Something More

For those of you who know me you knew it was only a matter of time until I posted something that had to do with Disney. This song is from the Disney movie, The Little Mermaid, it is about Ariel wanting MORE. She talks about wanting more, and how some think there's something wrong with her for wanting more. As you read the lyrics I want you to think, "What does this have to do with me and why is he posting this?"

Maybe He's Right
Maybe There Is Something The Matter with me With Me
I Just Don't See How A World That Makes Such Wonderful Things
Could Be Bad

Look at this stuff
Isn't it neat?
Wouldn't you think my collection's complete?
Wouldn't you think I'm the girl
The girl who has everything?

Look at this trove
Treasures untold
How many wonders can one cavern hold?
Looking around here you'd think
Sure, she's got everything

I've got gadgets and gizmo's a-plenty
I've got woozits and whatzits galore
[You want thingamabobs? I've got 20!]

But who cares?
No big deal
I want more

And ready to know what the people know
Ask 'em my questions and get some answers
What's a fire and why does it
[What's the word?] burn
When's it my turn?
Wouldn't I love
Love to explore the shore up above?

Out of the sea
Wish I could be
Part of that world

What would I give to live where you are
What would I pay to stay here beside you
What would I do to see you, smiling at me
Where would we walk
Where would we run
If we could stay all day in the sun
Just you and me
And I could be..
Part of your
world..
I don't know when
I don't know how
But I know something's starting right now
Watch and you'll see
Someday I'll be
Part of your
world. 

Alright! What do you think? She sings about all the THINGS she has but she wants more. There are many that would connect that to selfishness...get it sel-fish-ness...she's a mermaid...fish...funny right. Alright anyway, I hear it and I think how she wants something of greater substance in her life. The THINGS don't satisfy her. She wants something more something greater. Here's the question of the hour... "Do we?" 

Do we want something more or are we simply content with our material possessions.

Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and thieves break through and steal;

 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.

 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

(3 Nephi 13:19-21)

I can promise you that as we look past our materials and we "want more" that we can some day be "part of that world". Not part of the human world but part of the world where our Father in Heaven lives and it can be us and Him and we can walk, run and ask all the questions we want. 

So...are you willing to WANT MORE?

A Child's Prayer

Heavenly Father, are you really there?
And do you hear and answer ev’ry child’s prayer?
Some say that heaven is far away,
But I feel it close around me as I pray.
 

Pray, he is there;
Speak, he is list’ning.
You are his child;
His love now surrounds you.
He hears your prayer;
He loves the children.

Of such is the kingdom, the kingdom of heav’n.

Heavenly Father, I remember now
Something that Jesus told disciples long ago:
“Suffer the children to come to me.”
Father, in prayer I’m coming now to thee.

Pray, he is there;
Speak, he is list’ning.
You are his child;
His love now surrounds you.
He hears your prayer;
He loves the children.
Of such is the kingdom, the kingdom of heav’n.

I absolutely love this song. Each and everyone of us is a child of God and he wants to hear from us. He is all-knowing all-powerful. He still loves us and wants to hear from you and I. 

The Bird Cage

 

A pastor in a small New England town entered his church one Easter morning with a rusty, old, bent bird cage. He set the bird cage on the pulpit causing a few raised eyebrows. Then he began to speak.

“Yesterday morning, I came across a young boy who had 3 scared birds in a cage shivering from the cold. I asked him, what do you got there? ‘Just some dumb old birds!’ ‘What are you going to do with them?’ ‘Tease em, play with em, and pull out all their feathers!’ ‘Then what are you going to do?’ ‘Feed em to my cat, he likes birds!’”

I went silent for a moment and asked, ‘How much would you like for those birds?’ ‘Oh, you don’t want these, they’re ugly and can’t even sing!’ ‘How much?’ came my definite reply. The boy thought for a moment and then said, ‘$10.’ I reached into my pocket and gave the boy $10. The boy took the money and then vanished. I then picked up the cage, walked to the end of the alley where there was a tree and a small grassy spot. He opened the door by gently tapping the bars to the cage, and coaxed the birds out into the grass.”

