Personal Revelation Pt. 3: What is it and why do we need it?

Jesus Christ taught us in His Intersessory Prayer that, "this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." (John 17:3)

Joseph Smith the prophet taught us that "the first principle of revealed religion is to know the character of God."

We need to understand the character of God in order to become like Him. But how can we know our Father? How can we really find out who He is? How do we know what He wants for us? How can we know what His voice sounds like?

Jacob of the Book of Mormon taught us that "no man knoweth of his ways save it were revealed unto him" (Jacob 4:8). Just as prayer is "the appointed means for obtaining the highest of blessings," and is the way that we (as children of God) communicate to our Father, revelation is "the communication from God to His children." (Bible Dictionary). We receive revelation in many different ways and is often very personal, but it is always necessary to know spiritual truth.

Revelation is indespensible to spiritual progression. Without it, we can never know of spiritual truths, nor can we know who our Father is. So it becomes our duty to develop a relationship with Him through prayer. In my own experience, I was not sure of what my Father wanted for me because I had not yet developed a relationship with Him. I didn't understand Him because I hadn't spent time with Him. But, "If thou shalt ask, thou shalt receive revelation upon revelation, knowledge upon knowledge, that thou mayest know the mysteries and peaceable things—that which bringeth joy, that which bringeth life eternal" (D&C 42:61).

So the first thing I learned from my experience with personal revelation, and the point of this post, is that we need to first spend time with our Heavenly Father before we expect great truths to be given to us. And my exhortation to anyone reading this blog is to pray. Pray your soul out, and seek for a testimony to be given to you from the Holy Ghost, because "no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost" (1 Corinthians 12:3). Be like Peter, who said to Jesus, "thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." He received this testimony not by intellectual guesswork, but by pure, uncontaminated truth from heaven. "Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven" (Matthew 16:16-17).

It is my testimony that we all can receive spiritual confirmation of Gospel truths, and that we all can be brought to a knowledge of the divine Sonship of our Savior Jesus Christ. And I know for a fact that time spent in prayer is sacred and is essential. I testify that as we spend time with our Father, He will commune with us, for "that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power" (Ephesians 1:17-19). God lives. He loves us. He will speak to us.

Personal Revelation Pt. 2: The Story

To start out, I think I'm just going to give a basic outline of the story without a whole lot of details. After I show the basic story, I'm gonna go back through and pick specific instances where I learned, grew, or anywhere I can point out the doctrines of the Gospel. Those will be followed up on in further posts. But today is going to be the fast version of the story. So stay tuned! Here it is:

When I was a junior in high school, I first got interested in going to the United States Naval Academy when I got an email for a summer program called Summer Seminar. I had gotten lots of letters from different universities to come to their summer programs and I knew that I wanted to go to one of them. The one at USNA was the cheapest.

So I went.

I had fun, I liked it, and I kept the option in mind when it came time to start applying to colleges for real. I was very interested in being in the military, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to go to a service academy or if I just wanted to go through the ROTC program at a civilian school. After weighing out all my options, I came up with two choices of where to go: 1) USNA and 2) University of Utah, NROTC Nursing Option.

I applied to both. I got into both. I was very divided on the subject and I felt very confused. They were both good options, they both had their pros and their cons, and I really couldn't decide which choice to make. I struggled with it for quite some time. My mother reminded me that a decision like this would definitely need to be prayed over (thanks, Mom, for always giving great advice!).

So I started to pray over the question. Rather, I started to say prayers. I say that I was saying prayers, because honestly, I'm not sure if I had ever really prayed for an answer to anything up until that point and I didn't really know how to do it. I just couldn't seem to find my answer. I didn't really feel anything when I was praying.

A little shaken by that, I took the question to my bishop. I set up an interview and laid out the situation to him, asking him for advice on what I should do. I asked him if it even mattered to the Lord where I went, or if He just wanted me to be a good boy and keep the commandments regardless of the school I attended. I asked him if my answer was that I could choose. Bishop Elsbury looked at me and told me, "That is a answer...." and he stopped for a few seconds. Then he said, "But that is not your answer. I don't know what your answer is, but I know that the Lord has something specific in mind for you, and that He wants you to wrestle Him for it."

That statement struck my heart and I think at that moment I finally understood that I really needed to pray seriously. One Saturday morning, I decided to really put in the effort to find my answer.

I took with me all the pamphlets, brochures, books, emails, letters, etc. that I had received from both colleges and my scriptures into my bedroom and closed the door. I was alone. It was just me and God. And we wrestled. 

