Quick Re-Amp

So you may notice something different about the blog site. We as missionaries have been instructed to spend more time on the computer for internet proselyting, so I decided to shake things up a bit. I'll also be trying to organize it so that the discussions will be in one page and others on different one. So, I hope you enjoy the changes, any comments, suggestions, questions will be appreciated.

-Elder Bryson

Ministering and Administering

So, I've been thinking about how the Gospel of Jesus Christ actually helps us. I've nailed it down to two points. Ministering and administering. So, with ministering, others are helping us! We are being guided, taught, and comforted by those who do this. This is how we learn of and how the gospel blesses us! We need to learn how to do it before we do it. We find many accounts in the Holy Bible and the Book of Mormon of people being ministered to. Nephi, Jacob, Mormon, Moroni, etc. It is essential to have those who can minister to us. There is also the other side of the scale, which is equally important. We need to administer. When we administer to those who need help, or anything to that nature. It is how we apply what we learned when we were being ministered to! It A) shows God that we understand His doctrine, B) it helps us have the gospel be applied into our lives! and C) we learn how much we still have to learn, or be ministered. I like to use Christ as perfect example of one who was ministered and administered. He let people serve him. He let them do a variety of things for him! But, we all know that He did everything to serve others! He, again, was a perfect example of these two things. Again, when we administer to others, we are only administering to our Father! When we are in the service of our fellow beings, we are only in the service of our God. We will find ourselves being blessed by administering, not being ministered. We show God that we choose to follow Him and that we understand what we need to do when we do this. It is how His church was supposed to be run! By those who want to serve others. His church could not stand if only one person was the administer and everyone else was being ministered. The bishop serves the ward, while ward members are called to positions in the church to serve the bishop in their areas. It's one big circle of service. I testify that we are blessed more than anyone could imagine when we put ourselves last and put God first by serving others. I say these things in His name Jesus Christ, Amen.

The Restoration: Summarry

This is the last post about the Restoration. This one is kind of my own, it's a summary of the key points of the past posts. So...let's get to it!

God is our loving Heavenly Father:
Remember that all the principles talked about all tie into that God loves us! This is a wonderful thing to know! If we keep this knowledge with us when trials happen in our lives, we are able to overcome them realizing that He was with us and is still with us.

The Gospel Blesses Individuals and Families:
So everything in the Gospel of Jesus Christ is meant to bless us personally and as a family. The Family is key to our Heavenly Fathers plan. He wants it to succeed so we can succeed. So He gave us His Gospel to guide us and our families.

God Reveals His Plan to His Servants, the Prophets:
To reveal His Gospel and His will, God has called prophets to do his will. Moses, Noah, Enoch, Etc. They all recieved revelation to guide His church and his people. I forgot to post something that I like to say. The world is like a dark room. Can't see anything. To shine some light on the subject of what to do and why we are there, He gave us revelations. They are like a small light at first, only lighting a little bit at a time. The more revelation we recieve, the more light we get. Until eventually, one day, it will be as bright as the noon day sun! Thats why we need prophets, to help us out even more in this crazy and dying world.

Christ Established His Church on the Earth:
When Christ came on the earth to perform the Atonement, he also set up his church! He called apostles and gave them priesthood power to run his church. He was still in charge of his church when he ascended into heaven. He gave the apostles revelation to do what he wanted to be done!

The Great Apostasy:
Like times of old, people began to reject the prophets and/or apostles. They eventually killed them and when that was done, no one had the power to recieve revelation for the world. The church was then split into different groups of people who had different ideas on what the Gospel of Jesus Christ was! Hundreds of churches were born during this period. We believe that these churches taught truth and the people tried to live the best they could! But, they did not have the whole truth.

Joseph Smith, the Prophet of the Restoration:
Joseph Smith, was confused on what church was the one to join. There is one Lord and one faith and one baptism. He went into a grove of trees and kneeled down to ask God what he should do. The Father and the Son appeared to him, called him to be a prophet to restore the church that Christ established on the earth. This also involved the restoration of the priesthood! Giving Joseph Smith the power to recieve revelation for the church and the world.

The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ:
The Book of Mormon is evidence that God loves us! It is also eveidence that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God! We are asked to read it and to ask God if it is true! You will find you faith in Christ strengthened when you read it. You will know by the power of the Holy Ghost that it is true! The Holy Ghost will testify to you that it is true!

