Ask, Seek, and Knock

Elder Milton Camargo relates his own personal scripture study with the Come, Follow Me about Alma’s ministry in Ammonihah suggested to ponder the great blessings God has given him.

Ask, Seek, and Knock

by Milton Camargo

Alma exemplified what it means to ask, seek and knock during his ministry to the Nephites people.

Ask

“President Russell M. Nelson, has given a similar invitation in our day. He said: “Pray in the name of Jesus Christ about your concerns, your fears, your weaknesses—yes, the very longings of your heart. And then listen! Write the thoughts that come to your mind. Record your feelings and follow through with actions that you are prompted to take. As you repeat this process day after day, month after month, year after year, you will ‘grow into the principle of revelation.’”

“We don’t always need to know everything or see everything… The still, small voice is reaffirming, encouraging, and comforting—and many times that’s just what we need for the day. The Holy Ghost is real, and His impressions are real—the big ones and the small ones.”

Seek

“Seeking implies mental and spiritual effort—pondering, testing, trying, and studying… When we seek, we are humbly acknowledging that we still have much to learn, and the Lord will expand our understanding, preparing us to receive more. “For behold, thus saith the Lord God: I will give unto the children of men line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little; … for unto him that receiveth I will give more” (2 Nephi 28:30).

Knock

“To knock is to act in faith. When we actively follow Him, the Lord opens the way before us.”

“We learn that prayer requires spiritual labor, and it does not always lead to the outcome we hope for. But when we feel discouraged or weighed down with sorrow, the Lord gives us comfort and strength in different ways. He may not answer all of our questions or solve all of our problems right away; rather, He encourages us to keep trying. If we then speedily align our plan with His plan, He will open the way for us, as He did for Alma.”

While we are asking and seeking, we need to continue to move forward in faith, trusting that the Lord will not allow us to wonder too far from Him.

And the most important is that process of waiting or that I consider as ‘darkest moments’ because my Savior has been there all along, bringing me up when I felt there was none left in the world for me.

And that process or journey is how Heavenly Father moulds me to become a better version of me. I know that I have a living Father and Jesus is the living Christ. Amen.

There Was Bread

“From the beginning of time, the Lord has provided direction to help His people prepare spiritually and temporally against the calamities and trials that He knows will come as part of this mortal experience. These calamities may be personal or general in nature, but the Lord’s guidance will provide protection and support to the extent that we heed and act upon His counsel.”

There Was Bread

by Bishop W. Christopher Waddell

Bishop W. Christopher Waddell serves as First Counsellor in the Presiding Bishopric. It is no surprise at all that he will address our temporal needs. The principles of preparation always been encouraged by the Church Leaders to the members to apply “in wisdom and order” so that in the future we might say, as did Joseph in Egypt, “There was bread”.

Bishop Waddell quoted from a resource entitled Personal Finances for Self-Reliance which was published in 2017.

“The Lord has declared, ‘It is my purpose to provide for my saints’ [Doctrine and Covenants 104:15]. This revelation is a promise from the Lord that He will provide temporal blessings and open the door of self-reliance. …

“… Accepting and living these principles will better enable you to receive the temporal blessings promised by the Lord.

“We invite you to diligently study and apply these principles and teach them to your family members. As you do so, your life will be blessed … [because] you are a child of our Father in Heaven. He loves you and will never forsake you. He knows you and is ready to extend to you the spiritual and temporal blessings of self-reliance.”

My thoughts and heart felt closer to this talk may be is because I had been studying the Personal Finances course for several months during when the coarse is newly add on into the Church Self-Reliance chapter.

This resource includes chapters devoted to creating and living within a budget, protecting your family against hardship, managing a financial crisis, investing for the future, and many more.

I joined with few other sisters in the Church to learn about it. We were having our discussions every Sunday after the Church. I gained a lot of knowledge and confirming witness of the things that I have learned through the Holy Spirit.

I am blessed to have the opportunity to study this coarse. Even though now, I am still struggling on some finances but it have helped me to set aside monies to start the emergency fund and pay my tithes every month.