I prayed. I read the scriptures. I prayed. I reviewed the letters, pamphlets, etc. I prayed. I made a pro/con list. I prayed. I reviewed the materials again. I prayed. I pondered. I prayed. I weighed the options in my mind. I prayed. I prayed. I prayed.

Hours later, at a point where my spirit literally felt exhausted and the edge of my bed was soaked in tears, I received my answer. It was not a voice, nor was it a sign or a vision. It was nothing more than a feeling. But it was a feeling that penetrated my soul and left me with a SURE answer to my question. I can't explain the feeling, but I know that I received it. And these were the words that I felt, "I need to go to the Naval Academy for the purpose of missionary work."

I was filled with joy and the Spirit, and I knew that I had finally found my answer. I poured out my soul in gratitude for the following hour and just let the feeling rest on me, soaking in the Spirit that I had felt. It was a pivotal moment in my life, an experience I will never forget.

Now, in the following posts, I will explain what I learned about personal revelation from this experience. But I want to bear my testimony that Heavenly Father does answer prayers. He talks to His children. I know because I have talked to Him; not face to face, but spirit to Spirit. And the witness from the Holy Ghost that I received is stronger than I could have receive by sight. He lives. He loves us. And He listens to us.

Personal Revelation

So...sorry everybody for not following up on my plans to write about happiness. Our area has been super busy this transfer and we have hardly even had time to get online, much less do a blog. Sorry for the whole delay. And....I'm going to change the subject. Don't worry, I will address the subject of happiness mas adelante, pero I want to talk about something that has recently come up in my life that has truly affected my perseption about personal revelation. Normally, I don't like to use stories of my life as examples of principles of the Gospel, but I feel that the experience I have had needs to be shared with others, and I feel the Spirit prompting me to do so. I share this story with permission (hehe).

I hope that in this blog and in some of the following, I will be able to explain a little bit of my thoughts and observations on the subject of revelation using a story that is a bit complicated and lengthy. As such, I will be doing many short posts, because blogs take time and, quite frankly, I don't have that much to spare. Please be patient as I continue to unfold the case of Hatch v. USNA.

For those who don't know, I attended the United States Naval Academy for two years prior to my service as a missionary. The plan was to go there for two years, take two year interim as a missionary for my Lord Jesus Christ, and then return to USNA and finish my schooling and training, and then entering the United States Navy or Marine Corps. That plan has now changed, but before I explain that part, I feel that I should first explain why I went to USNA in the first place. However....I am now out of time. Please stay tuned for the next part of Hatch v. USNA.

The Joy of Christ: Part 1

We kind of have a running joke in my family that has to do with one of the questions that Mom would always ask us. As teenagers, this question usually caused us to cringe and feel a little awkward, because we were never really sure how to answer it. We would usually try to brush it off with a terse, general answer and try to move on to another subject. The question that caused such pain to us was this:

"Are you happy?"

For some reason I never wanted to answer that question. I didn't want to analyze myself, and I never really knew what to say. But this question has been on my mind frequently lately, and it has led me into other questions such as these:

What is happiness? How do we cultivate it? Where does it come from? How do we know when we are happy and when we aren't? How do we help others become happy? How do we maintain happiness?

All these questions and many more have made me want to study this topic in depth, so I have decided to have a continuous blog that deals with the subject of happiness. Hopefully as I do this, I will understand a little bit more about it and finally be able to answer my mother's question: Are you happy?

Two Santa Rosa Missionaries!

A Sweet Message From Elders Volavola and Harrison of the Santa Rosa Mission!

Today's Verb: Reform

2 Kings 22-23

From the very beginning of his reign in Judah, King Josiah was an exceptional man. Having inherited a kingdom that was saturated with wickedness and idolatry, he he was able to detach himself from the false traditions of his fathers and discover his own pearl of great price: the commandments of Jehovah, the God of Israel.

He was made king at a very young age, having known nothing else than the disgusting idol worship that had seized the hearts of many in Judah; but recognizing the depraved immorality of these practices, Josiah strove to free himself and his people from this slavery of idol worship, to come away from these atrocities that had made many of his people debtors of the devil.

But how was he to initiate this planned reformation? So abysmal was the debauchery in Judah that the word of the Lord (the Holy Scriptures) had been lost, not only physically, but materially as well. The law had been lost, from their hands as well as their minds. It seemed that no matter how desirous Josiah was to realign his kingdom to the worship of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, it would be ultimately impossible. All hope seemed to be lost.

