced with a choice to make, we can pray to get help, God can give us personal revelation to help us get an answer. We may not need to pray for every choice we have to make, God does trust us in our choices. Some things, like what we eat for dinner are up to us. But big decisions are hard to make alone, and we need some help in knowing what path will be the right one to take. Then we can pray to God, and allow His Spirit to be with us and guide us in our actions. Sometimes it feels as though we are compelled to do something and that it wasn't our choice. I have, at times, felt that way about coming on my mission. In a blessing I received I was told that I could serve a mission, as a full time missionary, so with the badge, at a time of my choosing. I can look at my situation and think, well I didn't choose to come serve a mission, I didn't even want to serve a mission. I had prayed about serving a mission, it was heavy on my mind, but I knew it was my choice. I also knew that God knows what's ahead for my life and that He knows what choices are going to be best in my life. I made a choice and I prayed about it, no, I didn't want to serve a mission. I didn't feel good about it, but it was my choice. But then later, I prayed to know what was God's will for me, what He thought would be the best option, and His answer was to serve a mission. I have sometimes looked at that and thought I didn't choose to come out, God did. But I really did choose. I received a call and I chose to accept that call. I was reviewing the story of Mary, mother of Jesus. She was visited by and angel and told about her calling, to be the mother of Christ, but was she forced to accept that call? I don't think so. Luke 1 explains this story well, and I love verse 38, "And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her." She was given the call to be the mother of Christ, and she accepted it, she chose to do so. When we were with Heavenly Father, a long time ago, He gave us a plan, to come to earth, to gain a body and experience, and return to Him again. Part of gaining experience means being able to make choices, so He has given us a chance to make choices so we can learn. That is a right that He cannot take away from us. He can never force us to do anything, that would not be fair, or in accordance with who He is. So we are all faced with choices, some great and some small. Some are easy to make, and others are hard. Sometimes we'll receive direct council from God as to how to make these choices, but other times He allows us to make choices on our own, trusting us to make good choices. As long as we are making choices that in line with Christ's teachings and His Gospel we will know that we are making good and right choices. Matthew 11:28-30

Repentance

I've been thinking a lot about repentance lately. I took a class when I was going to college at the Institute of Religion in Orem Utah called repentance and forgiveness and I learned so much about repentance, and it changed repentance for me. I always thought of repentance and thought it was a horrible, painful thing to do. But after taking that class I had a different opinion of repentance. I came to see repentance as a wonderful, beautiful thing. Repentance is turning our will over to Christ, changing our heart. I love ASL, and the sign for repentance is change with an R shaped hand. Repentance is change. Changing our will and our hearts to match that of God is not painful, the sins we have committed that pulled us away from Christ are what bring the pain and the sorrow. In life we do things that pull us away from Christ, they make us sad, and as they build up we end up farther and farther away from Christ. He loves us no matter what though and is just waiting for us to return to Him. See, He knows what will make us the most happy! It's His gospel! It brings so much joy and peace and happiness! But our sins don't. They bring us down and make us dismal and bring despair. To stop in our tracks and decide to follow Christ again is not painful, it's not hard to make that move. It is hard to overcome the sins that we have committed though, and it can be hard to overcome the addictions or temptations that we have succumbed to. What gives us hope though is the Atonement of Christ. He loves us so much, He is willing to struggle and suffer with us to help us get through and come out bright and clean again. The trick then is to not do those things again which pulled us away from Christ and stay close to Him. That again is not easy, but can be easier if we use, again, the Atonement of Christ. I like to think of returning to our Heavenly Father in an analogy, maybe like a parable. Heavenly Father lives in a huge white house, glowing white. White carpet everywhere, white couches, white everything. In front of God's house is a huge muddy field, there is no way to get to the house without going through that muddy field, you have to really want to get there. But you get dirty because you trip sometimes and you find a pocket of mud you didn't see and get stuck in. God's not going to let you in if you're all dirty, so how are you going to get in? He wants you to come in, and so do you, or else you wouldn't have walked through all the mud, but you can't come in dirty. Answer: Christ is standing outside with a hose. Asking Him to clean you off is the change of heart that is repentance. The scrubbing that comes from the mud is hard and can take time, and can be painful, but changing your heart and deciding to become clean again is the easy part. Every day we're repenting of something or another, big things, small things. The other night I was having a hard time going to sleep so I started to knit, something I like to do that allows me to think, and I was thinking about why I chose to come out on my mission. I realized I was able to repent when I made the choice. I said no to a mission, but God said yes. When I gave up what I wanted to do and decided to follow Christ, accept His will for me, I changed my heart and was able to repent. God knows what is best for me, He knows what will bring me joy, He knows what will prepare me for the rest of my life. I am glad that I was able to turn my will over to His in this choice because it is whats best for me, it is bringing me joy, and it is preparing me for so many things to come in life. It's hard to overcome sin, but it's easy to make the choice to come closer to Christ. 2 Nephi 31:20