The War Continues

Captain Moroni has always been one of my favorite Book of Mormon characters (other than Alma the Younger) because of his righteousness, boldness, and love for God and others.

We all know that everyone loves Alma chapter 5 because it helps us reflect on our own conversion and if we still feel that love of God that once we had felt and also the burning desire to share the gospel with others. However, Captain Moroni's epistle to Pahoran also makes us ponder whether we are too comfortable with where we are at. He said the following:

"Have ye forgotten the commandments of the Lord your God? Yea, have ye forgotten the captivity of our fathers? Have ye forgotten the many times we have been delivered out of the hands of our enemies?
"Or do ye suppose that the Lord will still deliver us, while we sit upon our thrones and do not make use of the means which the Lord has provided for us?
"Yea, will ye sit in idleness while ye are surrounded with thousands of those, yea, and tens of thousands, who do also sit in idleness, while there are thousands round about in the borders of the land who are falling by the sword, yea, wounded and bleeding?
"Do ye suppose that God will look upon you as guiltless while ye sit still and behold these things? Behold I say unto you, Nay. Now I would that ye should remember that God has said that the inward vessel shall be cleansed first, and then shall the outer vessel be cleansed also."(Alma 60:20-23)

Have we forgotten how we have been delivered by the Lord? Have we forgotten how many times He has heard our prayers? Do we think that we can just turn to God whenever we get in trouble without giving Him thanks daily? Are we sitting comfortably at home or at church without "fighting" for the Lord and spreading the gospel to others? Or do you think that you can do nothing but sit comfortably to be saved?

The War in Heaven is still here. We have won the battle but the war is not over. We are constantly bombarded by the "Lamanites" who are continually striving to lead us astray and tempt us. Rise up and fight for your freedom and the ones you love. Your choice now changes not just your life, but also for your posterities.

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Still a Missionary

I have been home for over 3 and half years. I have learned Spanish on my mission and refined my Korean.

Recently, I started to speak Korean more often and started watching Korean TV shows which helped me refine it even more.

The reason why I am talking about this is because I had few opportunities to use Korean and Spanish to serve people. There are three Korean nurses at the hospital where I work and on my breaks, I visit them frequently. One night, I decided to visit one of them, Nurse H. I visited her many times before but for some reason that night we started to talk about the gospel. During our conversation, I was surprised to find out that she was not attending church currently. Because I had learned the gospel vocabularies in Korean on my mission and I had been refining my Korean, I had this opportunity to get to know her beforehand and now talk to her about the gospel. Not only that, I was able to share all the things that I have been learning through reading some church books.

Tonight, I had an opportunity to talk to a patient who only speaks Spanish and calm him down when he broke down crying. I had not had many opportunities to speak Spanish; however, since I knew that there was a patient who only spoke Spanish, I had downloaded a Spanish-English dictionary app to brush up on Spanish a little bit and tonight I had the opportunity to use it. Also, I got to translate some phrases that could help other co-workers communicate with him.

I am not a perfect person. I can't say that I am always in tuned with the Spirit. However, I can say that I am grateful that the Lord is willing to use me and my talents to bless the lives of others even if I didn't know that I was being prepared.

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Time for an Update

1. Half Marathon
This will be the highlight of this new year: Utah Valley Marathon.

The receipt for the registration.

My name on a website to verify.

The half marathon course.

I still have a lot of time but I really need to train myself for it. It is a little tough during winter time to train but I am hoping to be more diligent once the weather gets warmer.