“The Lord does not expect us to do more than we can do, but He does expect us to do what we can do, when we can do it. As President Nelson reminded us in our last general conference, “The Lord loves effort.”

“When considering the principle of preparedness, we can look back to Joseph in Egypt for inspiration. Knowing what would happen would not have been sufficient to carry them through the “lean” years without a degree of sacrifice during the years of abundance… It was not enough to know that challenging times would come. They had to act, and because of their effort, “there was bread.”

“A good place to begin is to understand that all things are spiritual to the Lord, “and not at any time” has He given us “a law which was temporal.” Everything, then, points to Jesus Christ as the foundation upon which we must build even our temporal preparedness.”

“Being temporally prepared and self-reliant means “believing that through the grace, or enabling power, of Jesus Christ and our own effort, we are able to obtain all the spiritual and temporal necessities of life we require for ourselves and our families.”

“Additional aspects of a spiritual foundation for temporal preparedness include acting “in wisdom and order,” which implies a gradual build up of food storage and savings over time, as well as embracing “small and simple” means, which is a demonstration of faith that the Lord will magnify our small but consistent efforts.”

The most important each Conference talk to let us see the result is to act upon on the promptings that inspired us to do and to start.

“With a spiritual foundation in place, we can then successfully apply two important elements of temporal preparedness—managing finances and home storage.”

“Key principles to manage your finances include the payment of tithes and offerings, eliminating and avoiding debt, preparing and living within a budget, and saving for the future.”

“Key home storage principles include the storage of food, the storage of water, and the storage of other necessities based on individual and family needs, all because “the best storehouse” is the home, which becomes the “most accessible reserve in times of need.”

“As we embrace spiritual principles and seek inspiration from the Lord, we will be guided to know the Lord’s will for us, individually and as families, and how best to apply the important principles of temporal preparedness. The most important step of all is to begin.”

“Elder David A. Bednar taught this principle when he said: “Taking action is the exercise of faith. … True faith is focused in and on the Lord Jesus Christ and always leads to action.”

I am blessed that our family still able to have food on the table and jobs during this challenging pandemic time that had seriously affect economy globally.

I can see how the Lord blessed and helped me build my spiritual reserves for a time. When I need it the most, the Lord would bring those memories into my mind and strengthen me even though He knows that I would struggle to figure it out slowly but I am not alone. He is with me all the time.

Becoming Like Him

I have a chance to watch a video from the Church website title, “Your Great Adventure: Overcoming Life’s Obstacles”. It is about an experienced runner decides to train for a 100 mile ultra marathon in a hostile dessert, he must face the daunting task of doing something that seems impossible.

Becoming Like Him

by Elder Scott D. Whiting

It relates me to the talk today by Elder Scott D. Whiting – Becoming Like Him. It is such an impossible thing to do! Elder Whiting taught,

“Over time the daunting task ultimately became achievable—step by step.”

“The first step on this path to becoming like Jesus Christ is to have the desire to do so. Understanding the admonition to be like Him is good, but that understanding needs to be coupled with a yearning to transform ourselves, one step at a time, beyond the natural man.⁷”

“To develop the desire, we must know who Jesus Christ is. We must know something of His character,⁸ and we must look for His attributes in scripture, worship services, and other holy places.”

“As we begin to know more of Him, we will see His attributes reflected in others. This will encourage us on our own quest, for if others can attain in some measure His attributes, so can we.”

“… it is vital that we also ask our loving Heavenly Father what we are in need of and where we should focus our efforts. He has a perfect view of us and will lovingly show us our weakness.¹¹ Perhaps you will learn that you need greater patience, humility, charity, love, hope, diligence, or obedience, to name a few.¹²”

“Once you have made an honest assessment and resolved to start the hike up the mountain, you will need to repent. President Russell M. Nelson lovingly taught: “When we choose to repent, we choose to change! We allow the Savior to transform us into the best version of ourselves. We choose to grow spiritually and receive joy—the joy of redemption in Him. When we choose to repent, we choose to become more like Jesus Christ.”¹⁴

“Becoming as Jesus Christ is will require changing our hearts and minds, indeed, our very character, and doing so is possible only through the saving grace of Jesus Christ.¹⁵”

Then, as Elder Whiting says, we need to prayerfully identify the most important attribute we need to acquire or improve. Prayerfully make up a plan, and then follow the plan.

