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

Deep vs. Shallow

Have you ever tried to pull up a tree stump? It's not easy, depending on the size. You have to dig around it and dig through the little holes under the roots, and you have to cut some places to loosen it up; it is quite the workout if it is a large tree. It's so hard because the roots are spread out in a wide area under the ground and you have to dig it all up. The more spread out the roots are, the bigger the tree and the harder it is to pull it up. On the other hand, the smaller the roots, the less spread out they are, and the easier they are to pull it up. Now that you know a little bit about trees, exciting as they are, let us tie that in to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

A person with little faith, with a small root system in the gospel, will fall away into darkness easier than one with great faith and a large root system. As we exercise our faith, as we ponder the words of life, and as we come unto Christ, our root system will grow. As we fall into temptation, as we turn away from the Light of Christ, and as we ignore the promptings of the Holy Ghost, our roots will wither away. If we are strong in our faith, we will be strengthened, for "when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo" (Helamen 5:12).

I know that as our faith grow deeper and deeper in the gospel of Christ, it will be harder and harder for the adversary to uproot us. Let us continue to nourish our faith, that it may "be a tree springing up unto everlasting life" (Alma 32:41).

My love,

Elder Brennan Edwards

Inch by Inch

I was a football player for 7 years. Man, did I love football! I loved the physicality of it, the mental toughness, the Friday night games under the lights, it was all just amazing! Nothing felt better than going out against a rival team and butting heads and digging within yourself for that extra push and coming out on top.

Now, when you look a little deeper into what football really is and what it takes to win; it's pretty simple. The team that  pushed harder and made the right decisions usually scores more points. It is a game of inches. Inch by inch, foot by foot, and yard by yard is the game won. Those inches can make all the difference in a tight game; believe me, I've been there.

 The same can be said for the gospel. The slightest "inches" so to speak, can make all the difference! We read in Alma 37:6-7, "by small and simple things are great things come to pass... and by very small means the Lord... bringeth about salvation of many souls." This is a significant statement! The gospel is SIMPLE. All that we need to do is to have faith, repent of our sins, be baptized by the Priesthood authority, recieve the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and endure to the end. The gospel is a game of inches. We move forward slowly, but surely; inch by inch. As we continue to strive to move forward, we will acheive eternal life. We don't have to take leaps and bounds, although that does happen. Sometimes a team wins by throwing a bomb into the end zone which is miraculously caught... but it doesn't happen often. It is also way too easy to make the smallest mistake which then can lose the game. We cannot let ourselves get discouraged by the inches that drive us back; you CAN come back and win. Football teams lose because they get discouraged at the LITTLE mistakes. Do not let that happen. Just like we learn from Alma, "by small and simple things are great things come to pass." Don't let yourself get beat up because you aren't taking huge steps, feel joy when you make the smallest improvement. Afterall, isn't the gospel about progression no matter how big or how small?

With love,
Elder Brennan Edwards

Love

Why did Heavenly Father provide a Savior for us? Why did Jesus Christ, then He was Jehovah, accept the call to suffer for all of mankind's sins? Why do we have the Plan of Salvation? These are a few questions that boil down to 4 letters: LOVE.

If we look deep within ourselves, love is the ultimate motivating factor why we try to live a Christlike life, why we go to church, and why we keep the commandments. Jesus Christ suffered for ALL of us because he loves us, and He wants us to be clean, happy, and return to live with Him and the Father after this life. Because of love for us, Christ sweat great drops of blood for every one of us specifically. As we feel the love of Christ and Heavenly Father in our lives, that love is reflected towards others. Our countenance will shine bright with the love of God.

My life has changed because of the love that my Heavenly Father has for me. I know that Jesus suffered in the Garden of Gethsemane for me, personally, because He loves me. Heavenly Father has provided a way for me, one of His children, to be completely clean and return to live with Him in the Celestial Kingdom. I have NO REASON  to fear because I have God on my side. We cannot allow the adversary to enter into our lives and distill fear, discouragement, or doubt. Satan wants us to feel unloved, but, GOD IS GOOD and He will forgive us of our mistakes through the Atonement of Christ. Why? BECAUSE HE LOVES US. In our darkest times, when we feel the most sorrow, when doubt creeps in, remember; YOU are a child of a LOVING Heavenly Father. "I KNOW IN WHOM I HAVE TRUSTED" (2 Nephi 4:19). Don't fear. Don't doubt. Don't forget.

Love,
Elder Brennan Edwards

Focus on the Mark

Too many times, we overlook the point of being active in church and even more specifically, the gospel. Unfortunately there are some who expend energy on certain gospel principles, whether to build them up or to use them against the church. In either case, it is not healthy for you testimony, and it is looking beyond the mark. The Lord has reveled to us about gospel doctrines, "whosoever declareth more or less than this, the same is not of me" (D&C10:58). We are given simple principles for a reason, not to add to them or make up our own doctrine, but so that we can understand and then follow them. Whenever we try to add on to a principle and elevate it so that it seems more important than other doctrines, or when we take a position contrary to the leaders of the church, we are looking beyond the mark. There are many other ways in which we can miss the point of the gospel such as consecrating our time and efforts upon a condition, instead of consecrating everything to the Lord unconditionally; and we look beyond the mark when we create rules that are not rooted in doctrine. So then the question comes up, what is the mark and what is the point?

The mark is Christ. He taught simple and plain truths so that we can understand His gospel and learn the way to eternal life. When we look beyond the mark and when we miss the point, we look beyond Christ. The Jews missed the point during Christ's ministry and they looked past the rock upon which they should build their foundation. The church, after Christ's death and resurrection, began to look beyond the mark and in effect, it crumbled and the world went into a long period of apostacy. There is a talk "Looking Beyond the Mark" by Elder Quinten L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and I want to finish by quoting him, "One of the great challenges of this life is to accept Christ for who He is: the resurrected Savior of the world, our Redeemer, our Lord and Master, our Advocate with the Father. When He is the foundation for all that we do and are, we avoid the theological blindness that results from looking beyond the mark, and we reap the glorious blessings He has promised us. “Come unto me, ye blessed,” He tells those who follow Him; “there is a place prepared for you in the mansions of my Father” (Enos 1:27)." I know that if we focus on the mark, which is Christ, we will have a solid foundation, our testimonies will be strengthened, and we will be able to stand against Satan and his angels.

With love,
Elder Brennan Edwards