That pretty much wraps up the summary. If you have any question, you can comment on the bottom of this page. I would like to close with my testimony. I know that this church is true. It is what Christ taught when he was here on this earth. He loves us, He calls prophets to help guide us toward him! He did that with Joseph Smith. He was called to restore the Gospel of Jesus Christ on the earth. The Book of Mormon is evidence of that. Read it. It will bless you more than you can possibly imagine. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

The Restoration: The Book of Mormon

So, I know that I already made a post about the Book of Mormon, but I need to tie this to the order of the principles that I posted previously. So, I already told you why the Book of Mormon is so important to us, but it was the only way to restore the fullness of the gospel back on the earth. God knew that there would be skepticism from the claim of Joseph Smith. So, He provided evidence to support Joseph. I would like to stray a little bit and talk about "evidence". Evidence is not solid proof. It's more of a lead, which is why investigators who work on crimes collect enough evidence to prove their point, or to solidify their conclusion. So when some one says to prove to me that the Book of Mormon is real, I frankly can't. Nor will God prove the Book of Mormon or the Bible. He will provide us "evidence", but won't out rightly prove to us what is true or not. He wants us to have that faith, that faith to believe in what he gives us. Christ when he was on the earth, performed many miracles on the earth that proved himself as the Messiah prophesied to come. But, the pharisees and the sadducees still would not believe. They had all the evidence in the world, but would not believe because they had NO faith to believe. Likewise, it goes the sameway for the Book of Mormon. We need to want to believe it. We need to have that faith that Christ talked about, faith like unto a mustard seed. He is also not going to lead you by blind faith, He will confirm it to you by the Holy Ghost! There is a scripture I would like to read, it's in Ether 4:11 it says:

"But he that believeth these things which I have spoken, him will I visit with the manifestations of my Spirit, and he shall know and bear record. For because of my Spirit he shall know that these things are true; for it persuadeth men to do good."

The Spirit will tell us this it true. It will manifest that it is true! Whats cool is that you will KNOW that it is true, because it is good. Please read the Book of Mormon, see what it can do for you. See if it persuades you to do good, or even makes you happy, joyful, peaceful, content. If you want to know it's true, you have to do it for yourself. You can only do it for yourself, God won't do it for you. I know it's true because of the spirit I feel when I read it and when I prayed about it. I want you to also kneel down in prayer, and ask God if it is His word. He will answer you. I promise you that. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

The Restoration: The Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ

I think this principle is one of the biggest evidences of God's love for us. Second, only to the Atonement of Christ. Through out the years of spiritual darkness, not having the revelations needed, there were a lot of churches and opinions that formed. We can see this by just googling a list of churches, walking down the street, even different translations of the Bible! Well, a boy named Joseph Smith, was confused by what church to join. He read in 4:5 "One Lord, one faith, one baptism" His own family wasn't even united in religion. His father was not really part of any church, but still was a strong christian, his mother and a few of his siblings were part of the Presbyterian religion, and he himself was leaning to the Methodist sect. One day, reading the Bible, he read in James 1:5 "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him."  In his own words Joseph says:

"Never did any passage of scripture come with more power to the heart of man than this did at this time to mine. It seemed to enter with great force into every feeling of my heart. I reflected on it again and again, knowing that if any person needed wisdom from God, I did; for how to act I did not know, and unless I could get more wisdom than I then had, I would never know; for the teachers of religion of the different sects understood the same passages of scripture so differently as to destroy all confidence in settling the question by an appeal to the Bible.

At length I came to the conclusion that I must either remain in darkness and confusion, or else I must do as James directs, that is, ask of God. I at length came to the determination to “ask of God,” concluding that if he gave wisdom to them that lacked wisdom, and would give liberally, and not upbraid, I might venture.

So, in accordance with this, my determination to ask of God, I retired to the woods to make the attempt. It was on the morning of a beautiful, clear day, early in the spring of eighteen hundred and twenty. It was the first time in my life that I had made such an attempt, for amidst all my anxieties I had never as yet made the attempt to pray vocally.

After I had retired to the place where I had previously designed to go, having looked around me, and finding myself alone, I kneeled down and began to offer up the desires of my heart to God. I had scarcely done so, when immediately I was seized upon by some power which entirely overcame me, and had such an astonishing influence over me as to bind my tongue so that I could not speak. Thick darkness gathered around me, and it seemed to me for a time as if I were doomed to sudden destruction.

But, exerting all my powers to call upon God to deliver me out of the power of this enemy which had seized upon me, and at the very moment when I was ready to sink into despair and abandon myself to destruction—not to an imaginary ruin, but to the power of some actual being from the unseen world, who had such marvelous power as I had never before felt in any being—just at this moment of great alarm, I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me.

It no sooner appeared than I found myself delivered from the enemy which held me bound. When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other—This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!"

Joseph, saw God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. Joseph desired to know which of all the sects were right, and which one he should join! He was told to join none of them, because they did not teach the fullness of the gospel.  That is when Joseph was called to be a prophet to restore Christ's church on the earth. A few years later, while translating the Book of Mormon, he had a question about baptism, and how it would be done. He and Oliver Cowdry knelt down on the banks of the Susquehanna River. In answer, John the Baptist appeared to them, giving them the Aaronic Priesthood, the authority to baptize. Shortly there after, Peter, James, and John, as ressurected beings, appeared to them and gave them the Melchizedek Priesthood, which gave them the authority to give the gift of the Holy Ghost, and other essential ordinances.

