Happy Father's Day

     I remember when we would go outside on a Spring's afternoon to play catch when you had other things that you had to do. I remember when we went camping and you showed me how to fish. I remember you faithfully coming to all of my swim meets, no matter how long or how boring they are. I remember you taking me aside and telling me that we were packing up and moving to Europe. I remember you flying out to Utah to drive with me for 20 hours to go home at the end of a semester in college. I can never forget the example that you set, the love you showed me, the patience you had with me, and the wisdom that you shared with me. Thank you for being my dad.

Not only do we have a father here while in this mortal life, but we have an Eternal Father who is in Heaven. We cannot comprehend the love that He has for us. We can see signs of His love for us everywhere; but the most prominent example was when He sent "his only begotten Son, that whosever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life"(John 3:16). God is the "father of spirits" (Hebrews 12:9), He created us all spiritually and then He created us physically in His own likeness and in His own image. Our Heavenly Father is one of compassion, one of mercy, and one of love. Heavenly Father has made it possible, through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, to return to "dwell with [Him] in a state of never-ending happiness" (Mosiah 2:41). Do not believe that you are forgotten. You have a Father in Heaven who loves you. President Dieter F. Uchtdorf stated in the October 2011 General Conference "Brothers and sisters, the most powerful Being in the universe is the Father of your spirit. He knows you. He loves you with a perfect love. God sees you not only as a mortal being on a small planet who lives for a brief season - He sees you as His child. He sees you as the being that you are capable and designed to become. He wants you to know that you matter to Him" (You Matter to Him). I know that because God loves us, He has sent us our earthly fathers.

Dad, thank you for all that you have done for me; for playing catch, teaching me how to fish, supporting me in my various athletic events, and for teaching me the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Happy Father's Day, I love you!

Love,
Your son.

The Miracle of Change

Change. We are always changing throughout our lives. Sometimes, we feel like we don't need to change. I know that I have felt like that, and still do at times. I make up the excuse that "it's just the way I am." I have found that when I feel like I don't need to change, and that I am complacent, that I am lifted up in my pride and, in turn, denying the changing power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

The Atonement of Jesus Christ has power to change the hearts of mankind. I know that a lot of us have been changed, but we cannot afford to be content with where we are. When we begin to be content with who we are and the changes that have been made, we begin to slide backwards into old habits. As we learn and apply the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and especially His Atonement, we will change. President Boyd K. Packer of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles said, "The study of the doctrines of the gospel will improve behavior quicker than a study of behavior will improve behavior." We all can change through a study and application of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If we have faith in the Atonement of Christ, we will experience a "mighty change wrought in [our hearts]" (Alma 5:12). Faith leads to repentance and repentance leads to the remission of our sins so that we can continue to change throughout our lives. I know that change is possible through the Atonement of Jesus Christ; I have been changed forever because of it. I invite all who read this blog to strive to continue to change, and to be "ever grateful and never satisfied" with the changes that have been made, but then to do all that we can to continue to become the child of God that our Father wants us to be.

With love,
Elder Brennan Edwards

Weakness Made Strong

In the Book of Mormon, there are many battles and wars, but one war in particular stands our to me. Around the last 20 chapters of Alma in the Book of Mormon is a record of a war between the Lamanites and the Nephites. Amalickiah (I wrote about him in my post "Who's Cause Will You Follow?") was an apostate Nephite that, through his cunning and murders, became the king of all the Lamanites. He had a hatred towards the Nephites and desired to reign over all the land, over the Nephites and over the Lamanites. He made plans to invade the Nephite lands and he sent his armies to attack the weakest of the cities (Alma 49). However, the Lamanites ran into a few problems, the cities that they believed to be the weakest of the Nephites turned out to be fortified and very strong. Moroni, the leader of all the Nephite armies (he is the same Moroni that I spoke of in that same blog post) trusted in the Lord and used his wisdom to build a defense in these weak cities, so that now they would be strong. Long story short, the Lamanites went to the first city, Ammonihah, and saw how strong the defenses were and they left to what they thought to be the weakest of all the cities, Noah, and it was even more fortified than Ammonihah. The Lamanite army attacked and suffered a huge loss, while the Nephites didn't lose a single person.

So, what do we learn here? In our day, we have many weaknesses, collectively and individuals; I will be the first to admit that I am weak. But, if we fortify our "weakest cities" we will be able to repel the attacks from the devil, just as the Nephites strengthened themselves and repelled a Lamanite invasion. We have weaknesses for a reason. Christ taught "if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men who humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them." I know that if we are obedient to the commandments that we have been given, we will find lasting happiness, even despite our weaknesses. Our weak things can be strong, so that we too, can defend off the invasions of the evil one.