“Christlike attributes are gifts from a loving Heavenly Father to bless us and those around us. Accordingly, our efforts to obtain these attributes will require heartfelt pleas for His divine assistance. If we seek these gifts to better serve others, He will bless us in our efforts.”

As Elder Whiting closes, he notes that we should record our progress, our learning and the tender mercies of the Lord as we try our best to become like Him.

“In order to see real progress, you will need to put in sustained effort. Much like climbing a mountain requires preparation before and endurance and perseverance during ascent, so too will this journey require real effort and sacrifice.”

“The commandment to be like Him is not intended to make you feel guilty, unworthy, or unloved. Our entire mortal experience is about progression, trying, failing, and succeeding.”

“You are good enough, you are loved, but that does not mean that you are yet complete. There is work to be done in this life and the next. Only with His divine help can we all progress toward becoming like Him.”

All these are exactly what the video are talking about. Like the runner, we on earth must face our own great adventure, traversing a seemingly endless array’s of like’s peaks and valleys, in our journey back to God.

But as we do so, pushing through the darkest trials and obstacles, we gain perspectives about why we are here and how to ultimately succeed become more like Him and find our way to our heavenly home.

This reminds me of my physical goal that I had set last year. I have achieved stage 1 goal, and I have stopped on stage 2 goal during this Chinese New Year festive season. I need to restart next week.

The lesson is the same either it is for exercise, or generally in life as well!

Let Patience Have Her Perfect Work, and Count It All Joy!

2 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into ^adivers ^btemptations;

3 Knowing this, that the ^atrying of your faith worketh ^bpatience.

4 But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be ^aperfect and entire, wanting nothing.

James 1: 2-4

Let Patience Have Her Perfect Work, and Count It All Joy!

by Elder Jeremy R. Jaggi

Elder Jeremy R. Jaggi highlighted these scriptures in his talk during shared about the time where he and his family were mourning about their lost and how they went through the difficult times.

The key to finding joy in the midst of trials is having patience to let trials work for one’s good.

“In our efforts to find joy in the midst of our trials, we had forgotten that having patience is the key to letting those trials work for our good.”

In Chapter 6 of Preach My Gospel teaches key attributes of Christ that we can emulate:

“Patience is the capacity to endure delay, trouble, opposition, or suffering without becoming angry, frustrated, or anxious. It is the ability to do God’s will and accept His timing. When you are patient, you hold up under pressure and are able to face adversity calmly and hopefully”

“Of all the zealous social, religious and political endeavors of our day, let ‘disciple of Jesus Christ’ be our most pronounced and affirming affiliation.”

“Just as the trying of our faith works patience within us, when we exercise patience, our faith increases. As our faith increases, so does our joy.”

COVID-19 has created an opportunity for patience to “have her perfect work”.

“…in our inability to meet in person as ward families for a season. But we count as joy our families’ faith increasing through new technology connections and Come, Follow Me study of the Book of Mormon.”

“Where we make sacred covenants with God—the temple—is temporarily closed. Where we keep covenants with God—the home—is open! We have an opportunity at home to study and ponder on the exceptional beauty of temple covenants.”

Many people have lost jobs or opportunities due to the pandemic, but joy is found in the fact that Church members have increased voluntary fast offerings and contributions to humanitarian funds.

“Be of good cheer” is the commandment from the Lord, not be of good fear (Matthew 14:27).”

Even when living righteously, it can take time and patience before one receives desired blessings.

“Sometimes we get impatient when we think we are “doing everything right” and we still do not receive the blessings we desire. Enoch walked with God for 365 years before he and his people were translated. Three hundred and sixty-five years of striving to do everything right, and then it happened! (See Doctrine and Covenants 107:49.)”

Sometimes I thought that I was and still a patience person when it come to enduring my own trial, but as Enoch had shown how he had walked with God for 365 years, my trials and challenges are a too little to be counted. I still need to work on my patience and my faith.

