I love to see the Temple!

Last year I was able to have the best Christmas present one could ever ask for. A trip inside the house of the Lord! I was able to go to the Bountiful Utah Temple last year for the first time. It was amazing. I could not ask for a better Christmas gift. You might be asking yourself, "Why is the temple such an amazing gift?" Even if you are not asking yourself that, let me tell you why I thought it was the best gift ever.

I am from Utah. I drive on I-15 (the main interstate in Utah) pretty often. As I drive on the freeway I see many temples but the one that stands out to me the most is the Bountiful Temple. I am drawn to it every time. So when the mission came around, I decided that I wanted to go to that temple first. That day was December 23 2010.

I was really excited to enter the house of the Lord that day. When I went inside, I had a wonderful feeling come over me. A feeling that is really hard to explain. But it was a feeling I wanted to have forever. That feeling is the Spirit of God. The Spirit confirmed to me at that moment that what I was doing was the right thing for me to do.

The gift that I received on that day was a gift from God. I, just like many members of the church, was endowed with, or given, power and knowledge from on high. The power helps us in our everyday lives and enables us to build Gods kingdom. (Preach My Gospel pg 86) I don't think there is a better gift than that, power from on high. 

After one is baptized by the priesthood authority, they can attend the temple. In the temple, Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints perform the saving ordinances in behalf of their deceased ancestors and others (Preach my Gospel pg 86)

I know that the temple truly is the House of the Lord. I am so grateful for the temples around the world. I am so grateful that I was able to attend that beautiful building in Bountiful Utah. I know that if you want to feel the Spirit of the Lord, the temple is one of the best places. That I know to be true.

For more information on the LDS temples, Visit http://www.lds.org/ and search temples.

Baptism by Water

As missionaries we are called to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Our purpose is to 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 Holy Ghost and enduring to the end. We are called to invite. Our mission president told us that our purpose is to baptize. I have been working really hard to complete my purpose.

One day I met a guy named Jake. He is a wonderful guy from Australia. Well we were working with Jake for a long time. My companion and I invited him to be baptized many times but he had things he had to work on so it took him much longer than expected to be baptized. But Jake progressed, he came to church, he read out of the Book of Mormon and he prayed to God to know if it was true. Well his answer came. He stopped what he was doing that was keeping him back from being baptized and had a desire to be baptized. In our next lesson we set a baptismal date and he made the steps to be baptized. Mid December, Jake was baptized. Right after his baptism, he told us that his next goal was to be sealed with his family forever in the temple. I have never been happier. I know that he is a happy man too. I know that he will be able to be with his family forever because of his decision to follow Jesus Christ and be baptized. I am grateful for the priesthood on the earth and I am happy that God answers prayers.

Charity is the pure love of Christ

I don't have a lot to say today. I will let President Hinkley do the talking. Check out this really cool mormon message. I know that as you watch, you will desire to have more charity for our brothers and sisters.

http://mormonchannel.org/joseph?bcpid=833687919001&bckey=AQ~~,AAAAwY-wg3E~,CCjDZJW7GXDWo0FJDBeqJ6XZdKwpY_p7&bctid=911029440001

I really loved the video. It really shows how powerful charity is. In the Book of Mormon, the prophet Moroni teaches us about the importance of charity.  
"45 And charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

 46 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, if ye have not charity, ye are nothing, for charity never faileth. Wherefore, cleave unto charity, which is the greatest of all, for all things must fail—

 47 But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him."

I hope and pray that we can all obtain more charity in our lives. Its a gift from God. Pray for it if you want more of it.

God answers our prayers.

Have you ever wondered if God hears and answers all of our prayers? I know that I have. There have been many times that I have asked myself that. I mean God is so great and so powerful, why would He want to listen to a little man like me? Although I have asked myself those type of questions, I have never stopped praying. I have been taught since I was a little boy to pray. It seems as though God does not answer all of our prayers when we want them to be answered. God answers prayers is His own time and in His own way. But he does answer ALL of our prayers. 

God is the father of our Spirits. He wants to talk to us. He wants us to talk to Him. The only way we can talk to Him is through prayer. Just like our earthy fathers, God wants to know how we are doing. He wants to know our concerns that we might have. He wants to help us. God does know us already. He knows whats on our mind, heart and our feelings, but it is much better when we just tell Him. Have you ever known what someone wanted but you didn't give it to them until they asked? I have done that a few times. That's how God is as well. He has a room full of blessings for us, all we have to do is knock on the door and He will let us in. I know that to be true. I have had a lot of blessings come through prayer. Even a simple prayer to start the day goes a long way. He will guide us and protect us and He will show us the things that we should do.