That explained the bird cage on the pulpit. Then he proceeded to tell this story...

“One day, Satan and Jesus were walking and Satan had just come out of the Garden of Eden. He was gloating and boasting. ‘Yes sir, I caught me a whole world full of people. Set a trap that they just couldn’t resist. Yep, got them all.’ ‘What are you going to do with them,’ came the reply. ‘Gonna have some fun with them; teach them to hate, hurt, and kill each other.’ ‘Then what are you going to do?’ ‘Oh, then I’ll destroy them and bring them down into my kingdom.’

Jesus paused. ‘How much do you want for them?’ ‘Oh, you don’t want them. They’ll just hate you, spit on you, mock you and kill you. They don’t want you.’ Jesus paused and looked straight at Satan, ‘how much?’ Satan suddenly realized, looked at Jesus and sneered, ‘All your tears, all your blood, all your footsteps, all your strengths, all your life.’

Jesus paid the price, picked up the cage and opened the door”

Our Focus

Some people focus on their family. Other people focus on their careers. Some people focus on their string collection. Everyone devotes their time differently. What kind of things are central in your life? What do you focus your time and efforts on?

Well I have a little story for you about 2 different people and what they focused on. 

Once upon a time there was a man named King Benjamin. King Benjamin had a large kingdom and was a very good king. The thing about King Benjamin was that not only was he a king he was also a prophet. King Benjamin had been king for a long time and had grown very old, he knew that he would soon die. He loved his people and his kingdom very much so he decided he was going to talk to them one last time. So he had a large tower built next to the temple so he could have them all gather around and he could talk to them and teach them. All the people gathered together and when they came up to the temple, "they pitched their tents round about, every man according to his family, consisting of his wife, and his sons, and his daughters, and their sons, and their daughters, from the eldest down to the youngest, every family being separate one from another.

 And they pitched their tents round about the temple, every man having his tent with the door thereof towards the temple, that thereby they might remain in their tents and hear the words which king Benjamin should speak unto them". (Mosiah 2:5-6) So all of these people had come together with their families and had their tent doors toward the temple and their prophet.

So that is half of the story,here is the other half...

 

There once was a man named Lot. He lived and traveled through the desert. Eventually, after traveling "Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom. But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly." (Genesis 13:12-13) Lot pitched his tent toward a city that was so wicked that it lead to its destruction. 

Now, here is the question...What does this have to do with us? God honestly does not care what physical direction our house (or tent) face. However, it does show a much deeper devotion and focus. Lot and his family wanted the things of the world. King Benjamin's people wanted the things that matter most. What do we want?

A Man on a Wall

Prophet.

What does this term mean? It's heard so often in religion. I have spoken of following the teachings of the Prophets. But what is a Prophet.

Well here we go...

A Prophet is a man called of God to teach us what God would have us do. So here's the best example I can come up with...

I want you to picture a giant thick wall. Now put God on one side of the wall and all of us on the other side. We don't get to have face to face conversations with God. We can pray and he can answer through thoughts and feelings but we don't have face to face conversations with him. Now imagine God putting one of the men from our side of the wall on top. That is a Prophet. He can turn and see and hear what God has for us to know and then he can turn around and share with us what God has told him.

Now does it make sense why we would want to listen to a Prophet? He receives guidance and direction from God, who sees the beginning from the end. God has always worked this way. "Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets." (Amos 3:7)

I bear witness to you that as we listen to the Prophets we will have the guidance and direction we need to live happy and successful lives.

A Baseball Players Prayer

"Dear Lord,

Help me to be a sport in this little game of life. I don't ask for an easy place in the line-up. Play me anywhere you need me. I only ask that I might give you 100% of all I've got. If all the hard drives seem to come my way- I thank you for the compliment. Help me to realize that you won't let anything come my way that you and I can't handle together."



I can promise you that the principles in this prayer are true. I can also promise that if we go about our lives with this attitude rather than the attitude of..."Why me?", "Why can't I get all the breaks?", "God, give me this and this and this or else I don't believe anymore!"...we will have a greatly blessed and directed life and we will be much more happy.