I know that as I hear, hearken, and heed the voice of the Lord and His living prophet, I can “let patience have her perfect work” and “count it all joy.”

The Exquisite Gift of the Son

“We must never forget that the very purpose of repentance is to take certain misery and transform it into pure bliss.”

This is what Elder Matthew S. Holland taught after he addressed the Alma’s language on the word “exquisite”.

“Thanks to His “immediate goodness,”⁸ the instant we come unto Christ—demonstrating faith in Him and a true change of heart—the crushing weight of our sins starts to shift from our backs to His…”

“Sometimes exquisite pain comes not from sin but from honest mistakes, the actions of others, or forces beyond our control.”

“Regardless of the causes of our worst hurts and heartaches, the ultimate source of relief is the same: Jesus Christ. He alone holds the full power and healing balm to correct every mistake, right every wrong, adjust every imperfection, mend every wound, and deliver every delayed blessing.”

“As you allow Him to do so, you will discover that your suffering was not in vain.”

This is so true, I have been through all those pain. It might not be as exquisite as the Savior but all those worst hurts and heartaches left scares deep inside your heart that sometimes you just do not feel dare to revisit the past.

With the Atonement of Jesus Christ, He heals the deep wounds, helps me to go back to the past and look through the whole experience again, and learn how to walk out from the past.

“…the very nature of God and aim of our earthly existence is happiness,²⁰ but we cannot become perfect beings of divine joy without experiences that test us, sometimes to our very core. Paul says even the Savior Himself was made eternally “perfect [or complete] through sufferings.”²¹ So guard against the satanic whispering that if you were a better person, you would avoid such trials.”

“I witness to you that through the staggering goodness of Jesus Christ and His infinite Atonement, we can escape the deserved agonies of our moral failings and overcome the undeserved agonies of our mortal misfortunes. Under His direction, your divine destiny will be one of unparalleled magnificence and indescribable joy—a joy so intense and so unique to you, your particular “ashes” will become beauties “beyond anything earthly.”²⁶ That you might taste this happiness now and be filled with it forever, I invite you to do what Alma did: let your mind catch hold on the exquisite gift of the Son of God as revealed through His gospel in this, His true and living Church.”

The Exquisite Gift of the Son

by Elder Matthew S. Holland

I know that Heavenly Father and my Savior love me so much and I able to go through my path because They are always walk beside me.

Do Justly, Love Mercy, and Walk Humbly with God

Elder Dale G. Renlund encouraged us to follow the counsel from the prophet Micah in order to understand what more we can do to draw closer to God:

“[God] hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?”¹⁰

Micah 6:8

Last week in Come Follow Me Doctrine and Covenants, the Lord provided a similar counsel to Hyrum Smith in 1829 as He explained how to recognised promptings from the Holy Ghost:

“12 And now, verily, verily, I say unto thee, put your ^atrust in that ^bSpirit which ^cleadeth to do ^dgood—yea, to do ^ejustly, to walk ^fhumbly, to ^gjudge righteously; and this is my Spirit.”

Doctrine and Covenants 11:12

Elder Renlund explained the relationship between these 3 admonitions:

“To do justly means acting honorably with God and with other people. We act honorably with God by walking humbly with Him. We act honorably with others by loving mercy. To do justly is therefore a practical application of the first and second great commandments, to “love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind … [and to] love thy neighbour as thyself.”¹¹

“To walk humbly is to recognize the limits of my abilities and to priotize God’s will over my own.”

“To do justly and walk humbly with God is to intentionally withdraw our hand from iniquity, walk in His statutes, and remain authentically faithful.¹² A just person turns away from sin and toward God, makes covenants with Him, and keeps those covenants. A just person chooses to obey the commandments of God, repents when falling short, and keeps on trying.”

“To love mercy is to set aside judgement or animosity and to treat others with kindness and compassion.”

“To love mercy as God does is inseparably connected to dealing justly with others and not mistreating them.”

“Always dealing honorably with others is part of loving mercy.”

