The Legend of Stu

Photo Courtesy of LDS.org

This entry of Keep Moving Forward is written in honor of Elder Nelson, my previous mission companion (see his mormon.org profile). If it hadn't been for serving nearly three months with you and listening to all your stories about "the river," I probably never would have thought of this post.

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Let's say you're looking to take a trip down the nearby Delavida River. You've got all the necessary supplies; boat, life jackets, paddles, oar, etc. You're just lacking one thing: a river guide. You've never been down the river before, and at least for this first time, you don't want to go it alone.

You consider looking in the phonebook (who am I kidding, no one looks in the phonebook anymore) looking online for some established river expedition companies, but then you get a better idea. Using your handy-dandy time machine, you zip back in time in search of Stu Williams, the first man to ever explore the river. You really want the trip to be authentic, and you figure he probably knows the river better than anyone else.

So, you jump back to the 1840's, find Stu, convince him you're not some kind of alien or wizard, and then eventually bring him to the future, promising to show him the wonders of our day (iPhone's, airplanes, flush toilets, etc.). You take him to a pond so that he can familiarize himself with modern boating equipment, and after a bit of practice, Stu says he's ready to take you down the river. So, you round up a few friends, and early the next morning you all disembark down the Delavida.

The trip is quite laid back at first. The river is calm, only requiring occasional paddling from you and a bit of steering from Stu in the back with the oars. While you float on, Stu tells you all about the history of the river and all the thrills of navigating its rapids and other hazards.

"Speakin' of which," says Stu, craning his head to the side, "pull 'er to the starboard, everyone. Don't want to run into ol' Nellie."

"Which side is starboard again?" your friend Steve pipes up.

"To th' right," says Stu, grunting as he heaves at the oars.

You follow his advice, even though you can't see any reason why. As you round the bend, though, you see Nellie, an ancient willow tree growing out of the side of the canyon wall.

"That's it? An old willow tree?" you remark.

"That might look like just another willow tree, but you can be sure there's a swarm of hornets livin' up in Nellie's branches," says Stu. Sure enough, as you pass by the tree you hear the steady drone of the insects at work.

In front of you, your friend Malorie shudders.

"Ugh. I'm glad we've got you here, Stu. I'm allergic to hornets."

"Happy to oblige," is all Stu replies, but you see a warm smile cross his face. You can tell he's enjoying himself.

"When's the next hazard?" you ask, wanting to stow your paddle for a second to drink some water.

"Well, if I reckon correctly, we should have a couple more miles of smooth sailin' until we hit another tricky bit..." Stu strokes his beard as he ponders the river.

"What's that noise then?" asks Kim, sitting up at the front.

Stu pauses, confused, listening to the river. You hear it too: the rushing of running water.

"What in tarnation..." mutters Stu. Before he has time to say anything else, your boat rounds the next corner, heading straight for a formidable whirlpool.

"Port! Port!" yells Stu, rowing with his might.

"Which one is port--"

"Left, confound it! Left!" yells Stu, cutting off Steve's question.

You all paddle frantically, seeking to cut across the whirlpool's outer edge. For a few frightening seconds, it seems as though you'll be sucked in, but eventually you pull through and shoot out of the pool's grasp. Panting, you all stow your paddles and try to catch your breath.

"What was that all about?" you ask between breaths.

"I'm not entirely sure," Stu remarks, taking off his hat and wiping his balding head. "I remember there being a little eddy around these parts, but nothing that powerful...things seem to have changed..."

Just as he says that, you pick up the sound of more rushing water.

"Stu?..." Kim asks timidly from the front.

Stu says something under his breath. You round another corner, and find yourselves facing  a sizable waterfall, created by two fallen boulders.

"What do we do?" you ask, not sure what way to paddle.

"Heck if I know! Hold tight!" yells Stu, looping his arm through a line running around the boat. You start to do the same, but not before the little boat plunges over the waterfall. The impact with the river below throws everyone except Stu from the boat. Thankfully, as you surface, you see that everyone seems to have made it through alright.

"Hang on! I'm comin' round to pick you up! Just lay on your back with your feet downriver!" Stu shouts, rowing frantically. You do what he says, but as you wait, you can't help but wonder if taking him along was the best idea after all...

