Cleansed By Water and By Fire

To repent means to forsake sin, which is knowingly breaking one of God's commandments. To repent means to form a fresh outlook of ourselves, of the world around us, and of God. To repent means to have faith in the Atonement of Christ; His triumph over spiritual death by His suffering and by physical death by His resurrection. We cannot enter into the kingdom of God unclean, we must repent, which is also to be washed clean of our mistakes. We read from the book of Alma in the Book of Mormon, that "no unclean thing can enter into the kingdom of God" (Alma 40:26). So, how do we become clean?

We must do as Christ himself commands, "verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God" (John 3:5). To be "born of water" means to be baptized by immersion, even as Christ was by the priesthood authority. Christ has said "follow thou me" (2 Nephi 31:10), that is pretty straightforward to me. Secondly, we must also be "born of... the Spirit" or be "baptized with fire" (3 Nephi 9:20) in order to enter God's kingdom. This means to receive the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands. When we recieve the gift of the Holy Ghost, also by the priesthood authority, we are completely cleansed of sins. This ordinance is what completes baptism, and that gift--the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost--is what continually cleanses us of our sins as we repent and partake of the sacrament each week at church. We cannot return to our eternal "home" without being baptized by the priesthood authority, as Christ was, and by receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost. I know that to be true. The Holy Ghost has led and guided me, comforted and counciled me, refined and cleansed me. I know that Christ is the "light of the world" (John 8:12) and that He is my Savior and Redeemer. He has provided the example for us, and I know that it is through that example that we can return "home," eternal life with our Father in Heaven.

My love,
Elder Brennan Edwards

Moving Forward

How many times do we linger on the mistakes of the past? I know that I have many times. How do we feel after we think such thoughts? Do we feel good? I know that I don't, and I'd be willing to bet that a lot of you don't either.

When we focus on the past, rather than the future, we limit our potential. We can make up excuses as to why we aren't progressing or being as successful as we would hope, but really; we are the ones holding ourselves back. As soon as we break the chains of the past and look ahead, we will be freed. We will tap into our true potential as sons and daughters of God, we will feel the rush of excitement of a new day and new experiences, and we will relish the opportunity to make a change for the better in our lives and the lives around us. The past is meant to be learned from so we can have a brighter future. Elder Jeffery R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles puts it very nicely, "when we have learned what we need to learn and have brought with us the best that we have experienced, then we look ahead and remember that faith is always pointed toward the future" (The Best Is Yet to Be). Faith is looking ahead, living the gospel of Jesus Christ, and trusting that God knows best. When we look back, as Lot's wife did as her family left the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, we are not exercising faith. We all know what happened to her, she turned into a pillar of salt. Elder Holland states, "God doesn’t care nearly as much about where you have been as He does about where you are and, with His help, where you are willing to go" (The Best Is Yet to Be). Lot's wife, as we see, wasn't exercising faith, and she looked back, even longingly for where she WAS. She didn't look forward to where she would BE

I know that as we "press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, with a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all mankind" (2 Nephi 31:20) we will feel the freedom that comes from letting go of the past. I have such a strong testimony in this; I know that if we endure to the end, and keep the commandments of God, we will be able to enjoy one of His greatest gifts. This promise comes from God Himself, "thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life" (2 Nephi 31:20).

With love,
Elder Brennan Edwards

Roads Through the Fog

Up here in the beautiful city of Fortuna, and the wonderful surrounding areas, we are right next to the coast. Along with the weather up here, and being right next to the coast, the area up here tends to get a lot of fog. The fog settles in and at times it can get quite heavy. I've driven through this fog many times on some back roads and main roads. There is something that I have learned though, the way to make it through the fog without driving off the road into a massive redwood tree, is to look at the lines on the road. The lines on the road would let me know if the road was curving or straight, and then I could handle the car in such a way that would keep my companion and myself from flying off the road. Such as is the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The dream that the Prophet Lehi had explains a similar experience; "and there arose a mist of darkness; yea even an exceedingly great mist of darkness, insomuch that they who had commenced in the path did lose their way, that they wandered off and were lost" (1 Nephi 8:23). There are many of us who are "on the path" but when this fog settles over us, we lose our way. How are we to stay on the path, and fight through all the fog? It has to end sometime right? Well, again, in Lehi's dream he saw, "others pressing forward, and they came forth and caught hold of the end of the rod of iron; and they did press forward through the mists of darkness, clinging to the rod of iron, until they did come forth..." (1 Nephi 8:24). These these that "clung to the rod of iron" were essentially pushing through the fog looking at the lines on the road. It guided them towards their destination. We must hold to this iron rod, which is the word of God so that we can be led towards salvation and eternal life. It will not lead us astray, just as if we are driving on a road and a heavy fog sets in, if we look at the lines in the road, we will not be lost. I know these things to be true; I know that if we hearken to the word of God, he will lead us towards lasting peace and happiness in this life and for eternity.

With love,

Elder Brennan Edwards