Prophets

As the year comes to a close I am feeling so grateful for prophets.

Ancient ones whose stories and experiences I can read and through them learn more about how God works with his people and modern ones whose lives and teachings help me to know what the Savior wants me to be doing today.

In October our family had the chance to attend a General Conference session in person at the conference center in Salt Lake City. The spirit of that meeting was palpable and I was so grateful that the kids could have that experience to be in the same room with God's prophet as he delivered his message to the world.

God works through prophets to teach us, to direct us and to give us guidance for our day. It is the way He has always worked since the beginning of time with Adam and Eve. God reveals His will to prophets who then share it with His people. It is an act of faith to believe in and follow a prophet, especially when the things he teaches are not popular or go contrary to the wisdom of the time. Apostasy occurs whenever we turn away from the Lord and His prophets and believe that we know more than God. However, the Lord has the power to restore all things that are lost or broken and whenever His people repent and turn back to Him the Lord will receive them with mercy and love.

This year I had the opportunity to teach gospel doctrine at church. It is the Sunday class where we study a book of scripture and come to discuss the things we learned. This year we had the opportunity to dive deeply into the Old Testament and it was personally such a rewarding experience for me. I was able to overcome some of my bias about the Old Testament (it is boring, at times God seems harsh, it is hard to understand) and instead discovered that it is one of the most real books of scripture because it portrays the lives of real people that were messy, complicated and and painful, just like ours! In the midst of their living, the Old Testament shows how, over centuries of time and in so many different circumstances, God's people could choose to remain faithful to their covenant with Him and how, in turn, God remained faithful to His covenant with them. 

I am so grateful for the opportunity to "consider my ways" and seek to more fully align my life and mind and heart and will with His, for in Him I have found lasting peace and joy. I know that Jesus is the Christ and I love Him. He is the author of all that is good in my life and all that I hope for in the future. In my personal life, Jesus has "arisen with healing in his wings" and has restored and bound up my broken heart. These are profound and personal miracles and have come about through exercising faith in His name and in repenting regularly when I harden my heart and I know that miracles and blessings are available to everyone who will come unto Him, even the Savior, our Redeemer, Jesus Christ, the Son of God.