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So, what do we take from this perilous adventure with an ancient river guide? A lesson about guidance in this life. Perhaps you picked up that the river Delavida would really be the river de la vida in Spanish, or the river of life (boy, I'm clever, aren't I?). So, in that case, who is Stu? I've been thinking of Stu, in this case, as the Scriptures.

As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, we study the Bible and consider it the word of God, as far as it is translated correctly (Articles of Faith 1:9) (to hear other members' thoughts about the Bible, head over to mormon.org). It's words give us guidance and support. I absolutely love reading the words of Christ in the New Testament; Matthew Chapter 5 and John Chapter 15 especially have found a special place in my heart.

When the Restoration of the Church took place in the 1830's, another book of scripture came forth: The Book of Mormon. This book, written by ancient prophets in the Americas, serves as another testament of Jesus Christ. It contains his words and his teachings, and supports the Bible. Together, the Book of Mormon and the Bible proclaim the truth and confound false doctrines (see 2 Nephi 3:12; the "fruit of the loins of Judah" are the jewish people (who wrote the bible), the "fruit of thy loins" (in this case referring to Joseph of Egypt) are the people described in the Book of Mormon, whom authored said book).

In addition, God revealed many things concerning His kingdom to Joseph Smith. These revelations were compiled in two other books of scripture, The Doctrine and Covenants, and The Pearl of Great Price.

So, what with all these scriptures, aren't we well enough off? Shouldn't we be able to handle things pretty well with all these words of the Prophets?

In a word, no.

Just as changes had taken place in the river that Stu couldn't navigate, with only the words of prophets of times of old, we won't be able to get all the guidance we need. There's a wonderful quote from a General Authority (which I can't find at the moment) that says that, even if we had all the lost or missing scriptures in the world (the sealed portion of the Revelation of John, the rest of the plates of Ether, etc.), it would still be impossible to run the Church without living, current revelation. The words of the previous prophets can give us a marvelous base, to be sure, and we may be able to conquer some of the trials we face today based on those principles. But the bottom line is, we need modern revelation.

That's why millions of Church members flock to listen to General Conference. That's why I tear through every issue of the Ensign (the Church's monthly magazine) I can get my hands on. That's why we really, really mean it when we sing "We Thank Thee, O God, For A Prophet" (Hymns, #19)

I know that God lives and loves us. I know that He knows how to help us overcome any and all trials or problems we may face in this life. I know that He sends us Prophets in order to do so. I know that the Prophets and Apostles on the earth today are called of God, and they speak the words of God. I invite all of you to hearken to their words. I do so in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Have a great week! Keep Moving Forward!

-Elder Richmond

Cubans, Astronauts, and Commandments

Welcome back! I hope you all enjoyed Conference! Elder Holland was definitely on the soothing side this go around. In general, I thought the conference was fantastic; I received many answers to my questions and felt God's Spirit strongly.

So, as a Spanish missionary here in Florida, I have the amazing opportunity to speak with Hispanic people from all over the world. I've met people from Peru, Chile, Bolivia, Spain, Puerto Rico and Uruguay, to name a few. Here in Jacksonville, I've had the chance to talk to a group of people I've especially grown to love: Cubans.

Before my mission, I didn't know a lot about Cuba or Cubans. I knew that it was in the Caribbean (a map of Cuba here, provided by the LDS church. Which gets its maps from Google), that their cigars were supposedly high quality (not that I'd ever smoke one--The Word of Wisdom (scroll down to find it) says that's not a good idea), and that their Spanish was a bit mumbly and hard to understand.

As I've talked with Cubans, I've found out a few things. For one, their way of speaking is, in fact, a bit hard to understand at first. You get used to it after a while, but there's still a particular man from Havanna that's just about impossible to figure out (we love him anyway). For another, they love to talk. They also love to read. They're very open and relaxed; most are pretty friendly. In general, they're a likeable people.

From recent conversations with some Cuban friends, I've also found out a bit about the actual country of Cuba. They say that the land is beautiful and there are stunning islands all around. But, they're not allowed to go there. In fact, Cubans aren't given free reign over a lot of things, due to the communist government currently in place. For the poorer people, you're told where to go, what to buy at the store, what to do for work. If your scores on scholastic tests aren't high enough, you're required to give military service for two years. Even if you do well in school, it can be hard to get around or even leave the country if you want. Few Cubans I've talked to say they want to go back.