Knowing the world would be skeptical of the calling of Joseph, Christ revealed the Book of Mormon to Joseph. This will be next time I get on the blog, but in the mean time, I want you to pray to God, asking Him if Joseph Smith was a prophet, and if this really happened. Pay attention to your feelings, see how you feel after. Did it make you feel good? Peaceful? Joyus? I can testify to you that God cares about you, and He loves you! I know that He loves us enough to called Joseph Smith to be a prophet to restore the Church of Jesus Christ back on the earth. I know this is true, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

The Restoration: The Great Apostasy

So, when Christ ascended into heaven, he left his church with the apostles. As we talked about before, he was still in charge of it and directed it by "giving commandments through the Holy Ghost" to the apostles. So like with the prophets of old, people started to reject the apostles and their teachings. People started persecuting them and killing them. When this happened, no one was on the earth to receive the revelation from God, to guide the Church of Jesus Christ in the direction that Christ wanted it to go! People began to settle religious questions by vote and philosophy, not by revelation. People started to see the Bible differently and break off from each other to for their own churches. We believe that people like Martin Luther, John Calvin, and other Reformers were good, honest people who wanted to come close to God. However, they did not claim to have the priesthood authority, or the calling of a prophet to establish God's church on the earth. They needed a Restoration, not a reformation. Because of these men, it led to the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and His Church. He did this by calling Joseph Smith to be a prophet.

The Restoration: The Church of Christ

So, this principle is what Christ did here while he was on the earth. Obviously, He did so much that I'm not going to have the time to write about all he that he did while he was here. First off, the main purpose of why he came here was to take our sins upon himself and suffer for them. He was foreordained, before the world was created, to come down here, suffer for all of our sins, die on the cross, and have the Father raise him three days later. This is what we call the Atonement. Because he atoned for us. He was able to conquer physical death with the Resurrection, and also spiritual death with his suffering in the Garden Gethsemane.
This is the MOST important thing that He could of done. Everything else he did is based on the Atonement.

Christ also performed many, MANY miracles.  I can't even begin to list all of them that he did. It suffices me to say that he caused the lame to walk, the blind to see, the deaf to hear, and the maimed to be whole. He did much more than what I just spoken of as well. When we look at these miracles, we can see a spiritual side to them as well. Almost all of them, he said that they were healed by their own faith! And to go and sin no more! Those that were spiritually maimed, deaf, blind, or lame, we're healed according to their faith in him as their Lord and Savior.

Another thing that he did that is kind of unnoticed is that he was perfectly obedient to all things! He was baptized by one holding the proper priesthood authority. This is Christ! The one that all lean on! The man that saved the world from it's own calamity. He obeyed regardless of who he was, what he did, or what he was about to do. In fact, I think that because he was obedient to the Father, he realized who he was.

The thing I was getting at was that Christ set up his church while hear on the earth. He called apostles and others into his church and gave them the priesthood, the power and authority to act in his name! Because it was his church, he was in charge of it. When He ascended into heaven, he left his church to the apostles. But he was still in charge of it. In Acts 1:2 it says "Until the say in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen:"  He after he left gave commandments through the Holy Ghost. He was still in charge of His church. He still led it. His apostles were the means of how he led it. We teach that Christ's church is supposed to still be led by prophets and apostles who receive revelation for the church and the whole world.

Again, the next post will show you what happened to Christ's church which he established, this I say in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

The Restoration: God Calls Prophets

So, now to the meat of things. The unique thing about our church and message, is that God has called and still calls prophets to lead His church. Prophets play an important role in God's plan for us. In fact, because of prophets, we have God's plan for us! "surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets." -Amos 3:7. The role of the prophet is to learn God's will by revelation, write it down, and then tell the people what God's will is! God will always go to his prophet to tell us his will. It's been the case with Moses, Noah, Adam, Enoch, Abraham, the list goes on and on! The Lord told Noah to tell the world to repent or he would destroy the earth! Noah did such and was rejected by the people. God then told Noah to build an Ark, Noah did and the earth was flooded and Noah and his family were the only ones spared, because of their obedience. Moses, received the ten commandments from God and then gave it to the Isrialites. What Moses wrote, which happens to be the first five books in the Bible is called scripture. Scripture is revelation written down. Simple! It is what God has commanded, it was recorded, and now we have it for our learning and our lives!

