Navigation?

It has been a great Sabbath day for my family and I today. We arose to a beautiful, sunny morning amongst the Bear River Mountain range which paint the sky just East of us out the windows of our home.

At 9am we arrived for church and had a great three hour block of meetings. In our first meeting, Sacrament meeting, where we partake of the bread and water in remembrance of Jesus Christ's death and suffering in atoning for our sins, we learned about pondering upon the revelations that have been given to us by modern-day prophets. Specifically, we learned about the many benefits of the Word of Wisdom and praying to aid us in all decision making. 5 ^aPray always, that you may come off ^bconqueror; yea, that you may conquer Satan, and that you may ^cescape the hands of the servants of Satan that do uphold his work

Next, I dropped my son off at nursery. He began to scream and cry as we left the chapel and walked to his classroom because he knew I was going to leave him for the next two hours. After a few minutes he calmed down as he does each week and loved coloring pictures of Christ and Joseph Smith, puzzles, toys, singing songs about Jesus, snack time, and BUBBLES! We hope he outgrows his fear of being dropped off soon. I then met my wife in the adult Sunday school class and we had a great lesson on navigating the storms of life today.

This is the subject I want to recap and express my feelings about most today. The scriptures have many great stories of faith, analogies, and parables to teach us spiritual lessons. Today we dove into The Book of Mormon and learned more about the "Liahona" which was a small instrument (A ball with spindles-"compass") that helped Nephi and his family navigate through the wilderness outside of Jerusalem and travel across the ocean to the Promised Land of America.
In the beginning of The Book of Mormon, Nephi's dad, Lehi, had a vision to leave Jerusalem and lead his family into the wilderness. In summary, Nephi supported his father's decision and put faith in the Lord that this was the right thing to do. His elder brothers, Laman and Lemuel, however, murmured and complained about leaving their riches and belongings to venture off into the wilderness. Along the way, his father received a "guide," the Liahona, which would point them in the right way of their travels if they continued exercising faith in the Lord.

10 And it came to pass that as my father arose in the morning, and went forth to the tent door, to his great astonishment he beheld upon the ground a round ^aball of curious workmanship; and it was of fine brass. And within the ball were two spindles; and the one ^bpointed the way whither we should go into the wilderness. - 1 Nephi 16:10

28 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, beheld the pointers which were in the ball, that they did work according to the ^afaith and diligence and heed which we did give unto them. -1 Nephi 16:28

29 And there was also written upon them a new writing, which was plain to be read, which did give us ^aunderstanding concerning the ways of the Lord; and it was written and changed from time to time, according to the faith and diligence which we gave unto it. And thus we see that by ^bsmall means the Lord can bring about great things. - 1 Nephi 10:29

Through this great story and example of faith, we learn that a family left their home and belongings to travel with few provisions to an unknown land. They relied upon this ball or instrument to guide them where they should go through exercising faith in God.

In these latter-days, the Restored gospel of Jesus Christ is on the earth once again in its fullness which enables each of us as God's children to receive special blessings such as baptism by immersion and the gift of the Holy Ghost...Each one of us already have the spirit of Christ within us which leads us to do good. When we act on these feelings to do good we allow the Holy Ghost to teach us the truth of all things. As we discover more truth, we are able to become more free from sin and bondage... 5 For behold, again I say unto you that if ye will enter in by the way, and receive the Holy Ghost, it will ^ashow unto you all things what ye should do. ~2 Nephi 10:5

In our day, the "Liahona" is the Gift of The Holy Ghost which is given to every new member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints after they've been baptized by immersion by someone holding the proper priesthood authority. Although each of us have the spirit of Christ and can feel the Holy Ghost's influence day-by-day, just as we can feel the warmth of the sun, it is only upon being baptized that we're given the Gift of The Holy Ghost.

The Gift of the Holy Ghost is much like the Liahona because it guides us through the storms of life and helps us navigate our way by choosing the right things that God would have us choose. The scriptures are also a type of "Liahona" that act as a road map to aid us along our journey. Reading and studying the scriptures allows God to speak to us... If our destination is eternal life and to return back to our Heavenly Father's presence, the Holy Scriptures give us a blueprint or outline of what needs to be done to do just that. The Holy Ghost testifies that the scriptures and gospel of Jesus Christ are true, thus keeping us on the right course of action each day during our mortal life here upon the earth.

I loved our lesson today and bringing the scriptures to life. I know that The Book of Mormon is Another Testament of Jesus Christ and compliments the Holy Bible. I am grateful that I have invested time to learn more about its pages and have prayed to learn for myself that its true. If you have not read from The Book of Mormon yet, I challenge you to get a FREE copy delivered to your home and begin reading and praying. I can promise you it is a life changing book. I have grown closer to my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ as a result of reading, pondering, and praying about The Book of Mormon. The Holy Ghost has testified to me that it a true book of Jesus Christ's gospel. I hope you've had a blessed Sabbath today as well. Until next week~

~ C. Poulsen