Transitioning to Eternal Life

It has been nearly a year since I returned home from my two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  These are some thoughts I submitted as a response to the church's magazine, The Ensign.  I don't know that they will be published, but I can at least share them here:

Carefully examining my reflection in the mirror, my heart was filled with joy and determination as I placed the black tag on my shirt pocket.  This was a daily sacrament for me, a time when I could remember and rejoice that I was a representative of the Lord Jesus Christ.  I refused to ever think that my time as a full-time missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints would ever come to an end; then it did.  In a small room at church, just before Sacrament Meeting, my Stake President commended my efforts and then released me from my calling.  He told me to remove my tag and left me alone to do so.  I knelt in prayer to thank God for the blessing of being His missionary, and then took the tag from my pocket for the last time as tears flowed across my cheeks.  I was sad, but simultaneously filled with a determination to never turn back now that my hand was placed to the plow.  The words of Elder David A. Bednar echo the feelings of my heart in that moment, “A release as a full-time missionary is a call to serve as a lifelong missionary.” (Becoming a Preach My Gospel Missionary, from a devotional address given at the Provo MTC on June 24, 2011)

As I have moved forward with that determination over the past year, the Lord has taught me some invaluable lessons of how to continue down the path of discipleship.  I hope that I can illustrate the doctrines and principles from my experiences that can be applied to every situation.

Oftentimes I would dread talking with people because they would inevitably ask me some question that was impossible to answer in words.  The mission, like all experiences with the divine, is an experience that cannot be fully communicated from one person to another; it must be experienced personally, and everyone wanted a summary of thirty seconds in casual conversation.  The most antagonizing question, though, was this: “How are you adjusting to real life?”  

Such a question implied that people wanted me to adjust, or settle, to a lower standard of living than what I had just experienced.  The thought was terrifying, because it promoted the thought that the mission really was the best two years of life, and there was nothing to look forward to now that it was over.  Instead of adopting that attitude, I determined that I would continue progressing forward.  Rather than adjusting to my surroundings, I would transition to an even higher standard and lift others up.  Then when people would ask that question, I would give a polite response and inwardly think, “I have been adjusting to eternal life very well over the past two years, how about you?” This helped me to remember that a disciple of Christ continues ever onward in his progression, and never goes back to what he was before turning his heart to God.

One of the driving factors of that progress as a missionary was the clear vision that I had of who I was and what was expected of me in that time period.  That vision quickly fades when we leave the structure of the mission, unless we do something about it.  After crossing the Jordan River with Joshua, the Israelites raised an ebenezer, a stone of remembrance of what God had done for them.  Following the counsel of wise leaders, I have raised my own ebenezers as consistent reminders that I am a son of God, a disciple of Christ, and that the Lord has worked many miracles for me in my life. An ebenezer might be a picture of Christ, pictures from our missions, a record of blessings and miracles in a daily journal, or anything that helps us remember.  I always have my black tag where I can see it daily and remember that even though it is not written for others to see, the Savior’s name is still written upon my heart.  Remembering these things helps me to see how my mission began before I ever had a black tag on my pocket, indeed even before this life began, and it will continue today, tomorrow, and forever.  I can then continue with a motivation to pray earnestly, feast upon the scriptures, and serve the Lord’s children each day of my life.

During my mission I had the misconception that I would never have opportunities to learn and grow so fully and rapidly as I did during those two years.  I testify that our rate of progress can be accelerated after our missions if we will apply what we were taught on our missions.  The structure and rules of mission life placed a protective guard around our personal agency so that we could learn willing obedience in a safe environment.  When we return home that structure of accountability is removed.  With that increased freedom, we have the potential to fall farther or rise higher than ever before.  In other words, when the consequences (good or bad) administered by the church itself and the men within it become less imposing, the spiritual consequences of the same divine laws increase.  As we continue to consecrate ourselves and obey willingly throughout our lives, our freedom increases and our rate of growth increases.  This is part of the process of becoming like our Father in Heaven, who has a divine mastery of His moral agency.  Returning home from a mission requires us to either turn to the Lord for an increased vision of His will for us or settle for mediocrity.  If we desire it, God will direct us in how to move forward and the Savior’s Atonement will empower us to carry out every command we receive by the promptings of the Holy Ghost.  As members of His church trained by missionary service, we are called to serve.

Falling Upward

"Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising every time we fall."

-Confucius

Christ Walking On The Water

Julius Sergius von Kleve

FALLING UPWARD

Children stumble and fall as they learn to walk as men walk; men stumble and fall as they learn to walk as Christ walks.  If we find that we aren't falling, it may simply mean that we've not yet stood up.  Children are not punished for falling, but rather their parents applaud their efforts.  We are not punished for falling; rather Christ rejoices in our efforts to walk in his footsteps.  I once heard it said that "Christ allows us to hit rock bottom so that we can realize He is the rock."  Punishment is the natural result of our choice stop trying, to stop getting up.  Such rebellion against continued effort will eventually cause us to stop falling, but only because we will have become lower than all things; when we stop falling, we stop rising upward.