But from the following miracle we may derive this one important fact: God provides for those that desire to follow Him. While repairing the temple, the high priest Hilkiah was blessed to find a copy of the laws of Moses. The scriptures had been recovered. Josiah immediately commanded his servant to read to him all of the book. Though anciently given, the words were new to the ears of Josiah. So great was his anguish at learning of exactly how far away his people had moved from the Lord, Josiah rent his clothes, culturally demonstrating his sorrow and saying, "for great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not hearkened unto the words of this book, to do according unto all that which is written concerning us" (2 Kings 22:13). Filled with new-found conviction (and divine direction), Josiah commanded the law to be read to all of his people and caused that they all be put under covenant to serve the only true and living God.

"And the king stood by a pillar, and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord, and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all their heart and all their soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people stood to the covenant."

"And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the door, to bring forth out of the temple of the Lord all the vessels that were made for Baal, and for the grove, and for all the host of heaven: and he burned them without Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried the ashes of them unto Beth-el." (2 Kings 23:3-4)

We are all children of God. Our inheritance and potential is as great as His. He has given us His law, His commandments, and His guidance. But He has also given to us our agency. "Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil..." (2 Nephi 2:27). The message of Josiah is one of the moral courage to reform. Wickedness surrounds us. The devil attacks us constantly. Although his "mighty winds" and "fiery darts" may appear overwhelming, they at no point can ever overpower us. All we have to do is grab onto the rod of iron with all our might (read and follow the scriptures), and continue forward.We must come out of Babylon. We must forsake the idols that we have built up unto ourselves and that have taken the place of the emblems of the Lord in His temple (ourselves). We must de-junk our spiritual lives. We must worship the one true God of Israel.

Stone to Statue

Peter is one of my favorite characters in all of scripture, mostly because he is one of the best examples of how a rough-hewn man--with all the weaknesses, frailties, and impulsive propensities of a natural and mortal imperfection--can conquer his inborn weaknesses through the Atonement of Jesus Christ and become a genuine servant of the Lord, a man who truly magnified his stewardship. There are several aspects in the scriptures that show how important Peter's role was, even while the Master continued to tarry with His apostles on the earth. He was the first of the Twelve, the senior apostle, given his name by the Lord Himself, the appellation signifying firmness and steadiness, though like any rock cut from the earth, Peter had several rough edges that needed polishing. He was oft-corrected by Christ for his brash and abrasive disposition. However impulsive, his natural character reveals the dedication and zeal with which he served his Master. He, along with James and John, were privileged to be with Jesus in some of the most solemn moments of His mortal Ministry: the raising of Jairus's daughter from the dead, the transfiguration of Christ on the mount and His subsequent communion with the heavens, and near His great atoning sacrifice in the Garden of Gethsemane. His permitted presence at these sacred events clearly shows the trust that Jesus had in His apostle.

Though he often stood in need of corrective refocusing, his loyalty to the Savior never stood in question. Some would cite his actions at the palace of the high priest on the morning of His trials as cowardly and unbecoming of an apostle of the accused and arrested Messiah. True, he did purposefully and deceptively aver that he did not know his own Master; however, the context must be considered on this point. Peter loved Jesus, and on many occasions proved that love by action. Just the night before the thrice-repeated denial, Peter not only stayed by his Master, but even went so far as to defend Him, however erroneously, with the sword. Later, after all other followers had left, Peter remained, determined to stay with Him until the end. This act, in and of itself, indicates the true character of Peter, that of a faithful servant. However, in danger of being discovered by observers, which would threaten his proximity to Jesus and put at danger his own life (which would be needed if the Primitive Church was to continue after the death of Christ), Peter falsely stated that he did not know Him. While yet a denial, it was said out of desperation and without predesigned maleficence, much like Abraham's lie to the Egyptians. However well-intentioned his act, the crowing of the cock brought back to remembrance the prophecy of night previous, a prediction which he had so vehemently claimed would never come to pass. This realization brought him to grief and, disillusioned and depressed with his own weakness, he left the palace and wept bitterly. Peter's lamentation at this moment reveals another admirable trait: that of a repentant heart. He recognized his weakness and was saddened by it. His heart truly was broken and his spirit contrite, even though his action was done with the best of intentions. He still had the desire to do more, to refine his uncouthness and polish his rough edges. His penitence was not without sincerity, and Peter went on to become the apostle that Christ had desired him to be since their principle encounter on the shores of Galilee. With a continued work-ethic and added instruction from the resurrected Lord, Peter became a man that truly magnified his calling. He spent the remainder of his life in his Master's commission, representing Him so well that, "they brought forth the sick into the streets, and laid them on the beds and couches, that at the least the shadow of Peter passing by might overshadow some of them." (Acts 5:15). Persecutions raged, but Peter remained steadfast and solid, bearing semblance to the object for which he was named by Christ. His dedication persisted until the end of his life, where, faced with crucifixion, he once again manifested his bravery. Not wanting to even come close to mocking his Master, Peter requested that he be crucified upside-down, humbly showing that he was not worthy to suffer the same death as Jesus Christ.

