111

Hello everyone! And welcome to another installment of Keep Moving Forward!

So, to start off this week, we're going a long, long time ago...just about two years ago, in fact, as I was starting my first year of college at BYU. I was more than a bit disoriented, leaving my small town of 3,000 and living on campus with approximately 10,000 other freshman. At this time, I was very grateful for the counsel of Stephen Biddulph, the bishop of my student ward. (Bishops? Wards? Check out the official church Infographic below!)

In an early talk in Sacrament Meeting, Bishop Biddulph noted how our ward was the 111th. He told us how, to him, the one's seemed to be L's, all standing for the same word: Love. He then shared what he'd chosen as the theme for our ward that year: Love yourself. Love Those Around You. Love God. This was remarkable counsel; I posted it on all the bulletin boards in our dorm. What was better, though, is that the entire ward took it upon themselves. They loved each other. They felt good about themselves. And they loved God, serving Him with diligence. Largely because of this, those two semesters contained some of the happiest times of my life (before my mission, which is even more amazing).

Now, after having studied the scriptures and learned a bit more, I can see that Bishop Biddulph's advice mirrored some teachings of the Savior in the Gospel of Mark:

"And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all?

And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:

And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.

And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these..."

(Mark 12:28-31. There's a wonderful video of this conversation here as well)

So, we see three important relationships we have in life: that with God, that with other people, and that with ourselves. In the coming weeks, I'd like to look at how the principle of Forgiveness applies to each of these relationships, and how doing so can help us Keep Moving Forward. In the meantime, though, I invite you to analyze: What do you do to show your love for yourself? How do you express your love for others? And how can you better show your love for Heavenly Father?

I've come to know that the frantic things in life tend to dissolve as we focus ourselves on increasing the love in these relationships. I know that, when things seem dark and gloomy, often the best thing to do is to serve. To forgive is also good; we'll look at that in the future. But until then, remember: Love God. Love your Neighbor. Love Yourself.

And Keep Moving Forward.

-Elder Richmond

Have Faith

Hello everyone! We're posting early this week, because tomorrow is going to be crazy busy with missionary meetings for me. A Wednesday pick-me-up is still good, isn't it?

So, if you came here from Facebook, you might have seen the teaser yesterday and found out that today's topic is Faith. Faith is really what helps me keep moving forward, what helps me pick myself up when I'm feeling down, and I believe its power is pretty much universal.

Before we get into that, though, let's talk a little bit about missionary work. As missionaries, we get up early, work out, study the scriptures, and then spend the rest of the day trying to help and teach people. In order to find people, we often resort to "tracting," which is going door to door and asking people if they're interested. Sadly, most aren't. Some people argue with us, others yell at us and slam the door in our faces. I've heard reports of some people spitting on missionaries (although that's never happened to me personally). Basically, tracting has the potential to turn out very, very badly.

So why do we keep doing it? Why do we still go out every day and put ourselves in peoples' paths? I've literally had days where not a single person we talk to wants to hear anything we have to say; why, then, do I keep trying?

It's definitely hard. And discouraging. And frustrating. But what keeps me going is this: the belief that somewhere out there, there is someone who wants to listen. There is someone who'll listen to us. There is someone we can help.

Belief is a part of Faith, but not all of it. When we have Faith in something, we believe it, but there's more involved. To have Faith in something requires us to first believe in it, and then act according to our belief. If I believe that there's something tasty in the fridge, for instance, it won't do me any good to believe it and then just sit on the couch, hungry. In order to exercise Faith, I have to get up off of the couch and open the fridge in order to see. Only then can my faith be rewarded with something tasty, like orange juice or cold pizza (delicious).

We can easily apply this back to the previous example: I believe that there are people out there (currently, in Jacksonville) who really want to hear what we have to say. But, in order to meet these people, I have to act. I have to leave my apartment and try to find them, through tracting or some other means. Only then can my faith be rewarded, and it has been, for which I'm very grateful.

Now, how do we apply Faith on a more practical level? It's all fine for missionary work and midnight snacks, but how can the majority of us use Faith?

Before my mission, I studied at BYU. I was usually pretty good about doing my homework, but I'll readily admit that the dorm atmosphere led to a lot of procrastination. I can still clearly remember some very desperate nights in which the assignments had piled up and I was very sleep-deprived. In the midst of this desperation, it was often hard to see how things were going to get better. I couldn't reason out in my mind how all of it was going to work. But, it didn't matter so much, because even though I couldn't see how things were going to be okay, I believed that they would, and then took action based on that belief.

We're all going to have bad days here and there. It's an unfortunate part of life. But believe that things can get better, then do whatever you can to realize it, and I know things will turn out okay.

One last note: perhaps you're in the state where you actually can't believe that things will get better. That level of desperation does exist, and I've been there once or twice. If you find yourself there, I'd like to share the words of Alma, a prophet from the Book of Mormon (what is the Book of Mormon? Info is here):

"But behold, if ye will... experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe..."
(Alma 32:27)

If you can't believe that things will be okay in the end, then desire to believe. Want things to be better. Want to be able to believe. And if you act on that faith, I know that you'll see the light at the end of the tunnel some day.

I know that there is power in Faith and that it can truly help everyone overcome their challenges. It's helped me overcome mine. I so testify in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Well, until next week, everyone (all 27 of you who have been here. Thanks for coming!)

Keep Moving Forward!

-Elder Richmond

Hello, World

"We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths." -Walt Disney

That's where the name of the blog comes from, and I felt I should pay homage to it (yes, I got it by watching Meet the Robinsons. It's a good movie). As good as that quote is, though, it's not quite what we're looking for here...

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Hello, World! My name is Elder Jesse Richmond. Currently, I'm serving as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. We're often called the Mormons (as you may have noted from the bar to your left). If you have questions about our church, this site (Mormon.org) does an excellent job of explaining everything. If you want to learn more about the missionary program, there's more info here. I've even got a profile on the website; you can visit it and learn more about me and how I live my faith (Me!). 

Now that that's all out of the way...

Missionaries have many duties, many things we need to do. Honestly, though, I came on my mission to help people. Do I believe I can help people by teaching them? By knocking on their doors and inviting them to learn about our church? Yes. But people need other help, too.

In specific, I've found that a lot of people tend to get down and don't know how to get back up. The future, dark and dreary, seems to stretch ahead of them, and they can't see any light. They're not sure what to do: their circumstances aren't the best, and it doesn't necessarily look any better up ahead (I know I've definitely found myself in this situation).

I want to help these people. I want to help you. And, while this blog will talk about many other things, for now I just want to echo the words of Walt Disney (changing them to the imperative) and say:

Keep Moving Forward.

It'll be okay.

Keep Moving Forward.

You can do it.

Keep Moving Forward. 

The future looks terrible. It looks bleak. But, as one who's been in the dark and can't see the light, I can tell you that the only way to get out is to take that first step. Make an effort to find the light. It may not come quickly. The road may not be easy. But a brighter future is there, and you can find it if you're willing to try. All that matters is that you move, and that you move forward.

This blog will update every Thursday, that day in the middle of the week that stands in between the "hump" of the week and the glorious weekend. I've found a lot of people are a bit out of energy and motivation on Thursdays, and I hope I can help.

Until next Thursday, I leave you with the words of Elder Jefferey R. Holland, who has some great things to say on this subject: (Good Things to Come)

Keep trying. Keep smiling. Keep doing your best.

Keep Moving Forward.

-Elder Richmond