Dear Family and Friends,
We have been seeing so many miracles this week! We are really starting to see others desires to be better grow tremendously. We have seen testimonies grow and lives change. Greater happiness and joy, liberation from the chains of sin, and personal relationships with their Redeemer increase. Haha I am so physically tired! But I can't stop my self, there is so much to learn, so much to teach and to serve, so much good to accomplish! The Lord always gives me strength, I'll be falling asleep going appointment to appointment, and when we get there I'm am full of energy and excitement! This is what God has created me to do. I have always loved being a missionary. "Persecutions may rage, mods may combine, armies me assemble, calamy may defame but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent. Tell it has penetrated every continent, visited every climb, swept every country, and sounded in every ear. Tell the purposes of God shall be accomplished and the great Jehovah shall say the work is done." The Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ is my life calling. The Book of Mormon has changed me forever, and dose everyday. I love all of you!
"Gods Loving Instructions"
"Gods Loving Instructions"
Many people have a very negative and misunderstood perspective of the Commandments. Our modern and living prophet has said, "God’s commandments are not given to frustrate us or to become obstacles to our happiness. Just the opposite is true. He who created us and who loves us perfectly knows just how we need to live our lives in order to obtain the greatest happiness possible. He has provided us with guidelines which, if we follow them, will see us safely through this often treacherous mortal journey." (1) Often times we feel the commandments are hard and a pain to live in our lives. "The commandments are strict but they are not restrictive." (2)
As we strive to live the commandments, we will be happy, we will have peace. Living the commandments enables us to receive blessings from heaven. Through living the commandments we can see true and everlasting joy. They may seem to take us away from things that are pleasurable, things that gives us a brief laugh and a momentary smile. But "God gives us commandments for our benefit. They are instructions from a loving Father in Heaven to help us have happy lives." (3)
But "disregard for the commandments opens the way for what I consider to be the plagues of our day. They include the plague of permissiveness, the plague of pornography, the plague of drugs, the plague of immorality, and the plague of abortion, to name just a few." (4) The commandments protect us from these and many other worldly things. There is a reason that the phrase " keep the commandments" is one of the most repeated phrases in all of scripture. They are what will guide us back to our Father in Heaven, and will allows us to look him eye to eye with out guilt or shame clouding our hearts.
I know my message this week is short, that is because I feel I cannot add anymore than what has already been said by ancient and modern prophets. I can only take away from it. I would encourage all of you to read or listen to President Monson's talk called "Keep the Commandments" and also watch a brief Mormon Message called "A Shower of Heavenly Blessings". You can find both on YouTube. My email is not over, if you only read what I have written, I'm afraid you will have wasted your time. Watch that video then go and listen to what our beloved prophet has to say on this subject. Do it now, if you can read an email you can get a hold of the content I desire to share with you.
But first, I would like to leave you all with my testimony. I know and have seen in my life the blessing of being obedient to our Father in Heaven. Now, looking back at the happiest times in my life, it was because I was keeping the commandments. Were they the most easy going times, no, but I was truly, truly happy. No matter what was happening around me in life, I was always happy. I know without a shadow of a doubt that only through our Savior, Jesus Christ can we experience, true and everlasting joy. Those of you who have never felt that, I invite you, like Alma to experiment upon these words, and tell me they are not true. I invite all who read this to come to know our eldest brother, Jesus Christ personally as I have and continue to do. I know He lives! He is and always will be my best friend. And I say these things in His holy and sacred name, Jesus Christ, Amen.
Elder Philip R. Bredsguard
Thermopolis, WY
Notes
1. Keep The Commandments by President Thomas S. Monson
2. Stay By The Tree
3. Preach My Gospel pg. 72
4. Keep The Commandments by President Thomas S. Monson
