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