2. New Perspective on Eternal Life
I have been thinking about this for a while and I think I can finally put this on words. I have read that heaven is not earned but learned, which made me think about what it means to have Eternal Life. We learn in Doctrine and Covenants 19:6-12 that Eternal is a name of God the Father. This means that Eternal Life is really the way that God lives and having all that He has. If this life, or God's life, is learned instead of being given to us as a reward for being obedient on this earth. It means that we can have Eternal Life or live like He does on this earth through keeping the commandments and being obedient.
We talk about being converted all the time. We know that being converted means to become like Christ. Christ is like God the Father in every aspect with all the Christlike attributes. Then, we know that when we are converting, we are becoming like God. Logically, this means that when we are converting we are becoming like God and have this life eternal.
To become converted, we need to be obedient; we need to keep the commandments of God. When we are keeping these commandments, we do not simply act on what is required of us but let the Holy Ghost change us, change our nature, so that we can become like the Father or have Eternal Life. God did not give us the commandments so that He could reward us when we die; He gave us commandments so that we could learn of Him, we could learn heaven, we could become like Him, we could have Eternal Life on this earth.
Simply put, Eternal Life can be achieved on this earth when we change our nature through keeping the commandments of God.
This is why my overall resolution for this year is "becoming and living."

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First Post in a Long Time: My Personality Type

Hey there! It's been a long time since I have written. I will try to write at least twice a month.

Anyways, I took this super quick personality test and it seems very fitting to what I think of my personality. It's not 100% correct but it's pretty dang close. Especially this part: "Due to your propensity to be introverted you are not into holding major speeches for large audiences. Your real strength lies in working individually with people like therapists, physicians or priests. In those professions, when advancing others in their personal development or to help them in any other way is the issue, you are unbeatable."

I have been thinking about how introvert I am. I prefer talking to people individually because I like how we are focused on each other/each other's interest rather than our focus being dispersed.

My Personality Type: The Harmony-seeking Idealist

Learning about yourself is good because it helps figure out what your strengths and weaknesses are. When you know your strengths, you should use them more often. When you know your weaknesses, you should turn them into strengths.

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Looking for the Perfect One; Being the Perfect One

I am writing this based off of these two articles/posts: How to Find a Real Man and Dating Advice: Looking Past the List.

I have never made a list of qualities I look for in a woman that I want to marry. Don't ask me why because it was never intentional. However, as I went on a lot of dates and dated a few girls, I realized that I don't really have a "list" of qualities that attracts me. In a way, I just go on dates with those whom I find fun and intriguing. However, if I were to make a list right now, I would say that the most important things (see how it's plural?) are me feeling like she has a testimony of the gospel, being able to have intellectual conversations, and being able to see my potential. Those are the things I always look for.

However, I learned that the list that I make should be for us to develop first. It means that we should develop those qualities first before looking for someone with those qualities because if he/she doesn't think you have those qualities, that person wouldn't want to date you either. For myself, if a girl doesn't feel like I have a testimony of the gospel, why does it matter if I feel that she does?

I know that the whole point of the second article is about looking past the list. However, the list that she was talking about consisted of physical qualities; whereas, mine is not (maybe the second one on my list is still a lot to ask). I understand her point. I really do, and there are no buts. Going along with some of her points, I do think that I am focused on finding the perfect one. To me the perfect one is someone who has it all, with whom I would not doubt my decision of dating/marrying her.

However, it is hard to not doubt or fear in a relationship. Why? Because we all want to make the right decision. It's obvious that no one wants to get a divorce and be unhappy. However, as the first article talks about, we need to work at it. I have learned that very recently unfortunately. I have ended a relationship because I thought that relationships are supposed to last forever just naturally. That's not true. Do you have a good relationship with your parents or siblings even though you fought with them all the time? You have to work hard to love them! It's the same with dating; you have to work to continue to love them and love them even more when you find out about their weaknesses and faults (I am sure you will find a lot of them when you get married).

Looking for the one you want to marry doesn't work by just you looking. It takes time and effort searching, but most importantly, it takes you becoming the one that the girl/boy of your dreams would like to marry. You must become the person on your list to meet the person on your list. However, don't let what's not important/worldly/trivial qualities stop you from seeing the perfect person for you. Remember, if you are looking for a person who is perfect, you will miss the perfect person for you and that person will know that you are not perfect for him/her.

*I have said "the one" or "the perfect one" but know that I do believe that there are more than one person who could be perfect for you.

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Magnifying Your Calling

Almost all the members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints want to magnify their callings for one reason or another. I want to magnify my calling because it will bring others to come closer to Christ and bring happiness to their lives.

I have been thinking for a long time what it means to magnify a calling that you receive, but first let's talk about the mission/goal of your calling. As an activities committee co-chair, you would want to plan activities where members of your ward would come, mingle, and have fun. As a temple committee co-chair, you want to plan a ward temple trip so that people would have an opportunity to go to the temple at least once a month. As an elders quorum or a relief society president, you find ways to serve brethren or sisters and help them be active in the Church. It may seem like they all have different goals or purposes. However, the foundation of those goals is this: invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end (Preach My Gospel pg. 1). When you focus on helping others come unto Christ, you are fulfilling your calling whatever it may be.

Now, how does that help you magnify your calling? If you are focusing on people who might be struggling or who need help, you plan activities, lessons, times, etc around those people's needs. Instead of planning activities, you are now helping them feel the Spirit and come close to Christ. One thing I noticed when I started thinking this way is that I am constantly thinking about what I can do fulfill my calling better. It doesn't just happen once a week but it becomes a daily routine. I spend some time pondering about it and writing things down, and the Lord sometimes sends me people who gives me more and many times better ideas on how to fulfill my calling. When the Lord commanded us to be "anxiously engaged in a good cause," I believe this is what He was referring to.

I am not perfect at fulfilling my calling, let alone magnifying it. However, when our goal becomes bringing others to Christ, we see more blessings and receive more revelations on how to magnify our callings. Take some time each day to think about your calling and what you can do to magnify it. You will see so much difference.

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New Understanding of the Fall

I went to the temple today and learned so many things about the Fall.

If we just read the scriptures, we will never fully understand the relationship between Adam and Eve. All we know is that they were "help meet" to each other. Do we see them as a husband and a wife who loved each other very much? They, I safely assume, loved each other, served each other, and worked together. I assume that they showed affection for each other in some ways. Because they loved each other, Adam was willing to listen to Eve's understanding of God's plan and her reasoning. I think we all can learn so much from their relationship with each other.

Second, Even didn't take the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil just because she was tempted. She was tempted, yes; however, it gave her an opportunity to think about the consequences of her choices and realized that even though she will be disobeying the Father, she and Adam would be able to have children. They would be able to progress/experience life/gain wisdom which wouldn't have been possible at the Garden of Eden in the state of innocence. She knew that having children and progressing were more important. She was wise and we should be grateful that she was a wise woman because without her making that choice, we would not be here. She sinned for us. I don't doubt she and also Adam felt godly sorrow when they knew what they had to do. However, they did nonetheless for all mankind.

I am grateful that Even was a wise First Mother to all of us. Truly, she was the first to take the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil (the forbidden fruit) because she was wise and understood God's plan for mankind. She deserves our respect and gratitude.

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Be Happy Now

Forget-me-not

"...if we spend our days waiting for fabulous roses, we could miss the beauty and wonder of the tiny forget-me-nots that are all around us.
"This is not to say that we should abandon hope or temper our goals. Never stop striving for the best that is within you. Never stop hoping for all of the righteous desires of your heart. But don’t close your eyes and hearts to the simple and elegant beauties of each day’s ordinary moments that make up a rich, well-lived life." -From Forget Me Not by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf-

As I was writing in my journal, I wanted to start writing something that would be beneficial for those (most likely my posterity) who read my journals. As I thought about it, I had an inspiration to write about being happy with what you have. President Uchtdorf gave a talk on it in 2011 during General Relief Society Meeting (and yes, I have watched and read it online) and it goes perfectly with my thought.

A lot of times we focus so much on what we don't have that we forget to be grateful for what we have. If you keep complaining about life, being bored, not being in a relationship, having no friends, etc, you will never appreciate what you have, talents you already have, friends you already have, and the joy of being single. I am not saying that have more things will make you happier. What I am saying though is that if you only focus on what you don't have, you will never be happy when you obtain what you wanted because you will only seek out for what you don't have.

A friend, M., reminded me how if you are happy being single (I would add "with what you have), you will be happy when you are in a relationship (or when you have more). If you are not satisfied with life right now, you will not be satisfied with life when you are in a relationship. You might say that you will be happier when you are with someone. That is true; however, you will think about "better" things or what the person doesn't have rather than what he/she has or what you already have.

I believe that is the point that President Uchtdorf was trying to make. You should be striving for better things; however, you should not be so focused on those things and blinded by them that you are so oblivious to what you have around you now.

Related Post
Giving Gratitude

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Giving Gratitude

As many of you know, I keep a journal. Currently, I am on my 11th journal since the second semester of the senior year of high school and it's about time to change to a 12th journal. I write from religious things to very personal things but recently, I realized that I have a hard time coming up with things to write. Perhaps, it's due to lack of events in my life since I don't go to school and I can't really write about patients at work. Therefore, I decided to come up with one thing that I am grateful for each day so that I would have something to write about everyday and I will focus more on spiritual things.

"And he who receiveth all things with thankfulness shall be made glorious; and the things of this earth shall be added unto him, even an hundred fold, yea, more." -Doctrine and Covenants 78:19-

In the most recent First Presidency Message by President Eyring, he stated:

"President Spencer W. Kimball (1895–1985) described that process of inspired writing: 'Those who keep a book of remembrance are more likely to keep the Lord in remembrance in their daily lives. Journals are a way of counting our blessings and of leaving an inventory of these blessings for our posterity.'
"As you start to write, you could ask yourself, 'How did God bless me and those I love today?' If you do that often enough and with faith, you will find yourself remembering blessings. And sometimes you will have gifts brought to your mind that you failed to notice during the day but that you will then know were a touch of God’s hand in your life."

I need to recognize the Lord's hand in my life each day and remember that I have been given so much even though I am not perfect. It is true that I would like more blessings in my life but for me, recognizing all these blessing will help me turn to the Lord more often and help me become more obedient to be worthy of those blessings. There are blessings all around us that we fail to recognize. I truly believe that when we recognize these blessings, we will be able to recognize His love for us and how often He blesses us with what we need.

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Creativity for My Journal

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Intimidated

I have been thinking about this for a while and I decided to actually write about it so that I could form a concrete idea about it. You see, as a guy and as a guy who lives in Provo, Utah, I am "supposed" to ask a girl out on a date (this could be another topic to discuss later). Anyways, that's not the point. What I wanted to talk about was how sometimes guys might get intimidated to ask a girl out. Maybe not every guy but I am one of those guys who looks at a girl and thinks, "She is really pretty and fun to hang out with but she's too intellectual/artsy/musical/athletic/etc so I am too intimidated/scared to ask her out."

Maybe it's just me but that is so intimidating  that I would not ask her out. It's not a bad quality that a person has but I am so worried about not being able to carry on a conversation or not having anything in common that I would not even ask her out. As I write this, I realize how stupid that sounds because people are not interested in one thing and I believe that "opposites attract;" however, I can't get the courage to ask girls out if I feel that they are, in a way, out of my league.

So how do I fix this? Simple; ask them out anyways. I don't really know them until I talk to them and spend time with them. Maybe they are interested in me (or you) but because you didn't ask them out and didn't give them a chance, you would lose a great opportunity to at least make some friends.

Being intimidated is my choice. I looked at a great quality of a person and decided that it is too much for me. However, how would I really know that is too much for me? What am I really scared of? Maybe I think that when a girl is, for example, way athletic, she probably wants to spend her time being outdoor and playing sports all the time instead of just hanging out. That sounds really dumb. I need to just ask myself why I wouldn't ask a girl out and if the answer is fear, then I need to get the courage to ask her out anyways.

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