Why does this matter? Well, a conversation with one Cuban in particular got me thinking. We were talking about all the restrictions in Cuba, and somehow the conversation turned to us talking about the missionary rules. The Church is known for its high standards of membership in general, but missionaries are asked to follow even more guidelines. We get up and go to bed early, we don't watch tv or go to the movies, we don't swim, and we only call our families on Christmas and Mothers' Day (not including weekly emails). All of these guidelines have been put in to place to help us better be able to do the work and help other people. However, after sharing some of these standards with our Cuban friend, he sat back and shook his head.

"Wow," he said (translated from Spanish). "I could never do it. After finally leaving all of that behind [he'd just finished describing the rigorous military service], I could never limit myself like that."

Stemming from that conversation, I believe, was the idea for this entry. I was thinking about things while shaving (I get a lot of good thinking done then), and a voice (not my own) came into my head and said:

"Wow, the commandments sure are restrictive, aren't they?"

To which I responded (in my head):

"Maybe they are restrictive. Seatbelts are pretty restrictive too, come to think of it. In fact, when you're in an accident, they tighten up and make it so you can barely move at all."

I then went on,

"Do you know what else is restrictive? Space suits. Astronauts can barely move around in those things."

Satisfied, I kept on with my shaving.

The point here is that the commandments, although they're "restrictive" (which is debatable), are there to help us. Just as seatbelts keep us safe during accidents and space suits keep astronauts secure when they travel to the moon, the commandments keep us safe as we go throughout this life.

The devil's advocate inside of me wasn't done, though.

"Hah! You think you've got it all figured out. Sure, we need things to protect us when we're in danger. But that's just the thing; we're not in danger! You don't need a seatbelt when you're parked in a parking lot! You don't need a space suit if you're just going for a walk on the beach!"

"Well, do you need any kind of protection if you're just walking on the beach?"

"No! You're free! You could even run around--"

I think he was about to suggest that I go running around the beach naked, but I cut him off.

"What about sunburns? What about skin cancer? Even if you're on the beach, you still need protection; you need sunscreen!"

And I think around then I moved on to thinking about other things.

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Taking a step back, the Devil's Advocate is right. There may be many situations where there are seemingly few or no consequences to breaking God's laws. This, I think, is a big reason why so many people don't care. But, just like hanging out on the beach without sunscreen, we'll eventually feel the consequences of our actions. It may not even be in a sunburn the next day (I very rarely get those), but somewhere along the line we are going to realize the damage we have done to our skin by neglecting our sunscreen. Similarly, the effects of sin may not manifest in days, weeks, months, or even years. It's possible we may not even see them in our lifetimes. But, if we continue to willingly disregard counsel from our Loving Heavenly Father (who would never ask us to do something that would limit our happiness), there will come a day when we'll have to stand before Him and realize what we've done.

President Boyd K. Packer of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles summed it up nicely (in a great Ensign Article by D. Todd Christofferson on the subject of obedience):

“We are not obedient because we are blind, we are obedient because we can see.”

 We don't follow God's laws because someone's just telling us to; we do it because we have long-term vision, and we know that a brighter future lays in store if we do.

I know that God lives and loves us. I know that He sent us here to earth in order to be happy, and to prove ourselves worthy of returning to live with Him after this life. I know that He didn't want us to fumble blindly, wondering what to do in this life, so He gave us commandments through His prophets. And I know from experience that living according to the commandments blesses us and helps us receive all the happiness Our Father in Heaven intends us to have. I so testify in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Have a great Sunday (Keep the Sabbath Day Holy)! Keep Moving Forward!

-Elder Richmond

Photo courtesy of LDS.org

On Righteous Indignation and Loving Words

It's Conference time, brothers and sisters! By which I mean General Conference time! What is General Conference? It's one of the best things to happen twice a year, in my opinion (for a news release about conference, check out the Mormon Newsroom. Also, check out this nifty infographic )

General Conference is held twice a year. It consists of a series of talks and sermons by the leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The words of the speakers are powerful, and more importantly, they're for our day (we'll talk about that in a later post).

While all of the speakers (and I mean all) give powerful messages, you tend to see some crowd favorites. One is President Dieter F. Uchtdorf (see his bio on lds.org), well known for his accent and stories about Aviation. Another is President Thomas S. Monson, (his bio), who draws masterfully upon his 50 years of service as an Apostle to tell engaging stories.

