Searching the Pages for Peace

In the image-based culture by which we are constantly surrounded, it is easy to get caught up in what we are wearing and how we look. In current media and modern fashions, clothing is far from modest, and it is so simple to become frustrated when we are unable to fit in with the rest of the world and wear the same clothes as everyone else. Satan, through use of social media, advertising, and other forms of communication like movies and tv shows, has done a very good job at convincing many of us that immodest clothing looks better and would be more fun to wear than the modest alternative. However, what he is saying is a lie! In the Book of Mormon, it specifically says that the Nephites "did not wear costly apparel, yet they were neat and comely" (Alma 1:27). Comely is defined as "attractive," coming from a word in Old English which meant "lovely, glorious, or fine" and was used to describe many things, including fine clothing. Oftentimes, we become bl...

"My soul hath been  redeemed  from the gall of bitterness and bonds of iniquity. I was in the darkest abyss; but now I behold the marvelous light of God. My soul was racked with eternal torment; but I am snatched, and my soul is pained no more." -Mosiah 27:29 Alma (the Younger) was once "a very wicked and an  idolatrous  man" (Mosiah 27:8). He influenced people for bad and  furthered the work of the devil. He must have seemed so far gone. Spoiler: he was not too far gone. "The Lord hath seen fit to snatch me out of an everlasting burning, and I am born of God," he said (Mosiah 27:28). Eventually, Alma and his friends became "instruments in the hands of God in bringing many to the knowledge of the truth, yea, to the knowledge of their Redeemer" (Mosiah 27:36). What a 180! If Alma can bounce back from that destructive of a past, then so can you! No one is ever in too deep to reach the Savior's extended hand. "Rely on the Lord, f...

"Where do I fit?" "How will I find my place?" "Where do I go from here?" These questions, and many more like them, come to all of us at one point or another in our lives. What is the right thing to do? Which fork should you take in your journey through life? "...whosoever putteth his trust in him the same shall be lifted up at the last day" (Mosiah 23:22). Lifted up in exaltation, but also lifted up from beneath crushing trials? Lifted up into peace of mind when it seems as though you are drowning in depression and worry and doubt? This scripture obviously alludes to the last day when Christ shall come again and the Resurrection will occur, but I know that Heavenly Father does buoy up His servants in their hard times if they are putting their trust in Him. Use Him as your life preserver, let Him keep you afloat and your head above water. Put your trust in Him and He will not let you drown. "...they were brought into bondage, and no...

"...lift up your heads and be comforted; for behold, the time is at hand, or is not far distant, when we shall no longer be in subjection to our enemies..." (Mosiah 7:18) Don't give up now. Not after you have come so far. Don't let all your hard work and fight go to waste. One day, perhaps in a long time, perhaps in a short time, you will find yourself at Judgement, and it will all either be worth it, or you will find yourself wishing you'd held on a little longer. Don't let yourself finish with regrets. Every day, we come closer and closer to the Second Coming of Christ and the end of this long test. We already know who the winners will be at that day-- at the end of the battle between Satan and the Lord. It will be the Lord. We know this. "Therefore, lift up your heads, and rejoice, and put your trust in God..." (Mosiah 7:19) I am on the Lord's team, and I know that He will come off conqueror, and so will I for as long as I remain at ...

"He is the light and the life of the world; yea, a light that is endless, that can never be darkened; yea, and also a life which is endless, that there can be no more death." Mosiah 16:9 We feel alone at times in life. We feel unloved and unwanted and we wonder...why? Surely we are doing what is right.  We forget that even Christ was "despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief...surely he has borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows...But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed" (Mosiah 14:3-5). Christ went through the same pattern as us, too, on a much more intense level. We can find solace in the knowledge that Christ, too, a perfect being, was despised and rejected, alone, and persecuted. He was like us in the regard that "he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bore the sins of many, and made in...

"There is 'undeserved' agony. There is 'unearned' anguish which is unrelated to error, and which the disciple will experience. Even so, the Christian knows he is in the hands of a merciful but tutoring God whose intent is that for developmental and salvational reasons, the disciple be 'added upon.'" -Neal A. Maxwell  It is common during trials for people to ask, "why me?" or "what have I done to deserve this?" when really sometimes we receive hard times because we are doing well and what's right. "There is no growth in the comfort zone" but, unfortunately, also "no comfort in the growth zone." Let's do our best to accept this discomfort with a positive, disciple-like attitude. I forget sometimes that not all hard things mean I'm doing something wrong. It is easy to assume that hardships are an indication of guilt. Trials are sometimes given for our benefit and in order to refine us and make us be...