My love,
Elder Brennan Edwards

Who's Cause Will You Follow?

In the Book of Mormon, there is a wicked man named Amalickiah who conspires to overthrow the government and place himself as a king. During this time in the Book of Mormon, there are judges appointed over the land by the voice of the people, and the chief judge is the "head cheese." There were many lower judges that were seeking for power, and with Amalickiah's cunning, he persuaded them to his cause: the cause of captivity under a wicked king. Amalickiah promised these judges that if they would follow and help him take the government over, he would place them as rulers in the kingdom. Despite the exhortations of the prophet Helamen at the time, "there were many in the church who believed in the flattering words of Amalickiah, therefore they dissented even from the church" (Alma 46:7). It's incredible that all these in the church, and out of it, followed after ONE wicked man. It only takes one wicked person to lead many astray.

There is another man, named Moroni, that is the head captain over all of the Nephite armies, and he is a very righteous person who keeps the commandments of God. He hears of the great dissensions caused by Amalickiah and "he was angry with Amalickiah" (Alma 46:11). Moroni, when he heard of these things, "he rent his coat; and took a piece thereof, and wrote upon it--In memory of our God, our religion, and freedom, and our peace, our wives, and our children--and he fastened it upon the end of a pole" (Alma 46:12). After he made the "title of liberty" (Alma 46:13) he put on all of his armor for war. He then, and this is hugely important, "bowed himself to the earth, and he prayed mightily unto his God for the blessings of liberty to rest upon his brethren" (Alma 46:13). After Captain Moroni had done this, he took the Title of Liberty with him throughout the land and called for those who desired to come forth in the strength of the Lord to "maintain their rights, and their religion, that the Lord God may bless them." Now, when the people had heard these things that Moroni had said, the people "came running together with their armor girded about their loins." The people knew that the cause of Moroni was greater than that of Amalickiah, and they literally ran to defend their liberty.

Moroni and those that desired to maintain their rights went to stop the rebellion that Amalickiah had caused. Those that had dissented to follow Amalickiah were "doubtful concerning the justice of the cause in which they had undertaken." Amalickiah saw this amongst his followers, and he went to leave the land to go to the Lamanites (the enemies of the Nephites), therefore Moroni went to head them off so that their enemies, the Lamanites, wouldn't gain any more strength. Moroni accomplished his cause, although Amalickiah and a small band escaped, the majority of the dissenters had been captured and the "title of liberty [was] hoisted upon every tower which was in all the land that was possessed by the Nephites."

There is so much to learn here. If anything, I hope that the message that you received was that the cause of righteousness and liberty by far defeat the cause of captivity and evil. Follow the cause of God, He will lead us towards the light and towards that which is everlasting life. Don't let the flatteries of the wicked turn us away from that which is righteous, recognize their cause, and know that the cause of God is greater.

With love,
Elder Brennan Edwards

Tape Measure Living

We have been taught to follow the example of Jesus Christ, and to walk on the path that leads to eternal life. But, this path is not a broad or wide path, but it is a straight and narrow one. Jesus teaches us in the Book of Mormon, "because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it" (3 Nephi 14). He said that there are FEW that find the end of this path and the reward that awaits, which is eternal life. Why don't very many people make it to the end? Well, it's because they push the boundaries that have been established by God and try to "measure" how far they can stray from the path.

Shouldn't we try to walk right down the middle of the path? There is even an iron rod to hold on to (1 Nephi 8) that will lead us directly to our reward at the end. If we just held fast to this iron rod (which is the word of God) then we would be perfectly fine and be able to walk in Jesus' footsteps all the way to eternal life. But, because we are human, we like to push the limits. Why? Well, it's too hard to live God's commandments, we're lazy, we like to rebel, and there are many more. We will not receive the fullness of joy that comes from living the gospel if we are using a tape measure to see how far from the middle of the path we can stray. God's laws are never-changing, and in a world where morals are ever-changing, it can be hard to stay in the middle of the path. Are we expected to be perfect? No. BUT, we are expected to try the best that we can and aim for the middle of the path. We cannot change the commandments of God, neither can we bend them. Those that live that way hurt themselves every time that they try to measure how far from the middle of the path they can stray, and eventually Satan will "[lead] them by the neck with a flaxen cord, until he bindeth them with his strong cords forever" (2 Nephi 22).

Stay in the middle of the path, follow the Savior's example because He will not lead us astray. If we hold fast to His teachings, and if we obey the commandments that we have been given, we will receieve eternal life. I know that to be true with all my heart.

With love,
Elder Brennan Edwards

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