Prayers don't need to be memorized either. In fact, they should be from the heart. One of my companions told me,  "Prayer should not be memorized. When you talk to your earthly dad, you don't give him a memorized talk or say the same thing to him. You tell him how you are. You talk with him. You tell your dad things that your doing and sometimes ask for help. That's how God is too, He wants us to speak from the heart" When we pray, we should address who we are talking to, (Dear Heavenly Father,) Thank Him for your blessings (family, friends, anything else you are grateful for,) and tell Him what's on our heart or our mind and ask Him for help. When your done talking to God, Close in the name of Jesus Christ. Now I don't know about you, but that does not sound that bad at all.

Not only should we pray by ourselves, but we should pray in our families. In 3rd Nephi chapter 18, our Savior, Jesus Christ, told us that we should pray in our families, "Pray in your families unto the Father, always in my name, that your wives and your children may be blessed." In my home we started doing nightly family prayer. It really brought us closer as a family. We were and still are being blessed for having family prayer. Family prayer is what our prophets want us to do, its what Jesus Christ wants us to do. Its what Heavenly Father wants us to do. So how about we listen to God and His Son and His servants and have family prayer?

I promise that God does answer everyone of our prayers. I know that because He has answered all of mine. I know that God lives and loves every single one of His children. He wants the best for us. He wants to hear our voices. Let us all turn to Him in prayer and strengthen our relationship with our Father who is in Heaven. He will answer us in His own time and in His own way.  

Scripture Reading and Gatorade!

We all know what the scriptures are and most of us have them in our homes. All of us have access to them. But how many people actually open them up? What's the importance of reading the scriptures? We can to go church if we want to get God's word right? Wrong. Although going to church is good, it's not good enough. Reading the scriptures is what we have to do as well.

As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, we have a lot of different books of scripture. We are blessed to have the Book of Mormon, the Pearl of Great Price, The Doctrine and Covenants and of course, The Holy Bible. All of those books are the word of God. All of them should be read daily! There are many reasons why we should read daily but the main reason is so we can obtain a stronger faith in Jesus Christ and His gospel. Having faith in Jesus Christ is the key to life. Without faith in Him, we will not be able to open the doors to the Celestial Kingdom.

We have been commanded by our Loving Heavenly Father to read our scriptures. It's really not that hard to do. We can all talk to Him through prayer and He wants to talk to us.  He will speak to us through the scriptures.

I once heard of scripture reading compared to water. A person must have water to live. We must all read the scriptures to live with Heavenly Father. Some people like to drink Gatorade.  Gatorade gives us more energy and hydrates us throughout the day. Gatorade is compared to the words of the living prophets. Their words help us in our daily lives, give us more spiritual truth and are just all around great for us. I love thinking of it that way because scripture study really does help us just as

 much as water or Gatorade!

Even in the scriptures it warns us what will happen if we don't read: Alma 13 says,

20 "Now I need not rehearse the matter; what I have said may suffice. Behold, the scriptures are before you; if ye will wrest them it shall be to your own destruction."

Now I don't know about you, but I do not want to be destroyed. So unless you want to be destroyed, I would invite you to read the scriptures. Use them. Apply them to your life. I can promise that as you read the scriptures, your faith in Jesus Christ will grow. You will want to follow Him more and you will find that the Spirit of the Lord is with you more. Will you read your scriptures daily?

Fishing and the Atonement

A few weeks ago I went fishing. It was really fun. As I was standing on the shore reeling in my line, I saw the fish grab the hook and take off. It was really cool and it was intense as I was reeling the fish to the shore. It was fighting really bad, like most fish do, and it brought an adrenaline rush to my body. When I finally landed the fish, I realized that I didn't want to eat it. So I took it off the hook and put it back in the water. Catch and release. I continued to fish the rest of the day and really enjoyed catching fish and making memories with some other missionaries. Later that day I was thinking of the fishing trip and the things that happened. I know this is going to sound cheesy but when we fish, we become sort of like Satan. Let me explain why I think that way.