And then there's Jeffrey R. Holland, or as some have called him, "The Bulldog of the Lord."

I could talk about what makes Elder Holland an engaging speaker, but I figured I'd show you instead.

We'll first examine a well-known talk of Elder Holland's, entitled "Safety for the Soul." (If you have time, I highly recommend watching the whole talk. If not, watch from around 5:50 until 13:20 (again, you might as well watch the whole thing)) (Full Text Here)

Let that version of Elder Holland settle for a bit in your consciousness, then watch this next clip, from a later conference address entitled "Because of Your Faith." (Again; you might as well watch the whole talk. But, the part we'll focus on runs from 7:03-12:20). (Full Text Here)



That's quite the difference, isn't it? In one talk, Elder Holland is raising his voice and spitting fire, defending the truth of the Book of Mormon (which I also know to be true). In the other, he's calm and quiet, as he humbly thanks his parents for the sacrifices they made to help him have the life he has (which I would also like to do at this time. I'd be nowhere without my two parents. Keep Being Amazing, Mom and Dad. Keep Moving Forward).

Both talks may bring the listener to tears, but here's the question of the day; which one is better? Or, in other words: Elder Holland is an Apostle, a Special Witness of Jesus Christ. It is his duty to teach in a Christlike manner; in which talk did he do a better job of fulfilling this purpose?

To decide, let's examine two examples from the Savior's life depicted in the Bible Videos produced by the church. (Bible Video Home Page) These two incidents, recorded in the Gospel of John, take place one after the other.
First,

Then,
So, let's review. In one of the videos, Jesus tenderly forgives a woman who has committed adultery, a sin that the Book of Mormon prophet Alma says is "an abomination in the sight of the Lord; yea, most abominable above all sins save it be the shedding of innocent blood or denying the Holy Ghost." (Alma 39:5)
In the other, he severely chastises a group of Pharisees, calling them children of the devil (if you don't feel that's harsh enough, look no further than this video [Jesus Cleanses the Temple]). So, like Elder Holland, at times he was gentle, at others he was more forceful.

So what do we do? Though we're not Apostles or Prophets, almost all of us find ourselves in teaching moments where we need to instruct or correct someone else. Do we do it gently or forcefully?

As I've discussed this with my current missionary companion, Elder Pope (check out Elder Pope's Mormon.org profile here) we've found two guiding principles for the way in which we teach. Whenever we find ourselves in one of these situations, we must teach:

1) Out of love

and

2) By the Spirit,

As both Jesus and Elder Holland did. There's no one-size-fits-all solution to teaching. Just as we're all individuals, we all learn differently, and we all need to hear the message of the Gospel in our own way. Some of us will respond to a gentle nudge or mild reproof. Others will only listen as they feel the heat of a fiery sermon. No matter what, so long as the teacher seeks to teach his listeners in a loving, Spirit-guided way, the learners will hear what they need to hear and how they need to hear it.

In the end, I have no idea what Elder Holland is going to do this Conference. That goes for him and all of the other Prophets and Apostles. But what I do know is that they have spent countless hours preparing for this occasion, and if we're willing to listen to them and the Spirit, we'll come away edified, with a better idea of what God wants us to do.

I know that God lives and loves us. I know that He has called Prophets and Apostles in our days, and I know that they teach us in His way. I eagerly look forward to hearing their words this weekend, and I invite you all to do so as well (watch it online here, on BYUTV, or at a chapel near you). I say these things in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen.

Happy Conference watching!

-Elder Richmond

How Atheists are Sometimes Right (Part 3)

Welcome back! This is the final look at Atheism and how it relates to my beliefs (to reiterate: Mormons believe in God and aren't Atheist. Thank You).

We've already examined a couple of statements about God's nature; why He lets bad things happen, and how He can still exist, standing with the laws of science. This post's statement is similar to the first:

"There's so much evil in the world; so many bad people doing bad things. You say God hates sin and evil, and yet I see it all around me. So, I don't believe He exists."

Which, once more, I'll rephrase:

"I don't believe in an all-powerful being who makes everyone live right."

And I don't believe it, either.

To be sure, God wants us to live righteously, and He's overjoyed when we live the commandments and do what's right. But, that doesn't mean that He'll eradicate evil any time He sees it.

