Christ: A Brother, A Father, But Most Importantly A God.

So this week I was studying about our Savior Jesus Christ and his "saving grace". As I was studying this I realized how much He loved Heavenly Father. Christ did perform the Atonement for us but he did it for the Father as well. He was being obedient to the commandment that was given to Him. As I pondered about the Atonement I thought about the relationship that Christ has between me/us. In my class we talked about it. I first initially thought that Jesus Christ is our brother was an important role. I felt that that title of brother made is sacrifice more personal to me. As we discussed this in class, we talked about how Christ is our Father as well. How can this be if he is the Son of God the Eternal Father? How can he be both our Brother and Father? There are two ways that I have learned. First, he created this earth under the direction of God the Father. Therefor, as the creator if this earth he is the Father of this earth. The other way is through spiritual rebirth. When we are baptized, we are "born" again unto Christ spiritually. So this title of Father is pretty big. But what I have found, Christ is more than that. Christ is a god. I don't fully understand the role of a god, but I feel that it is greater than being a brother or a father. I feel that as a god, you get to know your "children" in more depth. You will be able to understand them even more than being a brother, or a father. I feel that as a god, your capacity of love increase infinitely! That is our relationship with Christ. He is our God. Our savior. He is one with his Father, as we should be one with Him.  This week I am going to continue studying the scriptures and try to learn and understand what I can do to change and become more unified with my Savior Jesus Christ. He is the one who can give us salvation. He is the one who has paid for my sins. All I can do is give him my life by living the Gospel and following his commandments.

The Divinity of the Book of Mormon

I am going to start a weekly post. I haven't posted many things sense my last post of two years ago. I want to post more and I have the opportunity to do so with one of my classes that I am taking this semester at college. So this week I have been reading and studying the Book of Mormon. I am in a Book of Mormon class at BYU Idaho. I have been learning a lot, mainly how I can get more out of my study. First off, most of us who read the Bible, The Book of Mormon, or any other scripture, don't slow down and ponder on what we are reading. We don't study! We just read. Just in this first week of class I have a better understanding of the importance of the Book of Mormon. As I read the title page of the Book of Mormon it hit me that this book of scripture really is sacred scripture from God. When you read the title page, introduction, and the testimonies at the beginning the book, you can begin to see that it was by the power God that this book came to be. Pondering on the divinity of the Book of Mormon, I realized that one huge difference between the Bible we have today and the Book of Mormon is this: The Bible was translated by a few men who were not prophets, therefore didn't have the power of God. They translated it through the knowledge that they had. The Book of Mormon was translated by God through his Prophet. So in short the Bible was translated by Man, and the Book of Mormon was translated by God. This is why Joseph Smith said, "I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, it is the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts than by any other book." That is a really bold statement and I now understand why he said that. I know that the Bible contains the gospel of Christ but I do know that it's not whole because of the many translations of man. God knew that the Bible would be corrupted by man, and he provided additional scriptures to come forth at certain times. The Book of Mormon is one of those scriptures. It is an account of the people of ancient americas who were taught the same Gospel that was taught in jerusalem. God loves us and wants us to be happy and living the Gospel brings lasting happiness and joy into our lives. I want to end this week's post with my testimony of the Book of Mormon. I have found out for myself the truthfulness of it's divinity and know that it is the word of God. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and that he translated the Book of Mormon through the power of God. The Book of Mormon contains the Gospel of Jesus Christ and by living by the principles found therein, we can find peace and joy and love from our Heavenly Father. Some of you might not know how I know of these things. You might be asking yourself, "How do you know it's true?" or, "How can I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God?" For those who have that question I will close with this quote from the Book of Mormon in Moroni chapter 10 verses 3-5(Pg. 529.) "Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall read these things, and ponder it in your hearts. And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost. And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things."  