We all can learn from the example of Peter. None of us are perfect. We all make mistakes, regardless of the roles we have been called to play. It is easy at times to wonder how we can possibly live up to the callings we have been given, whether they be as bishop, scoutmaster, primary teacher, or mother. We all have our own challenges and our own weaknesses. We all, at times, can't believe that the mass of rock that we are now can ever become the finely crafted masterpiece that Father wants us to become. Peter probably had similar doubts. The scriptures show several instances of illustrated evidence to that point. But Peter understood one important thing: that Peter, Simon Bar-jona, was unable to fulfill his responsibility on his own. He depended on the assistance of Jesus Christ, Son of Man, in order to achieve this seemingly impossible feat. He endured and did not complain about his calling, but rather continued in the work until, with enough faith, enough practice, and enough repentance, he became one whose spiritual stature reflected the assignment he had been given. He was even entrusted with one of the most monumental events of all time: the restoration of the Melchizedek priesthood on the banks of the Susquehanna in May of 1829. We can all follow his example, and follow Jesus Christ, who can carry us all to fulfill the greatest calling any of us could be given: Heirs of the Kingdom of God.

Safety for the Soul

La Fe, si no tiene Obras, es muerta en sí misma...(Santiago 2:17)

No digas: PADRE
Si cada día no te comportas como hijo

No digas: NUESTRO
Si vives aislado en tu egoismo

No digas: QUE ESTÁS EN LOS CIELOS
Si solo piensas en las cosas terrenales

No digas: SANTIFICADO SEA TU NOMBRE
Si no lo honras, no lo alabas

No digas:  VENGA A NOSOTROS TU REINO
Si lo confundes con el éxito material

No digas HÁGASE TU VOLUNTAD
Si no lo aceptas cuando es dolorosa

No digas DANOS HOY NUESTRO PAN DE CADA DÍA
Si no te preocupas por la gente que tiene hambre

No digas PERDONA NUESTRAS OFENSAS
Si guardas rencor a tu hermano

No digas NO NOS DEJES CAER EN LA TENTACIÓN
Si tienes la intención de seguir pecando

No digas LÍBRANOS DEL MAL
Si no tomas partido contra el mal

No digas AMÉN
Si no has entendido o no has tomado en serio las palabras del PADRE NUESTRO

Jesus the Christ

So the other day I was sitting at my study desk, with about ten minutes left between breakfast and personal study. I really like that time; I use it to do a lot of reflection, just ten minutes or so of soul searching/prayer. On this particular day, I was studying the picture of Christ by Del Parson. I had seen this painting since my infancy, but for some reason, on this day it caught my attention in a different way. Comfort and love flooded my heart, at just a glance into His face. I decided to write down the things that I noticed: An expression of infinite majesty, celestial glory, and kingly authority; simultaneously, it is an expression of infinite love, celestial charity, and a servant's humility. I see a resolved and firm jaw, piercing eyes filled with wisdom and revelation, and lips that would utter nothing but phrases of righteousness, while inviting all of us, His brothers and sisters, to follow Him. I see shoulders that can, and indeed did, bear the weight of the whole world. I see a beard and head of hair that is unpretentious and very simple, yet well-kept, neat, and clean. Likewise, His clothing is plain and unprepossessing. His neck is unyielding, completely controlled by His perfect spirit, always directing His eyes in a focused gaze towards eternal goals. And about His entire appearance is an atmosphere of faith, hope, charity, love, virtue, knowledge, patience, temperance, Brotherly kindness, godliness, humility, and diligence. He is my Savior. I love Him. I cannot wait for the day that He will come again, when I will be able to see Him as He is. An artist's representation will do for now, but I can only imagine how glorious and magnificent He will be, when His glorious light floods my eyes and reveals the image of my Lord and Master. I hope to be worthy to be there in His presence. In the meantime, I'm gonna go study from Chapter 6 of Preach My Gospel.