There is not anything more important to me than this. He has helped me through many ups and downs in my life. People may say that I have been through some hard times, but it was only teaching me how to be grateful, patient and closer to my Savior. My favorite apostle is James E. Faust, he was a major force in my life and his writings I come to love.
This quote is my favorite, and I want to share it with you. It comes from a talk given In October of 1976.
“May I suggest five beginning, essential measures which will greatly clear the channel for a daily flow of “living water” from the very source of the spring, even the Redeemer Himself.
First: A daily communion involving prayer.
Second: A daily selfless service to another.
Third: A daily striving for an increased obedience and perfection in our lives
Fourth: A daily acknowledgment of His divinity.
Fifth: A daily study of the scriptures”
Next he bears His testimony that has changed my life, and continues to do so.
“During the years of my life, and often in my present calling, and especially during a recent Gethsemane, I have gone to my knees with a humble spirit to the only place I could for help. I often went in agony of spirit, earnestly pleading with God to sustain me in the work I have come to appreciate more than life itself. I have, on occasion, felt the terrible aloneness of the wounds of the heart, of the sweet agony, the buffetings of Satan, and the encircling warm comfort of the Spirit of the Master.
I have also felt the crushing burden, the self-doubts of inadequacy and unworthiness, the fleeting feeling of being forsaken, then of being reinforced an hundredfold. I have climbed a spiritual Mount Sinai dozens of times seeking to communicate and to receive instructions. It has been as though I have struggled up an almost real Mount of Transfiguration and upon occasion felt great strength and power in the presence of the Divine. A special sacred feeling has been a sustaining influence and often a close companion.
It is my testimony that we are facing difficult times. We must be courageously obedient. My witness is that we will be called upon to prove our spiritual stamina, for the days ahead will be filled with affliction and difficulty. But with the assuring comfort of a personal relationship with the Savior, we will be given a calming courage. From the Divine so near we will receive the quiet assurance:”
“My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment;
“And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes.” (D&C 121:7–8.)
Amen

I have posted a few thoughts about keeping the commandment. But recently it was mentioned that the commandments are controlling, they give you less freedom. That brings me to two stories or examples of what the gospel is all about.
Imagine seeing a sign on the seashore that reads:
“Danger—Whirlpool. No swimming allowed here.”
We might think that is a restriction. But is it? We still have many choices. We are free to swim somewhere else. We are free to walk along the beach and pick up seashells. We are free to watch the sunset. We are free to go home. We are also free to ignore the sign and swim in the dangerous place. But once the whirlpool has us in its grasp and we are pulled under, we have very few choices. We can try to escape, or we can call for help, but we may drown.( Gospel Principles, ch 4)

The key is even though we are free to choose our own course or path; we are not free to choose the consequences of our actions. As has been said many times, as we keep the Commandment the Lord or Heavenly Father will bless us. If we don’t keep the commandments he cannot. It is a great blessing to know that he loves us and does not want us to travel this earth life alone.

John 17:1-3

1 These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:

2 As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.

3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

Comment:

“It is one thing to know about God and another to know him. We know about him when we learn that he is a personal being in whose image man is created; when we learn that the Son is in the express image of his Father’s person; when we learn that both the father and the son possess certain[specific] attributes and powers. But we know them, in the sense of gaining eternal life, when we enjoy and experience the same things they do.To know God is to think what he thinks, to feel what he feels, to have the power he possesses, to comprehend the truths he understands, and to do what he does. Those who know God become like him and have his kind of life, which is eternal life”. Quoit from Bruce R. McConkie, doctrinal New Testament Commentary, 3 Vols. 1:762.

1 Nephi 17:3
And thus we see that the commandments of God must be fulfilled. And if it so be that the children of men keep the commandments of God (Then)he doth nourish them, and strengthen them, and provide means whereby they can accomplish the thing which he has commanded them;

Comment:

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).

Heavenly Father and Jesus have given us rules to help us make right decisions. When we are baptized, we promise to obey God’s rules.These rules are the commandments.
He gives commandments because he loves us.

Moroni 10:3-6

Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and bponder it in your chearts.

And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with dreal intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.

And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the btruth of all things.

And whatsoever thing is good is just and true; wherefore, nothing that is good denieth the Christ, but acknowledgeth that he is.

Comment:

I know that the Book of Mormon is a true record of Heavenly Father. It is a second witness to the Bible that Jesus is the son of God and if we keep his commandments we can return to our father that sent us.

Doctrine and Covenants 88:63

63. Draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you; seek me diligently and ye shall find me; ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.

Comment:

We have just celebrated the Easter season, the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. I know that he lives! So diligent Seek Him, Let his love be part of you, he is our Brother.
Again he said: “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33.)

Brother Halling

Ether 12:27

27And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.

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I wonder if this means that in the world we live in today, believing in Christ, and knowing that there is a place prepared for us after this life, if we live righteously, makes us seem weak. So as the world thinks this is a crutch, to us who believe in returning to a kind and loving Heavenly Father it gives us hope and strength to endure all trials set before us.

John 4:10-14

10 Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.

11 The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water?

12 Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?

13 Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:

14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

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I really like this scripture. It fits in with keeping the commandments, let me explain with another scripture:

D&C 63:23
But unto him that keepeth my commandments I will give the mysteries of my kingdom, and the same shall be in him a well of living water, springing up unto everlasting life.

Alma 36:1
My son, give ear to my words; for I swear unto you, that inasmuch as ye shall keep the commandments of God ye shall prosper in the land.

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Comment:

I really like this scripture, especially the part where it says”inasmuch as ye shall keep the commandments of God ye shall prosper in the land.” I want to be prosperous, who doesn’t.
I had the question, which was the Greatest commandment that would help me in my pursuance of happiness and Prosperity.
Jesus was ask a simmalar question:

Mark 12:28-30

28¶And one of the ascribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all?

29 And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:

30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.

For me to Prosper in the land, first I have to Love the Lord God. With all my heart, soul, mind and strength. How do I get to know God? You have to diligently seek him, studying the scriptures, praying continually and having a contrite heart, a humble heart. Keeping all the commandments that he has given us.

Let us continually strive to know God and to love him. Is that what they mean by a labor of Love?

Helaman 5:12
12. And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty cstorm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.

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Comment

As we pass through the Christmas season, let us remember the reason of Christs Birth and the effect has on us in our lives.