My life after Mission part 1

So, in April of 2012 I was released from serving as a full time missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I served in the Northern Virginia area for 2 full years with minimal contact with my family via e-mail, letters, and the twice a year phone calls we were allowed to make. It doesn't sound as bad as it seems. The blessing to serve the Lord Jesus Christ is priceless. It was a mixed emotional day when I got released. I was home and with my wonderful family once again. Yet I left a part of me in Virginia. The best part for my heart was being reunited with my future wife, best friend at the time, Hannah Smith. I sent her a lot of letters while on my Mission. She would write occasionally, but when she did it would be novel-like letters updating me on most of her life. I was ecstatic to see her! She was only in town for 3 more days when I arrived. Nonetheless I was able to spend a good amount of time with her. When the three days were up she went off to school in Idaho. Pretty far from Texas in my book. Time went on. I applied for jobs all around town. I didn't give up hope for finding a job. I stayed fast to the faith that God would help. During this time I was playing with an idea of going up to Idaho for Hannah's B-day which was in the begging of July. For some reason it felt like a good idea. What surprised me was that my parents were fine with it. Of course I was staying with my wonderful Grandmother which most likely helped my situation. I remember the day if when I told her I would be coming up to Idaho. It was a sad yet happy day. I was at Academy with my Mom and my 3 wonderful sisters. We were shopping for swimming suits. My Mom got a call from my Dad. My Mom had a shocked face and my heart became worried. I asked what happened and she responded that a close friend of Hannah's Dad passed away. It took a while for me to wrap my mind around what happened. I knew this guy briefly before I left on my Mission. He gave me great advice. Apparently he was recently married. Hannah texted me to keep her Dad in my prayers and plus some other minorly sad things going on in her life. I felt that I should tell her I was coming up to visit her. Of course that made her day soooooo much better! All I wanted was for her to have something to be happy about. After that day I was looking forward to going to Idaho and seeing her for 2 weeks. Plans were moved ahead and I was going to visit her a month early. Which in our minds was even better :).    

Life Changes

Ok so it has been over 2 years sense a post has been posted from me or my Sister Krystle who took over for a bit. I thank her for doing so. :). So, a lot has happened from the last post. My Mission went really well. I had seen many lives that have changed for the better. God has really blessed me with such a spiritual experience those past two years. I served in the D.C. South mission which in my opinion could be changed to the Northern Virginia Mission sense thats all we covered. I served for two years for my Church. My faith in Jesus Christ has grown tremendously! My mission really has prepared me for my life ahead of me. Especially for what all has happened my first 8 months I was home.

Chickens and Charity...

So in every letter I write Sjon I ask him for updates and what he wants me to put on here and every letter I get back just asks ME more questions.

So this time I asked him if he had any good mission stories yet. His answer: "I taught the gospel to a chicken.Ummm my companion and I were called barbaric for knocking on a door instead of ringing a doorbell."

He also told me an experience he had that has to do with charity! Here is what he told me...

"So my companion and I decided to check up on one of our less-active members. When we arrived at her appartment everyone was standing outside in the cold. The people who were there were: Emily (our less-active member), her sister (less-active member in the Singles Ward), and their two friends. We found out they lost their power. As the night went on the electric guy came and turned it back on. We all went inside and found out they had no food and all their money went to the electric guy and stuff. So they had no money or food. Emily is divorced and has two kids that come over on the weekends. So the next day my companion and I gathered most of our canned food and even 4 patties of the stake burgers my companion bought, and we gave Emily all the food. Oh we also went to Wal-Mart and bought some soup and a freakin' huge bag of rice! When we gave it all to Emily she looked at us with "puppy" dog eyes and said, " thank you so much. Now I will have food for my kids when they come." I really felt the Saviors love for her and her family. This also strengthened my testimony of how our Heavenly Father blesses other people through using other people. I love the gospel and I know it blesses others lives like mine."


So as you all can tell, he is alive and is loving his time serving the Lord. Until Next time...

WRITE HIM!

Elder Sjon Johnson
5242 Lyngate Court
Burke, VA 22015

News, News and News!

I've been meaning to update this for a while now and I am just now doing it. I am going to do better, I promise!

As for Elder Johnson, he has told me that he has had one baptism! He gave the baptismal talk and his companion did the baptizing. Also, another family he taught in his last area is getting baptized too! He is going to attend that one as well, but I don't think he is doing anything...

One thing I asked him in his last letter I sent him was if there was anything he wants me to put on here. His answer: my testimony. So here it goes...this could go on forever so I'm going to give you the simplified version. If you'd like the whole thing just email me or something...

I know with every fiber of that this Gospel is true. I know that my Savior, Jesus Christ, atoned for my sins. I know that if I sincerely repent I can take advantage of the atonement and return to live with my Heavenly Father and family for eternity. I know that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are real. I know that they love me. I know that Jospeh Smith was a prophet and restored the church. I am so greatful that he was willing to go through those trials and tests to restore the Church. I know that President Monson is our Prophet today and that he receives revelation from God today. I don't know many things but what I do know, I know. I know that I am a daughter of a loving Heavenly Father and I have a Savior, a brother, who loves me enough to die for me so I can return to my Heavenly Father. Like I said before, I know that the Gospel is true and I am eternally grateful that I have it in my life.

Sjon is well and would still LOVE to receive letters. If you'd like his address it's:

5242 Lyngate Ct.
Burk, VA 22015

Update

Just so you fellow readers know...Sjon is alive. I haven't really heard any news from him other than:

-He got transferred
-He may have had a baptism

I am currently waiting for a letter that I should be getting from him this week with LOADS of information....I asked him a ton of questions the last letter.

Soo until later this week....toodles!