Why not? It has to deal with what really matters to God, and that is Agency, or the ability to choose.

Think for a second: what is really yours in this world? What is something that no one, no matter how hard they try, can take from you?

Victor Frankl found the answer as he suffered in a concentration camp. He saw some men turn into animals; fathers would steal food from their own sons. But, he also saw prisoners, starved and emaciated, giving away their crusts of bread to those around them. Impossible as it seemed, they were smiling. What made the difference?

They chose to be happy. They chose not to be controlled by their circumstances. They were as tired and hungry and weak as all the others, but they chose not to let it break them. And nothing in the world could take that ability to choose from that. (For a better description, see "Man's Search for Meaning", by Victor Frankl)

To be sure, God wants us to keep His commandments. He has given them to us for our benefit; He knows that we'll be able to find the greatest possible happiness in this life (and a place to live with Him in the eternities) if we follow them. But He also knows that, in order for our obedience to mean anything, it has to be our choice. Forced obedience means nothing, but chosen obedience means the world. Our wills really are the only thing in this world that God won't ever choose to take away from us, and so our giving them to Him is the ultimate expression of love.

For this reason, God won't simply send down a lightning bolt to eliminate evil. He is sad when we sin. Very, very sad. But He knows that, if any of this world is going to be worth anything, we have to be able to choose.

As Lehi, the Book of Mormon prophet (who we've already quoted a lot in this series) put it:

"Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself." (2 Nephi 2:27)

I know that God lives and that He loves us so very, very much. He loves us so much that He lets us make our own decisions, even when those decisions hurt others and distance ourselves from Him. I also know that He's given us a way to make up for our mistakes and to right our wrongs. And I know that what He wants the most is for all of us to choose to do what it takes to make it back. I so testify in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Well, thanks for reading everyone! In the next few posts, we'll be gearing up for General Conference, which takes place on October 5-6. The windows of heaven are about to open up and pour out knowledge from our Heavenly Father. Let's get ready for it!

-Elder Richmond

Alma 30:44

In the midst of thinking about my ideas for "Why Atheists are Sometimes Right," I was pondering Alma 30:44 (which I mentioned in the last post), and figured I'd try to do some stickies of it. I'm pretty satisfied with the end result.

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I know that God, our Heavenly Father, created this and all the other worlds, and I know that all of His creations indeed witness that He created them. I'm thankful for the opportunity I have to be here and to enjoy everything He has made. I so say in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

-Elder Richmond

How Atheists are Sometimes Right (Part 2)

[Note: As stated previously, even though I'll be comparing atheism and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, members of said church are not atheist. We believe in God, the Eternal Father. Thank you.]

Welcome Back!

So, as we were discussing earlier, I've been thinking about Atheism recently, and pondering how its beliefs sometimes line up with mine. Today, we'll look at another statement, one that hits rather near and dear to me: Science. (If you didn't know, I'm a Physics Major. Check out my mormon.org page for a bit more info about me)

Here's the idea:

"I believe in Science; there's solid, concrete evidence to back it up. And from what we can see from Science, there's no room for God in the equation."


Or, in other words,

"With what we know about Science and Religion, I don't see how the two can mix. I don't know how God and the Big Bang theory (for example) can coexist."

And I don't really know, either. At least, not exactly.

Before we say anything else, I'd like to offer a viewpoint. From studying Physics for only a year, I've run into lots of theories and equations, and I've found something interesting. Science can be beautiful. Science can be elegant. Of all the craziness of this world, there are some very simple and clean principles that govern it. I take that to mean that someone designed everything, that someone took great care into shaping our universe. As Alma put it, "All things [even Physics equations] denote there is a God." (Alma 30:44)

But, on to a more general solution.

The problem with the statements above is that they're static. They assume that we've already learned all we can about a certain subject. This, of course, is foolish. I'd wager that scientists in the 1910's felt pretty confident about what they were studying, and yet they'd be dazzled by everything we know today. And I'll bet that the people in 2113 are going to be pretty far ahead of what we know.

This applies as much to Religion as it does to Science. To quote the Ninth Article of Faith:

" We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God." (Articles of Faith 9)

So, we're not done learning about Religion or Science. And, I believe that one day we will close the gap.

The same situation is actually very closely mirrored in the scientific world today. Right now, a big challenge in Physics is to create "The Theory of Everything." This was something that Albert Einstein attempted, but didn't accomplish.

