July 9, 2017

This whole year has felt very long, but I knew that July was going to feel short. I now have one more week of my undergraduate studies. The topic that I would like to address is my service to my God.

My God is the father of all mankind's spirits even Jesus Christ's spirit. God prefers the title of Heavenly Father despite his infinite nature because his love for his children. As we were being raised spiritually by our heavenly parents before mortality, he prepared for us to obtain a tangible body of flesh and bones because fullness of joy can only be obtained with a soul, the combination of spirit and body. The fullness of joy prepared by God the Father is to live in his glory and kingdom, having an eternal family like him, who has a body of flesh and bone. No unclean person can live in the Kingdom of God; therefore, he provided a mediator to stand between the justice of God and represent the mercy of God. This dual entity of God is called the Godhead. The only way that God could be merciful, allowing the corrupt man to obtain incorruption, is to have his Son perform the atonement and resurrect. Jesus Christ was the literal son of God through Virgin Mary. This lineage gave him the power to resurrect, and his perfect life enabled him to suffer the atonement. The atonement of Jesus Christ is infinite, satisfying the demands of justice for the sins of man. The Godhead including Jesus Christ and God the Father are both resurrected beings, and Christ's resurrection gives all man immortality after death. God has said "For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." (Moses 1:39) The life in the Kingdom of God, having an eternal family, which is mentioned above, is eternal life. The path that God has set forth for man to follow in order to obtain the mercy and grace of Christ is called the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

The truth of the Gospel has been given to man throughout time by God to men set apart from the world as prophets. They are given the authority to practice the Gospel. The revealing of truth to man by God is called revelation. The authority of God to perform his work is called the priesthood. The Priesthood enables man to establish the church and kingdom of God on the earth. One of the most important practices of the priesthood is to place men under covenants of obedience in order to be given the promise of eternal life. I served as a recorder in a temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, where covenants are administered to people. The covenants need to be recorded in order to be counted in the Kingdom of God. We are seeking to let all man to have the opportunity to choose to take upon themselves the covenants that allow them obtain eternal life by performing the ordinances on their behalf. Most ordinances are covenants. We perform ordinances for both the living and the dead; however, saints can only take covenants for themselves or perform ordinances for dead people as proxy. All mankind need to have the opportunity to choose the gospel despite the fact that people in mortality has not heard the Gospel. The spirits of man are separated from their bodies, when people die, and the Gospel is preached in the spirit world.

These truths have been restored through a prophet in our day, for after Jesus Christ died and all of the apostles were martyred, the true understanding of the Gospel was lost. The Gospel has been restored to the founding prophet of our day Joseph Smith Jr by revelation, and an additional witness of the power of God has been given to man that we can know the truth of the restoration of the Gospel. This witness is called the Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon is a collection of writing of prophets similar to the Bible. I have obtained revelation from God that the Book of Mormon is a true book of scripture, and Joseph Smith Jr. Is a true prophet. He restored the truth, and it is found in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Jesus Christ did establish this church, and he is at the head of it, personally guiding his living prophet today.

Today was my last Sabbath serving the young children from the ages of two to three in the Nursery. I taught them the gospel, teaching the ways of happiness and gratitude. Jessica and I have been serving in the Nursery for more than six months now.

               

                Yesterday was my last day serving as a recorder with Jessica in the Rexburg temple. The one thing that I wanted to point out about the shift that I worked is that the temple felt extraordinarily familial because practically every time that I walked out of my office I ran into someone that I knew. If you come to visit the church, temple, or a visitor center, you will be treated as family because we are all siblings, since we are all children of God.