Falling upward is a phenomenon that is foreign to the natural laws taught to us by science.  Even our examples above demonstrate that getting up is a separate event from falling down.  The human race first progressed by falling. "Adam fell that man might be," (2 Nephi 2:25, emphasis added).  I don't know how to explain it, but despite the fact that I sin, or fall, every day; when I look back from time to time I see that I am on higher ground than before I fell.  Somehow, falling itself empowers us to progress in a way that climbing alone cannot do.  Author, James L. Ferrell phrased it this way, "the humility of those who found happiness by falling down rendered the pride of the world powerless," (Ferrell, Falling to Heaven).  This happiness in falling is found only when we fall at the feet of Him who redeemed us, even Jesus Christ.  It is by grace that we are lifted upward when we fall.

The lyrics of Josh Groban's song, "Let Me Fall," illustrate this relationship between falling and progressing.

"Let me fall

Let me climb

There's a moment when fear

And dreams must collide

"Someone I am

Is waiting for courage

The one I want

The one I will become

Will catch me. . . .

"Let me fall

If I fall

There's no reason

To miss this one chance

This perfect moment

Just let me fall"

"Teach-repentance and baptism unto those who are accountable and capable of committing sin . . ."

(Moroni 8:10).  As we grow and learn, our accountability, or responsibility, for our mistakes and sins increase, and the consequence of falling is greater.  If we were left on our own without the aid of the Atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ, any fall would be fatal - we would have been better off if Adam and Eve had remained in a non-progressing state in Eden and had we never existed.  The good news, though, is that Christ paid the price for all of our falling ways, and He only asks that we obey Him.  He has commanded us that we come unto Him by repentance and baptism in His church and that walk in accordance to His example and teachings.  By His sacrifice we are strengthened to obey, and we are forgiven for our failures.  The greatest challenge is simply to choose Him and commit in heart and mind that we will continue to choose Him throughout our lives.  It is that commitment that allows our dreams of becoming like our Father in Heaven and living in His Kingdom can overcome our fears when the moment of collision takes place.  Let us commit to Him.

One might ask, "How can one who is perfect truly understand the struggles and pay the price for one who is capable of committing sin?"  We must again look at the criteria given by the prophet Moroni, "those who are accountable and capable of committing sin," (Moroni 8:10, emphasis added).  Those with enough understanding to be accountable for their actions are capable of sinning.  Christ had a perfect understanding of all things, thus He was perfectly accountable for every action he made.  As I see it, Christ was more capable of sinning than any of us, and even still He perfectly demonstrated a life without sin.  If there is anyone that can teach us of limited understanding how to live without sin, it is Jesus Christ.  Fall before Him and see how your life turns upward, oriented toward

salvation and exaltation in the Kingdom of God.

Walk no More in Darkness

     Darkness closes in.  Nations warring, governments betraying the people's confidence, economies crashing, and families and individuals breaking down; no matter what our personal circumstances, these form a tangible part of our reality.  A casual dose of the daily news or twiddling your thumbs through history class is all it takes to realize that today's moral instability rivals, and likely surpasses, even the worst of all historical societies.  Without a light, we easily lose ourselves and despair in the darkness.  Despite overwhelming blanket of darkness in our society, we can confidently say that humans are still humans; and just as the weaknesses of society begin with the individual, so do the healing of souls and the restoration of peace begin with the individual.  

     The shortcomings of mankind have not changed, just the quantity of those shortcomings - the saving and strengthening remedy is the same as it has always been; it is the Atonement of Jesus Christ.  The light that pierces through the darkness to show us a better and a safer way is Jesus Christ, and there is no other way beside him by which individuals, families, and nations may be saved.  Speaking to the people of the Ancient Americas, Christ commanded, "Therefore, hold up your light that it may shine unto the world.  Behold I am the light which ye shall hold up - that which ye have seen me do," (3 Nephi 18:24). 

     I am a witness of the Living Christ, I have found peace in him and his miracles are evident in my daily life.  I know that he truly loves each one of us and pleads with the Father on our behalf that we might be permitted to enter into their presence.  He has taught us the way to live and the way to die, and his light shines forth as a beacon to us all; if we heed his invitation to come unto him and obey his word, we shall have eternal life.  I feel a great need to hold up the Light of Christ unto all the world; in this blog I will record many personal experiences and lessons learned in my continues journey along the path illuminated by that beacon.  

     I am an active and practicing member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and I delight in sharing my faith as well as learning from the faith and understanding of others.  It is one of my greatest desires to have a more perfect knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ and his Atonement.  I welcome all questions, insights, and personal experiences that you will share with me.  

    Here I raise before you the light I have received, if there are any of you that read this who feel downhearted, guilty, fearful, sad, or confused; the invitation is to come unto Christ and let him take your burdens upon his back.  Submitting our will to his, he gladly carries us through the Gethsemane of our lives.  He suffered more than we are capable of suffering for that very purpose, so resolve today to no longer walk darkness.