Here's how it goes: There are two overseeing theories in Physics: Relativity, and Quantum Mechanics (I'm over simplifying here). Relativity deals with the motion of really big things; Quantum Mechanics deals with the motion of incredibly small things. Both theories have principles that are true and are measurable. Relativity helps your GPS to work; Quantum Mechanics lets you talk on a cellphone. However, the two theories don't match up snugly. If one is to be completely true, then the other one can't be. But, do scientists stubbornly pick one theory and say the other is ludicrous? No. They admit that they don't know everything, and they keep researching both sides of the coin, working toward a common solution.

This is the same attitude we all need to take on the subject of Science vs. Religion. The two don't have to be stalwart opponents; on the contrary, they're two sides of the same coin. As Latter-Day Saints, we're told to seek after "anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy" (Articles of Faith 13). Basically, if anything in the world is true, we believe it to be part of the Gospel.

I know that God lives, and that He created the heavens and the earth. I know that he wants us to learn all we can about everything that is true. I know He loves us, and wants us to return to live with Him again. And I know that we can gain a witness of these things through prayer. I so testify in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

-Elder Richmond

How Atheists are Sometimes Right (Part 1)

[Notice: I want to make it completely clear before we start: As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, we believe in God, our Heavenly Father. (See Article of Faith 1). This post will compare and contrast certain beliefs of ours with those of Atheists, but church members ("Mormons") are Christians, and believe in Diety.]

As missionaries, we talk to a lot of people. From what I've seen (which is possibly biased because most of the people I talk to are Hispanic), most of them believe in God. They have different senses of who He is or what He does, but they believe in Him, regardless. Even the few agnostics I've met believe in a higher "something;" they're just not sure whether that something is God or some other force.

Very rarely have I encountered a pure atheist: someone who absolutely believes there is no God, nor a higher power like God. They stand out in the crowd of theology.

As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, we stand out, too. We're Christians, like many, but some of our beliefs, like the Restoration of the Gospel (see mormon.org for more info) put us add odds with those of different faiths.

As I've thought about how the two groups, Mormons and Atheists, sometimes get attacked because of what they believe, it made me think about what exactly we're defending. And, in pondering some of the statements Atheists have made, I find that I agree.

How is this possible? Let's take a look:

Most atheists I know of don't just simply not believe in God; they have reasons for it. We'll consider three common atheistic statements, and see if we can't find some common ground.

Statement 1: "I don't believe that God exists because of all the terrible things that happen in this world. If there really was a loving, caring, all-powerful being governing the universe, He wouldn't let such things happen."

In considering this (and the other statements), I'll rephrase just a bit:

"I don't believe in an all-powerful Being who takes away all of the pains and tragedies in this world."

And neither do I.

To be certain, God is our loving Heavenly Father. As John put it, "God is love," (1 John 4:16), and He has all the power imaginable. If He wanted, he could take away all the natural disasters, all the pains and sicknesses, and all the evils of this world. But, as is apparent from daily life, He doesn't do this. Why not?

We'll turn to the writings of a Book of Mormon prophet, Lehi. In his final words of counsel to his posterity, he spoke at length about happiness and the purpose of his life. In part of his remarks, he firmly decrees that "men are, that they might have joy." (2 Nephi 2:25) In the same sermon, though, Lehi also states:

"For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so,... righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad." (2 Nephi 2:11)

Essentially, Lehi is saying that there have to be two opposites in order to make a comparison. In order to know happiness, we also need to know what sadness is. If we really want to understand joy, we'll have to understand sorrow as well. Lehi teaches us that the point of this life is not to try and make it through with as few bumps or bruises as possible. We need to learn what's bad in this life so that we can more fully appreciate what's good. And, thanks to the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we always have someone we can turn to when life gets rough. Christ suffered everything that we will suffer (See Alma 7:11-12), and so he knows exactly what we need to feel better. And, if we turn to Him through prayer and obedience to His gospel, He'll make us whole again.

God loves us. He loves us so much that he sent us here to this earth so we could come to understand true happiness. And He loves us so much that he sent his Son to earth, so that all that is unjust or unfair might be made right again.

I so testify in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

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Thanks for reading! See you next time! Keep Moving Forward!

-Elder Richmond