One thing that set apart the prophets from other people, is that they had the Priesthood. The Priesthood is the authority to act and do in God's name. It is the power of God given to men. They receive it by the laying on of hands, just as Moses did with Aaron. It gave them the ability to receive revelation for the world. It is also the power to do other essential ordinances, like Baptism and receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost. Only people who have the Priesthood can perform Baptisms that will be recognized by Jesus Christ Himself! In Matthew 10:1, Christ gave his apostles "power" to do the same miracles that He was doing. He gave them the power of God. In the Book of Mormon, Christ called 12 others among the Nephites and gave them the "power and authority" to baptize in his name! It is essential to know how important the Priesthood is in the Plan of Happiness.

Unfortunately, people are not always happy with the prophets and what they teach. In fact, they cast out, stone, and kill them when the people are very wicked. When this occurs, it is called an apostasy. Apostasy comes when the people reject the prophets God sends to them. So in turn, God withdraws his prophets for a time. With this, their is no priesthood authority on the earth. No one to receive revelation and no authority to baptize. But, through out time and time again, and through His infinite love and mercy, our Heavenly Father calls another prophet. He calls him, gives him the priesthood authority, and gives him commandment to tell people to come unto him. He restores his church on the earth.

This will be a key factor through out the rest of the principles of the Restoration. It is so key to realize that God still gives us guidance. A parent knows that no matter how old their children are, they still need guidance and instruction. It's his way of giving us the flashlight in the darkness, to find the path home. It's kinda like batteries. Eventually we will need new ones, or even a recharge. He is willing to help us when we need it, and even when we don't think we need it. I know this is a way that I know that God still loves me. Enough to give me the light needed to come home. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

The Restoration: The Gospel Blesses Families and Individuals

So, another important aspect of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, is that it is to bless our lives in all aspects! As individuals, when we draw ourselves closer to Christ, we see the blessings that come from it! I can testify that when we choose to follow Christ by living His gospel, it changes our lives! Before I was preparing to serve a mission, I was still in the church, but just going through the motions. I did my responsibilities, I went to church, as well as seminary and institute (religious classes that the youth and college aged people take)  I did everything that was expected of a mormon kid to do! Don't get me wrong, I still loved the church and the programs. I am forever grateful for the services that they did for me! But I wasn't all the way commited, I didn't have a strong testimony. When I was preparing to serve a mission, I don't really know what happend, I decided to take my religion seriously. I made it a goal to read the Book of Mormon three times before I left on me mission. That gave me about 3 months from when I got my mission call. I started applying PMG (Preach My Gospel) into my studies and my life. From just doing that, my life improved! I was happier! I was enjoying life the way my Heavenly Father really wanted me to enjoy. I had the self-satisfaction that I was truly longing for.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ not only blesses us individually, but as a family as well. I could tell you all I wanted about how the gospel blessed me and my family, but I thought it would be better to see what my family had to say about how it blesses them. They are as follows: Aimee, my 2nd youngest sister. Aubrey, my 1st youngest sister. And then my mom and my dad. Here they are!

Aimee: The gospel gives us an understanding of where were from, why were here, and what will happen when we die.  It makes me feel safe to know that I always have someone to turn to, and He (Heavenly Father) is always looking out for me.

Aubrey: The gospel helps us as family, because it reminds us to do the basic things, which helps us to be happy.

Mom: To me the gospel gives us direction, it helps us know what we need to do to keep our families together.  In this world, this is not an easy thing to do anymore.  There are so many forces which fight against the family. The committments we make to each other have eternal consequences, and the gospel helps us not to give up, even when things are not easy.  When we are saying our prayers, and  reading our scriptures, and spending time together, worshipping, playing, working, and helping others, it makes us closer to each other.  My family brings me my greatest joys, and my greatest sorrows.  But with the gospel, I know that the sorrows are temporary, and I have peace that I am not alone, and that if I keep moving forward, I will make it through.  I know that Heavenly Father knows the master plan, and I can trust him.  I know that Heavenly Father, and Christ want us to succeed in keeping our families together.  The gospel makes me feel safe, happy, and at peace, it gives direction to me as a mother. 

Dad: The gospel is a very important part of our lives.  We are taught that the family is central  to our happiness here on earth.  As we develop relationships through service, fun activities, working, and just spending time together, we learn what true happiness is.    We are taught that we can be together with our families in the next life.  This knowledge makes our relationships even more meaningful, and worth the effort to make our families happy.  There is no success in this life that can compensate for failure in the home.

I know that the reason my family has the unity it has, is because of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I'm glad that I have it in its fullness and all the blessings that come with it by living by it's princeples. It was restored by Joseph Smith, who was called to do such a thing. The fulness of the Gospel is in the Bible and the Book of Mormon. They compliment each other, without one the other cannot stand. I ask you to please, PLEASE read the Bible and the Book of Mormon and live it's teachings. It is how the gospel is applied. Not by merely doing it idly, but living it, making it your life! I testify of these things, in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Master, Amen.