When we have our lines in the water, we are waiting for a fish to grab our bait so we can pull them in and catch them. We do whatever it takes to catch the big one, the monster of the lake. We try different types of baits, lures, all the goods. Of course we will accept any fish that grabs our bait but our main goal is to catch the big one! When we do catch some, the hungry fishers will keep the fish and eat them later on. For those that can spend hours upon hours on the lake will play catch and release. I like catch and release because that way I can catch lots of fish and be on the lake for a longer period of time.
Now how is that related to Satan? Well, Satan does whatever he can to get the "big fish" or in other words, The true disciple of Jesus Christ. A follower of Christ is the hardest to catch but Satan will do anything he can to get us. His "line" is in the water. He is trying his best to make us catch the bait so he can put us in his power. Sometimes a little nibble at the wrong time can hook you. Satan in not one for catch and release. He wants to keep us. He wants to show us off to his followers. Of course Satan, like us, won't just go for the big one, he will take whatever he can. Satan will try all the different kinds of bait that he has. It may be as small as telling a white lie, or it could be as big as not living the law of Chasity. Sometimes, we accidentally grab onto the bait, even the best of the best can make a mistake here or there.

How do we get off the hook of Satan and back into the lake? Jesus Christ made it possible for us to "spit out" the hook and continue onward towards salvation. When Christ was on the earth he performed what came the most important event in the history of the world: He died for us and took upon himself all the sins of the world. This is all called the Atonement. His intense pain made it possible for us to be free of Satan's trap or "hook". In the Book of Mormon, Alma says: "And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people." This means that we can even be freed from the temptations Satan will throw at us. I know that the atonement is the only way to get off the hook of Satan. We all need to use the atonement. Satan does not like to play catch and release, but we can get released if we use the Atonement. No sin is too serious that the Atonement can't fix. I know that to be true.

The Church in my eyes.

Like I said, my name is Elder Penman and I am a full-time missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day saints. One time I was asked why I was serving a mission. Of course at first it was a simple answer "because this is where I want to be" but as i continued to ponder about why i was here i have made a few different conclusions. I came on a mission to show the world that Jesus is the Christ and to bear my witness of Him. I am also out here because I know how much this gospel has blessed my life and the life of my family.

In every aspect of my life, the gospel of Jesus Christ has been there for me. Whenever I have come to a hard decision in my life, I always turn to Heavenly Father in prayer. I know that He listens to my prayers and He answers them. I reason I know this is because its happened to me. There have been many times in my life where I am in a pickle, when I give the situation to my Father, He is always the one to get me out of the situation and back to where i should be in life. And whenever I have a question that I need answered, I like all of His children, have the opportunity to turn to Him in prayer and ask Him. I also can feel the answer that He gives me through the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost is a member of the God Head that can be with us 24-7 after we are baptized by the priesthood authority and after we receive the laying on of hands and given the gift of the Holy Ghost. I know that the Holy Ghost is with me, I know it because I can feel it often. I love being able to pray and feel the answers or even see the answers He gives me around me. Because of that, I know that God is our LOVING Heavenly Father.

I am also on a LDS mission because I know that Families can be together forever! My family is going to be together forever and I want other families to be together. When my parents got married, they not only got married for this life but also for eternity in the house of God, or the temple. Because of that, I know that we can live forever. Because of the priesthood, things can be bound on earth and in heaven. When looking at the big picture in life, we know that death is not the end. There is going to be life after this life and whats better than spend eternity with your family that you love so much! Nothing beats that! I want families to be together forever in the presence of God and I know they can be as they follow the commandments that He has given us and if we follow Christs' example and get baptized by the priesthood authority.

What about the Book of Mormon? Well I know without a shadow of a doubt that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. I know that everything that happened in the Book of Mormon is true. Everything just makes sense. I can now understand the Bible and I have another testament of Jesus Christ. Its so amazing! I love it! And because I know that the Book of Mormon is true, I know that Joseph is His prophet that He called to restore the truth to the earth. Today we have the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ because Joseph Smith.

Most of all, the reason I am on a mission is cause i know that Jesus is the Christ. I know that because of Him, i can live with God again. Because Jesus came to earth to Atone for me and take all of my sins upon him. There is nothing that I can do to repay Him for what He did. This mission is only a small fraction of what he did and this is the best way to re-pay him. I love Christ! I love the fact that he suffered for me and my friends and my family. He suffered for every person that has lived, that is living and that will live. What a better way to tell people than to serve a mission. Without Christ in my life, there would be no point in living. Because of him, I have been able to do a lot of things. He is my Light!

I know all of these things to be true because I have prayed about them and through the Holy Ghost I know for sure. I know that each of you can gain a testimony or have yours strengthened through the Book of Mormon and by praying to God and asking Him if its true. When you know for yourself, you will have a desire to go to the temple and be sealed for time and eternity or to just go back and feel the amazing spirit of the temple. I hope you all take what you read today and ponder on it. For those of you that are on missions, are planning on going on a mission, or have been on one already, think about why you are on a mission and what it means to you.

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen

Elder Cody Penman