“To be Christ like, a person does justly, behaving honorably with both God and other people. A just person is civil in words and action and recognizes that differences in outlook or belief do not preclude genuine kindness and friendship. Individuals who do justly “will not have a mind to injure one another, but to live peaceably”²⁴ one with another.”

“To be Christ like, a person loves mercy. People who love mercy are not judgmental; they manifest compassion for others, especially for those who are less fortunate; they are gracious, kind, and honourable. These individuals treat everyone with love and understanding, regardless of characteristics such as race, gender, religious affiliation, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, and tribal, clan, or national differences. These are superseded by Christ like love.”

“But at the same time, our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ do not want us to be paralyzed by continual uncertainty during our mortal journey, wondering whether we have done enough to be saved and exalted…”

In conclusion,

“We can assess our own progress. We can know “that the course of life [that we are] pursuing is according to God’s will”²⁸ when we do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God. We assimilate the attributes of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ into our character, and we love one another.”

As I think about this talk, the following talk is the one that strike me the most:

“Loving mercy means that we do not just love the mercy God extends to us; we delight that God extends the same mercy to others. And we follow His example. “All are alike unto God,”²⁰ and we all need spiritual treatment to be helped and healed. The Lord has said, “Ye shall not esteem one flesh above another, or one man shall not think himself above another.”²¹

Do Justly, Love Mercy, and Walk Humbly with God

by Elder Dale G. Renlund

Even though sometimes I might be grudge to someone and might want to see so call karma happened upon that particular person. Yeah, I know it is not Christ like at all!

But if I am putting my feet into that person’s shoes, I would want the same loving and mercy that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ extend to other persons, extended the same love towards me as well! And the love They extended to me is no discounted at all!

I will strive to make better decision (do justly) by submitting my will to the will of God (walking humbly) and learn to serve others non-judgmentally (loving mercy).

Be of Good Cheer

This talk is from the Women’s Session of the General Conference held in October 2020. President Oak’s talk is a timely reminder that despite our circumstances, we have much to be thankful for and that we can find joy all around us. He also reminds us that Heavenly Father is aware of each us as individuals and that we need to trust Him.

Be of Good Cheer

by President Dallin H. Oaks

We need to remember that the Lord trusts us and is supporting us through every trial we experience. As we in turn trust Him and walk His path, we strengthen our faith and we overcome difficult challenges, persevering in the face of adversity.

“Behold, this is the promise of the Lord unto you, O ye my servants.

“Wherefore, be of good cheer, and do not fear, for I the Lord am with you, and will stand by you; and ye shall bear record of me, even Jesus Christ, that I am the Son of the living God” (Doctrine and Covenants 68:5–6).

President Oaks talks about tribulation and challenges being part of the “common experiences of mortality”. He also says:

“Opposition is an essential part of the divine plan for helping us grow,² and in the midst of that process, we have God’s assurance that, in the long view of eternity, opposition will not be allowed to overcome us.

With His help and our faithfulness and endurance, we will prevail. Like the mortal life of which they are a part, all tribulations are temporary.”

It can be difficult to find joy in difficult times, but the Lord reminds us to count our blessings and look beyond our current circumstances to find joy. Where do you find joy in your life? What blessings has the Lord given you?

As we continue through our current challenges, we must remember that our trials and tribulations are temporary. There are times when they seem to go on and on, and that there is no end in sight. However, as our faith and trust in the Lord increases, so does our spiritual strength.

“In the midst of hardships, the divine assurance is always “be of good cheer, for I will lead you along. The kingdom is yours and the blessings thereof are yours, and the riches of eternity are yours” (Doctrine and Covenants 78:18).”

As we ask for help and trust the Lord, we are able to overcome seemingly impossible hurdles – this comes from a partnership of trust through the trials of faith. If you look back, you will find examples of challenges and hardships you have overcome. These have prepared you for the future, building up your foundation of faith in the Lord.

“With the Lord’s promises, we “lift up [our] heart[s] and rejoice” (Doctrine and Covenants 25:13), and “with a glad heart and a cheerful countenance” (Doctrine and Covenants 59:15), we go forward on the covenant path…”

As we remember that there is joy to be found everyday and find opportunities to express our gratitude, we will be able to recognise the blessings we receive everyday.