I love you and testify this to you in the name of the Lord and Master; Jesus Christ.

A Special Family

Family. What do you think about when you hear this? A lot of people think of family dinners or holidays. Maybe you think of crowded houses and arguments. Regardless, everyone has a family. The question is, how do we make our families closer and more loving? It seems to me that our families should be something more than merely 4, 5, or 6 individuals that just happen to share a last name and live under the same roof for a few years. But how do we do it?

"The family is central to the Creator's plan for the eternal destiny of His children." When we come to the realization of this then we understand more how important it is to build our families. Having a loving close knit family takes effort. Making a special family takes a special effort. Since families are central to the Creator's plan for the eternal destiny and happiness for us the adversary is taking extra steps and strides to try to tear families apart and make it harder for them to succeed. If you don't believe me just look at the divorce rate in this world.

So once again the question sits before us...How do I do it? Well, here is your answer.

"Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities. By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families. Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children. In these sacred responsibilities, fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners."

My friends and family I don't know what else to tell you. The Gospel of Jesus Christ in it's fulness and simplicity is once again the answer. Not only is it the answer to success in our individual lives, it is also the answer for success in our families.

So what do we do? What are our actions in this? I promise you that if you sit down with your family and read from the scriptures (Bible and Book of Mormon), have family prayer, have family dinner, go on family activities, have a designated night as a family night, go to church you will have a closer family. I know that if this is not something you have before done it may not make sense. I can testify the truths of it to you because I have seen the blessings in my family as we made this simples steps. I have also seen the consequences of not doing it. My family is not a perfect family, but we are an eternal family and a loving family and it is because of following the simplicity of the teachings of the prophets.

I love you and leave this testimony and promise with you as an authorized representative and disciple of Jesus Christ.

Hold to the Rod

Have you ever thought, "It would be amazing if there was just a definite path or guidebook or something like that for life"? What if there was? Would you follow it? What if it wasn't the most popular thing in the world but it was still the way to success and happiness? Would you withstand the pressure and stick with it?

Guess What...

There is. There once was a Prophet named Lehi who had a dream about that very thing. He saw in a vision a rod of iron that led on a straight and narrow path, through mist and darkness, along the banks of a river to a tree "whose fruit was desirable to make one happy". (1 Nephi 8:10) Fruit that "was desirable above all other fruit". (1 Nephi 8:12)

Awesome right!? A rod of iron that you can hold onto along a straight path through the darkness and mists! That's what we were looking for!

Here's the thing...

 On the other side of the river is a great and spacious building filled with people pointing and laughing at those who stayed on the path and held to the rod.

"I also cast my eyes round about, and beheld, on the other side of the river of water, a great and spacious building; and it was filled with people, both old and young, both male and female; and they were in the attitude of mocking and pointing their fingers towards those who had come at and were partaking of the fruit.

 And after they had tasted of the fruit they were ashamed, because of those that were scoffing at them; and they fell away into forbidden paths and were lost." (1 Nephi 8:26-28)

These people had found what they were looking for. They found the path, the guide, they tasted the happiness they had arrived! The problem was it wasn't popular. It wasn't the way of the world. It wasn't how everyone else thought they should do things.

My family and friends, brothers and sisters. Does this happen to us? Do we reject the guide that we need so desperately in our lives. I tell you that a lot of the time we do. In Lehi's vision the iron rod resembles the word of God i.e. the scriptures and the words of the Prophets. That is our guide that lead us along the path that leads to our happiness and success, the Tree whose fruit is desirable above all other. In closing I leave you my testimony in love that I know that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is real. That the mists of darkness in this life are real. I testify to you that the Gospel is delicious to the taste and is more desirable than anything else we will find. I promise you that it brings happiness and success not only in this life but in the life to come. So I invite you to hold to the iron rod, to follow the straight and narrow path and not be ashamed.

I love you.

I promise and testify you these things in the name of Jesus Christ.