Disobedience = No Chuck E. Cheese

Lately I've been reading along in my scriptures studies and the one thing that keeps screaming at me is the importance of being obedient! I think Heavenly Father is trying to tell me something...

Do you want to know a little secret? Even though I look so sweet and so innocent, I was the most disobedient child. EVER.

I was so disobedient that when I would be sent to my room for being disobedient, I would climb out my window and play with the neighbor kids for the duration of my time-out period, I then would crawl back through my window and innocently ask my mom if I could come out of my room. I would never do my chores. I HATED doing chores. My mom would always bribe us with things if we were good little children and helped take care of the house. Bless my mom's heart. There is one day that I will never ever forget...

One glorious summer day when I was probably 9 or 10, my mom promised us a trip to Chuck E Cheese if we would do our chores. She gave my older sister a list of chores and me a list of chores. I don't remember exactly but, I assume I was asked to dust the TV stand, vacuum the family room and maybe clean the mirrors and sink in the bathroom. Easy stuff right? Didn't matter, I didn't do them. In my mind, I thought that my mom loved me and she would let me go to Chuck E. Cheese whether I had done my chores or not. I thought wrong! When it came time to leave, my sweet mother asked me if I had finished my chores and I mumbled no but was still heading to the door. She stopped me and disappointingly said, "I'm sorry but you're going to have to stay home today because you didn't do your chores." I immediately put on the water works hoping it would do the trick but she still said no. I chased her outside as all of my other siblings were climbing into our van. My mom got in the car, rolled the window down and told me to get in the house. I wasn't giving up just yet so I proceeded to get on top of the hood and I sat cross legged right in front of where my mom was sitting and threw a fit. My mom along with my siblings just laughed which made me more and more furious! My mom told me one more time to get in the house and that is when I finally realized that I wasn't going to win this one and I would have to go inside and suffer the excruciating consequence. That was a huge lesson about obedience for me.

I share this humiliating story to stress the importance of being obedient to the commandments that our Heavenly Father has so lovingly given us. I used to think that rules and commandments were given to us to control us but that could not be farther than the truth. In reality, God gives us guidelines and commandments because He loves us so much. He gives us these things to protect us and most importantly, to help us return to Him. Just like I thought I wouldn't get in trouble because my mom loved me, some people think the same of God. Yes, He loves us more than we will ever understand. At the same time He wants us to be the best we can be and His commandments help us be our best. My mom didn't let me go because she knew I would turn into a spoiled brat and that I would never learn to be accountable for my actions. It's equivalent to God. He doesn't want us to all be spoiled brats!

We find in the scriptures that "...no unclean thing can dwell with God." (1 Nehi 10:21) Because no unclean thing can dwell with our Father in Heaven, He has provided us with a way to know how we can remain clean and be worthy to live in His presence once again. He has done this through commandments as found in the Bible and also through His living day Prophets in our own day. We are promised so many blessings as we follow and keep the commandments of God. We read many of these blessings in the Bible...

"..and the fulfilling of commandments bringeth remission of sins." 3 Nephi 15:10

"Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it; that it may be well with thee, and that ye may increase mightily, as the Lord God of thy fathers hath promised thee, in the land that floweth with milk and honey." Deuteronomy 6:3

Most of all, we feel the love of God and our Savior Jesus Christ as we choose to follow their ways, not the world's ways.

"If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love." John 15:10

Sometimes being disobedient causes us to miss out on a trip to Chuck E. Cheese but most of the time there are more serious consequences when we disobey Heavenly Father. I have spent a large portion of my life choosing to live by my own rules and own desires and in those times I have experienced a lot of heart ache and a disconnection to God. I now understand and appreciate that commandments are not given to me to control me or tell me what to do- they are given to me for my own true happiness and my own salvation. We are happier and closer to God when we are obedient to Him. I invite you to ponder in your hearts in what ways you can be more obedient to your Father who loves you. I promise that you will feel more of His love and you will feel closer to your eternal life with Him.

a new day...

There is an age old question that was asked by Job in the Bible. "If a man die, shall he live again?"

I think that every single person has had to ask themselves this question at some point in their lives. Whatever one chooses to believe, it's something that we naturally ponder when we know we will someday face death.

In a talk titled "Life is Eternal" from President Ezra Taft Benson, he states this so perfectly:

“What mortal being, responding to that mystical instinct that earthly dissolution is at hand, has not contemplated what lies beyond the grave?

“What mortal being, upon whom has descended that strange and serene resignation that life’s journey is about at an end, has not thought about that eternal destination and what might be there?"

Along with thinking about death as we approach old age, I think we also ponder death and what's next when we have someone near to us pass away. My dear family friend Brendon passed away last week at the age of 20 and it really made me stop and think about this matter. Brendon had his whole life ahead of him but, does that mean it ended if he left his mortal life? I testify to you that the answer is no. I know that Brendon is still living. 

What does it really mean to "pass away?" Where is Brendon right now? 

When someone passes from this life, their body stays here on earth. But what happens to their spirit? Their spirit enters into a place called the spirit world. The spirit world is a place of learning and preparation. Our memories from this life will follow us there. In the spirit world people either live in a state of happiness and rest or in a state of torment based upon the decisions that they made in this life and whether they chose to follow Jesus Christ and used His Atonement or not. Although death does not change your personality or desires, for those that never had the opportunity to learn of Christ and His gospel here on earth, will be given that opportunity in the spirit world. Heavenly Father has prepared a way for all of His children to learn of Him and choose to follow His Son Jesus Christ to return to their home with their Father. I know that Brendon is in the spirit world right now learning more about His Father's plan for him and that he is in a state of happiness and rest.

But then what? Let me give a brief explanation of this glorious part of God's plan...

Jesus Christ will one day return to this earth and after this takes place, we will all be resurrected. When Jesus Christ was crucified and died on the cross, His spirit went to the spirit world and His body rested in the tomb. Three days later He rose from the dead- His body and spirit were once again reunited. His body was in it's perfect form and was free from physical death ever again. Because He did this most wonderful thing, we all will have that same blessing. After death we will one day be reunited with our bodies and we will live forever. Immortality is a gift to all. How lucky are we?? We truly are loved. We then are judged by God according to our actions and the desires of our hearts. We then hopefully receive eternal life and live with our Father and families once again if we prove ourselves worthy of that blessing...but I'll explain more of that another time!

I want to testify that I know that Jesus Christ lives. I know that because He lives, all of those that have passed on live as well. The prophet Abinadi in the Book of Mormon so beautifully testifies of this in Mosiah 16...

"And if Christ had not risen from the dead, or have broken the bands of death that the grave should have no victory, and that death should have no sting, there could have been no resurrection.

But there is a resurrection, therefore the grave hath no victory, and the sting of death is swallowed up in Christ."

The grave will have no victory over us. I know that there truly is life after death. Just like we will always have a new day here on this earth, I know that death is just another new day into the next part of our eternal lives. Death is not the end, it is the beginning. 

I know that Brendon still lives and I find comfort in knowing that his family will see him again. Although there is sorrow in losing a loved one, most of all, there is hope.