“There is boundless power in the doctrine of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.

Our unshakable faith in that doctrine guides our steps and gives us joy.

It enlightens our minds and gives strength and confidence to our actions. This guidance and enlightenment and power are promised gifts we have received from our Heavenly Father.

By understanding and conforming our lives to that doctrine, including the divine gift of repentance, we can be of good cheer as we keep ourselves on the path toward our eternal destiny—reunion and exaltation with our loving heavenly parents.”

Highly Favored of the Lord

“Together we considered individuals in the New Testament, Book of Mormon, and Doctrine and Covenants whom the Lord blessed to accomplish greatness in adversity. All were defined more by what they were able to do with the Lord’s help than by what they could not do as a result of their confinement and restriction.”

Elder Gary E. Stevenson began his talk with his young missionary experiences that related to the disappointments and sorrows that we might be face at this pandemic time.

Then he shared how the prophets such as Nephi, or Paul and Silas, or Nephi and Lehi the the sons of Helaman, or Alma and Amulek in Ammonihah and lastly Joseph Smith.

“Each of them understood what Nephi knew: that although they had seen many afflictions in the course of their days, they were highly favored of the Lord.”

Elder Stevenson focused his talk on the ways the Lord has favored us with preparation and resources to guide us during the trials and hardships that we are currently facing. Specifically, he mentions:

• Becoming more home centred and Church supported
• Ministering in a higher and holier way
• Finding heightened joy in the return of temple ordinances.

What resonated with me were all of the examples he gave of people, ancient and modern, who have used struggles and afflictions to come closer to Christ and receive his guidance, relieve suffering, share the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, make a difference in their corner of the world.

Despite of all the challenges and trials that I had been through, I should be like the ancient and modern prophets to come closer to our Savior and learn how to receive my personal revelation and gain greater faith to trust in Him, because all of us including me are highly favored of the Lord. It is because we are Heavenly Father’s children.

Highly Favored of the Lord

by Elder Gary E. Stevenson

This message came so just in time as I have studied the Doctrines and Covenants, the feeling that I had is hope and grateful for the Lord. There was one question: What evidence of the Lord’s wisdom and foreknowledge have you seen in your life?

There were so many evidence of the Lord’s wisdom and foreknowledge I have seen in my life: My marriage broken and get divorced, the process of how I was broke down alone with the children and I started to look for God’s help and allow Him to direct me to bring up both my children, the process of how I prayed to Heavenly Father in Jesus’s name that I would enter to His Church one day together with my own family but in my heart I wondered which one is His Church, the process of how I started to search for a better place for the children and how I able to purchase the house in a property auction with the amount that just what I had in the pocket to close the deal in which we live in now, the process of how Alvin and I got back together with the children, the process of started to go back to find a Church that suitable for our family, the process of coming to know His Church, getting baptized into His Church together as family, the process of going to the temple and sealed our family for all time and eternity, but it is not end just here after our temple sealing. Now and then, there were challenges that my family encounter such as the pandemic COVID-19 now and both children are blessed with the online studies and started to self-discipline in their studies. And there were and are more to come.

Elder Stevenson said,

“Times of affliction and disappointment do not change the watchful eye of the Lord as He favorably looks upon us, blessing us.”

I am blessed and I know that I just trying my best to do the promptings that comes to me and keep my commandments, my family and I will be in His good hands. We are truly highly favored of the Lord, if we sit down quietly and counting our blessings one by one.

Elder Stevenson also promised,

“… I believe that one day, each of you will look back at the cancelled events, the sadness, the disappointments, and the loneliness attendant to the challenging times we are passing through to see them overshadowed by choice blessings and increased faith and testimonies. I believe that in this life, and in the life to come, your afflictions, your Ammonihah, your Liberty Jail, will be consecrated for your gain.¹⁵I pray that, along with Nephi, we can acknowledge the afflictions in the course of our days while at the same time recognizing that we are highly favored of the Lord.”