“I wish to be up and doing. I wish to face each day with resolution and purpose. I wish to use every waking hour to give encouragement, to bless those whose burdens are heavy, to build faith and strength of testimony.”


—Gordon B. Hinckley, “Testimony,” Ensign, May 1998, 69

“This is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent” (John 17:3).






“My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth.


“… He that keepeth thee will not slumber.


“Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep”
(Psalm 121:2–4).


FEED MY SHEEP
Don't be discouraged in times of difficulty, But hang on, exercise faith, and keep up good courage, let what will, come; don't deny the faith, and all will be well."



----Joseph Smith


YOU ARE INVITED TO COME UNTO CHRIST

"Mormons Believe in Jesus Christ"

"Mormons Believe in Jesus Christ"
WE BELIEVE

"Oh, Lord, thou shalt save me if thou please; if not, thou shalt lose me; yet Lord will I keep my rudder true"

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Mon, 7 Feb 2011

Well, well, another week has come and gone and it seems like just yesterday that it was Monday. We had a crazy, crazy week. Let's start off at the beginning of the week, ok. So we get hit by this huge storm that rolled up from the states on Tuesday. It dumped 60 cetimemters, which is something like 2 feet of snow in one day. So we were inside all day, just watching the town get hit hard. I haven't seen a storm like that in my mission until then. I guess we are really paying for having such a good winter last year. Then on Saturday night, another storm rolls through dumping a lot of snow again, making it a blizzard by Sunday morning, and it ended up cancelling church. It was so weird not going to church, but the best part of the week was going to Zone Council. There, a very special visitor showed up: Jay E. Jensen of the Presidency of the Seventy. As he walked in, you could really tell the difference from this man than from any other General Authority that I have seen. It seemed like he brought a chorus of angels with him. The meeting was all given to him. It started at 1:00 and ended at 6:00. Five straight hours of just him teaching us some amazing stuff, most of which came from personal revelation and was very personal. But I want to share some stuff that can apply to all of us. First off, he started talking about scriptures and how important it is to know them and not just to know them, but to know them, verbatim. He said, "There is power in quoting the Lord....let the Lord stand on his own two feet." I thought that was so cool. It made me realize that I need to know the Scriptures better - Well enough that I don't have to paraphrase, but so I can recite them when I need to.

The other one that I want to share with you probably will always stick with me. It has already made a deep impact on me as a missionary and I know it will make an impact on my life when I'm off my mission. Elder Jensen said, "Are you a wondering generality or a meaningful specific?" And when I heard him say that, I was kinda lost. I'm not going to lie, but this man was intelligent, no doubt, that he has been taught from on high. But I began to think about it more and more and it started to make more sense, as members of the church, as life goes on, we can't just be a wondering generality. That's when Satan will snag you and won't let go. But when we are a meaningful specific and have purpose to our lives, (example: Following the prophet, reading the scriptures, saying our prayers, trying our best to become like our Father in Heaven, preparing to enter the temple. .....I could go on), but when we have purpose to our lives is when we as children of God succeed and we quite literally pay the price to have the Atonement affect our lives.

I love you all. Keep on the right path and never let Satan talk you from it.
Elder Jordan N. Rogers
Mon, 31 Jan 2011

Hey, Hey,

Well this week was really fun. It was hard to see Hoffman leave, but his time was up and we knew it was coming - but that means I have a new companion. His name is Elder VanMeeteren, he is a recent convert from Utah, and is a bit older - he is 23, but it seems like he has been a member all his life. He really has a solid testimony and that's what we need here in this zone, so I see him being a great asset to the zone. Sad thing though, is he goes home soon. It seems like I always get those missionaries that go home soon. He has 2 transfers, which means roughly 3 months, so I'll probably have to end up killing him as well. When my new companion came into town we came right to work, like we had been together for a long time, which was really cool to do. I'm so glad I have had awesome companions who have wanted to work and know exactly why they are out here. It just makes missionary work better when you have someone else like that with you.

As for our investigators, they are at a stand still here and we have a lot to discuss still, and all of them are living common law, which is like a huge thing here in Atlantic Canada. It is hard to remedy, but this upcoming Sunday is Fast Sunday, so I know what some of my Fast will be about.

I know everyone likes hearing about the weather so just to let you know, we had a -37 degree day. This last week it was freezing cold and then after that we got a big blizzard, so we have about 5 feet of standing snow in some places and over 20 foot banks of snow just piled up all over the city.

Everyone please remember who you are and your divine potential. I love you all.

Elder Rogers

Everyone that knows Elder Rogers:

At the end of every post is the word "comments." If you would like to send some words of encouragement and or your love, just click on that word and it will bring up a comment box for you to type in and then just save it and it will be attached at the bottom of his posts for him to read the next time he gets on. He would love to hear from all of you.



Thank you to those of you who have left a comment to let us know how you know Elder Rogers and have become a follower. It will be a memory for him in his mission book that will be made from his blog. We would love to hear from everyone eventually.....Just go to Monday, May 3, 2010 in the archives list and pull up the "Getting To Know You" post and leave a comment. Thanks so much for supporting Elder Rogers.







A Title of Liberty

A Title of Liberty
In memory of our God, our religion, and freedom, and our peace, our wives, and our children. Alma 46:12

The Book of Mormon as a Personal Guide

The Book of Mormon as a Personal Guide
By President Henry B. Eyring First Counselor in the First Presidency:

All of us feel, in our best moments, a desire to return home to live with God. He gave us the gift of His Beloved Son as our Savior to provide the path and to teach us how to follow it. He gave us prophets to point the way. The Prophet Joseph Smith was inspired to translate the record of prophets that is the Book of Mormon. It is our sure guide on the way home to God.

Joseph Smith said of that precious book, “I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book.”1

The precepts of the Book of Mormon are the commandments of God we find in it. Some are direct commands from the Savior through His prophets as to what we are to do and what we are to become. The Book of Mormon gives us the Savior’s example to increase our faith and determination to obey His command to follow Him. The book is filled with the doctrine of Christ to guide us. Here is an example from 2 Nephi:

“[Jesus] said unto the children of men: Follow thou me. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, can we follow Jesus save we shall be willing to keep the commandments of the Father?

“And the Father said: Repent ye, repent ye, and be baptized in the name of my Beloved Son” (2 Nephi 31:10–11).

The book makes plain that we must receive the Holy Ghost as a baptism of fire to help us stay on the strait and narrow path. We are taught that we must pray always in the name of Christ, not fainting, and that if we do, we have this promise: “Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life” (2 Nephi 31:20).

The Book of Mormon makes plain in the marvelous sermon of King Benjamin what it means to have a love of God and of all men. When our natures are changed by the power of the Atonement and through our faithful obedience to the commandments, we will be filled with the love of God (see Mosiah 4:1–12).

The Book of Mormon also gives us confidence that we can become so purified in this life that we have no more desire to do evil (see Mosiah 5:2). This hope gives us courage and comfort as Satan tries to tempt and discourage us on our way.

Each time I read even a few lines in the Book of Mormon, I feel my testimony strengthened that the book is true, that Jesus is the Christ, that we can follow Him home, and that we can take those we love home with us. It has been for me the book of books. It is the word of God.

I pray that we and all those we love will drink deeply and daily from it. I testify in the name of Jesus Christ that it is a true guide.

Mar. 2007

The Message: Gifts to Bring Home from the Mission Field
By President Gordon B. Hinckley

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Quite a few years ago I was in an airport and happened to meet some returning missionaries. Their families were there. They were picking up their baggage, and I said to one of them, “What’s all this you have?” He said, “These are gifts I am bringing home.” And that has given me the title of what I would like to share: “Gifts to Bring Home from the Mission Field.”

1. A knowledge of and love for God our Eternal Father and His Beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
“This is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent” (John 17:3). There is no greater gift that comes to anyone in this world than a certain, reassuring conviction that God, our Eternal Father, lives and that Jesus is the Christ. I believe that. I think it is so very, very important.

2. A knowledge of and love for the scriptures, the word of the Lord.
As a missionary, I read each evening before going to bed a few chapters of the Book of Mormon, and there came into my heart a conviction which has never left: that this is the word of God, restored to the earth by the power of the Almighty, translated by the gift and power of God to the convincing of the Jew and the Gentile that Jesus is the Christ. I thank the Lord for the testimony which I have of the truth of the word of God as found in these sacred revealed books. And I would hope that every missionary would leave his or her field of labor with a conviction in his or her heart that these things are true.

3. An increased love for parents.
I have attended hundreds of missionary meetings over the years. I love to hear missionaries speak of their love for the Lord, but I also love to hear them speak with great appreciation and love concerning their parents. Boys who had been careless and indifferent stand on their feet and with tears in their eyes thank the Lord for their fathers and their mothers. In these days, what a salutary and wonderful thing it is to hear a strong young man stand up and speak with great feeling concerning his father and his mother, saying things he would never have said before in all of his life. Every boy and girl ought to come home with an increased love for parents.

4. A love for the people among whom they labor.
I love the English people. No one can sell the English short in my mind because I labored with them, I lived with them, I was in their homes at their firesides, I learned to know their hearts, and I learned to love them.

I have learned to love the people of Asia. I spent 11 years among them, and I love them. To me, I love them as much as I love anybody because of the experience I have had as a missionary, as it were, among them.

There’s something wrong if a missionary doesn’t come back with a great love for the people among whom he labored.

5. An appreciation for hard work.
Every missionary ought to come to realize that work, work, work is the key to getting things done, the key to success in life. There is no substitute for work, for getting up in the morning and getting at it and staying with it to get the job done. I don’t know of a greater asset for whatever lies ahead in life than the capacity to discipline oneself to work.

6. The assurance that the inspiration of the Holy Spirit is available to each of us when we live for it.
The availability of inspiration—each of us, if we live for it, if we cultivate it, can have it. I love these great words of revelation, these words of promise: “God shall give unto you knowledge by his Holy Spirit, yea, by the unspeakable gift of the Holy Ghost” (D&C 121:26). What a precious gift to bring home—the assurance, the certainty that if we live for it, we have available to us that which comes by the power of the Holy Spirit.

7. An understanding of the importance of teamwork.
No one can do this work alone. We work in pairs. “In the mouth of two or more witnesses shall [all things] be established” (2 Corinthians 13:1). We work together. There is no place for prima donnas in the mission field. Our efforts are largely team efforts, and what a marvelous thing it is to learn to work with other people.

8. The value of personal virtue.
I think there is no greater thing concerning future integrity that a missionary can learn than the value of personal virtue. I think there are fewer words greater than the promise given under the inspiration of the Lord as set forth by the Prophet Joseph Smith: “Let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly.” That’s the commandment. And then the promise: “Thy confidence [shall] wax strong in the presence of God” (D&C 121:45). That’s the promise to those who walk in virtue.

9. The faith to act.
“I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way … that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth” (1 Nephi 3:7).

We ask tremendous things of missionaries. It is so hard for shy and diffident young people to do the things we sometimes ask them to do. But what a marvelous thing that they try. They have the faith to do, the faith to act, the faith to go forward and make the effort. And what a marvelous gift that is to bring home.

10. The humility to pray.
Recognize that there is a power greater than ours, that no matter how good a man is, he is not good enough, that no matter how wise he is, he is not wise enough, that no matter how strong he is, he is not strong enough for all of the things which he will face in life, and that there is a source of power to which he can go with the assurance that he will be listened to and that there will be a response.

These are 10 gifts that I would hope every missionary would bring home with him or her—not a lot of tinsel, not a lot of dolls, not a lot of rugs or furs or dresses or plates, but these great, enduring, wonderful things. God bless you to keep the faith, and while doing so, enjoy with great happiness that which you are called to do.

For more on this subject, read “Ten Things to Know before You Go” by President James E. Faust, New Era, July 2002, p. 4.

[photos] Photographs by Matthew Reier; far right: posed by models

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