SeanButler

I leave in 13 days to go to the MTC and then to the Nevada Las Vegas West Mission. I've been told that music is allowed on the mission if it is Church appropriate. What do I use to play the music? Am I allowed to bring headphones? An iPod? CDs? I know the answer "It varies from mission to mission." This is the answer I usually receive from people when I ask this question. If you have another answer to this question, then that would also be helpful.

25 more days until I report to the MTC!!! I'm a little nervous but also very excited! The thought of spending two years in Nevada serving in the Nevada Las Vegas West mission is hard for me to get use to. It's especially hard to think about how HOT it's going to be lol, but I know I just have to keep hydrated and I'll be alright. These last days are just dragging on! It feels like time has stopped. My call came in really early and I've spent the last 5 months preparing, and it's time for it to just start already! It's nice that General Conference will be during my time at the MTC, but at the same time, there might be less visits from the General Authority because they are occupied with General Conference. I'm looking forward to being one of the oldest missionaries. My birthday is 8 days before I leave, and I'll be 25. I can joke about how I can remember when VHS and tape decks were used! I still really believe in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. That it has been restored, through the prophet Joseph Smith and that the Book of Mormon is (quite clearly) the word of God. It is almost goodbye for two years, LDS.net. Don't do anything I wouldn't do!

Posted this video for you guys :) Mission Call Video

Thanks for everyone's encouragement!

English...*phew*

I'm going to show all those sinners that there is a better way!

I have been called to serve as a missionary in the Nevada Las Vegas West Mission. I report to the Missionary Training Center (MTC) on Wednesday, September 28, 2011.

The reason we are saved by grace is because, as is said in Romans 3:10-12: "There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one." Yet while Scriptures give us witness to the faithlessness and failings of all men, it shows God as one who never gives up, reaching out in love to us. Heatwaveo8 has shared Ephesians 2 with us, and I too like the way St. Paul put it (Ephesians 2:4-10): "But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved) and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved through fiath; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." "Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone" (James 2:17). As taught in Gospel Principles, to increase faith, one must act. President Spencer W. Kimball said, "There must be works with faith. How foolish it would be to ask the Lord to give us knowledge, but how wise to ask the Lord's help to acquire knowledge, to study constructively, to think clearly, and to retain things that we have learned." The Holy Spirit will do these works through you, if you let it. If you truly desire to have the faith inside you grow, then it is possible. My aunt wrote me a letter once, and many things I have just said are from the wisdom of the letter. Her love and faith are an example to me.

Well, I don't exactly see where you are coming from. But I obviously offended you, and owe you an apology. If the man who wrote this thread is offended, I want to say sorry to you, too.

At least I'm not going to have the police investigate this matter, Lizzy.

"Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocency. For all the day long have I been plagued, and chastened every morning. If I say, I will speak thus; behold, I should offend against the generation of thy children. When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me; Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end" (Psalm 73:13-17). What this says is that it is easy to give into temptation and follow the ungodly, but when you find the goodness of God, then it is time to return to a place of worship to sing praises to Him! What joy it will bring when you see your children prospering and becoming ever so much stronger because of the blessings they are receiving from the Heavenly Father for serving in His church. My stake president has told me, "It doesn't matter where you are on the path, as long as your on the path." It sounds like you left the path for awhile but found it again. Don't miss this opportunity!

I think all you can do is do your best. But jeeze man, 31... it's time to find an eternal companion!

This article makes me think of how great a country we live in. Being the only country with religious freedom at the time, America gave Joseph Smith the opportunity to be visited by God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, and to restore the gospel with the fulness of truth and priesthood authority. (See Preach My Gospel, Lesson 1: The Restoration). Now, political candidates who are members of the church may be elected president of the country. How great that would be! To be able to trust a politician

If you'd like to hear mine, you can read this blog I posted. Blogs » My Conversion Story » LDS Social Network

The question of whether Jesus is God has been a question that I have also had. Jesus Christ is my Savior, and the Son of God, and sometimes I wonder if that means He is God. So, I have done some research. One source is Jesus the Christ by James E. Talmage. James E. Talmage was one of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1911 until his death in 1933. It says, "We claim scriptural authority for the assertion that Jesus was and is God the Creator, the God who revealed Himself to Adam, Enoch, and all the antediluvial patriarchs and prophets down to Noah; the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; the God of Israel as a united people, and the God of Ephraim and Judah after the disruption of the Hebrew nation; the God who made Himself known to the prophets from Moses to Malachi; the God of the Old Testament record; and the God of the Nephites. We affirm that Jesus Christ was and is Jehovah, the Eternal One" (Ch. 4 - The Antemortal Godship Of Christ). From what I have learned from the teachings of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is that our Father in Heaven directs and guides EVERYTHING that Jesus Christ does. Therefore, they are one in purpose, but they are two separate beings. Jesus Christ lives. Our Father in Heaven is the living God. But when I think of "God" I often think of the Godhead. This consists of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Unless in context, in the scriptures, God is referring to just the Father. So, I have only tried to answer your first question. Your questions are noteworthy. I encourage all to follow Jesus Christ, and to be baptized in His name. I encourage all to repent, and to endure till the end. That we may return to the Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ.