Loving One Another.

Hello again to anyone who reads this. How was your week? I hope it was swell. Short post for today, so I am going to go with a spiritual message. This Sunday I would like to talk about 2nd Corinthians 2:7-8. As many people know, one of Jesus's big teachings is to love one another despite who they are. However, despite the simplicity of this commandment, many people (myself included) have had problems with loving one another unconditionally. As a result, Paul felt he should write about it in his second epistle to Corinth. In his epistle he speaks about how Saints (referring to the early Christians) should care and love each other, doing what they can to help each other. I feel that this is an excellent strategy by Paul to say this because having the saints begin by helping and loving each other is a good stepping stone into loving everyone, which is the full commandment. I feel this goes along with the doctrine of "line upon line, precept upon precept" because what God is having done is he is having his missionaries teach the law of love slowly so that it is easier to follow. I would also like to challenge all of you is to love another, and if you have problems doing that, for whatever reason, then take it line upon line and slowly work your way up to the level expected of us by Christ. Even if you are not a religious person, loving and being kind to others will only do good for the world as people will be able to help others. So whoever you are that reads this, i challenge you to strive to be kinder and more loving to anyone and everyone around you as a fellow human and Child of God. For this I bare my testimony, that what Christ wants us to do is love and forgive one another, and that doing so will make us more like him.

Teaching by Example; Valentines; Frog Shenanigans and Cthulhu

This post is a little late, I know, but busy weekend. For my religious commentary of the week, I would like to relate the actions of the apostles to two separate scriptures in the Book of Mormon. For synopsis, As the apostles go around on their several missions after Christ's death, they strive to do the work of the Lord and to teach people of Christ. For those relatively knowledgeable of the Latter Day Saint church (Mormons), this is basically what many of our youth do. We become missionaries that strive to serve the Lord and the people we teach. However, I have noticed that missionaries tend to vary in success, and sometimes its because of attitude. Looking at the Apostles of Christ during their respective ministries, they can be described as striving to do what God commands with utter faith, similar to Nephi in 1st Nephi 3:7. These people are hard working and striving for what is right. This, I believe wholeheartedly, is how a missionary should serve. They should be humble to the lord and have mind only for God's will. They should seek to serve those they teach as if they were lesser, and I am glad to say most missionaries I have met act like this. This is an ideal way to serve, as both Nephi and the Apostles at the time after Jesus served in this way. However, it is not always the way people act. Fun little thing. Don't get 1st Nephi 3:7 and 3rd Nephi 3:7 mixed up, especially on how you act. 3rd Nephi 3:7 is Giddianhi inviting the Nephites to join him in sin and as robbers. Giddianhi in this is prideful, boastful, tyrannical and overall a jerk. What I would really like to talk about is that I have met and heard of missionaries who have served like Nephi and the Apostles from Jerusalem, and I have met missionaries who have served like Giddianhi was acting then. And I testify to you, no matter what you are doing, whether you are serving a mission as a Mormon, or trying to make a business deal or anything, acting like Giddianhi will cause you to fail. If you want to teach or convince anyone of whatever you are doing, you must set and if necessary teach by example. Teach like how Nephi and the Apostles would teach. Do not be lost in pridefulness, especially if you plan to serve a mission, I have seen people fall away from the Gospel, people in my family included, because people have been prideful like Giddianhi as opposed to loving and understanding. I testify that if you should be Christlike, whether Mormon or not, when interacting with people, you will find more respect and success in your actions than if you should follow the alternative.

Anyway, serious message now being given, time for some more lighthearted news! I hope you all had a wonderful Valentines Day, or a quiet and chocolate filled Singles-Awareness Day. My valentines day was significantly more eventful than any other in my life. As in, I actually did a thing :D woo! Went on a nice date with a gorgeous girl and it was amazing. We gave gifts, and I am amazed by what she gave me. She made me a crochet Walrus. Now for those who know me personally, I love Walruses, and have 3 stuffed animal ones (make excellent teddy bears and neck pillows). But she made me a walrus. He is small and adorable, and ready for battle. Thus, Walter the Battle Walrus will join me on adventures if I should do another thing, and hopefully stories will be posted on the blog.

In other news, my submersion into DnD is only becoming more and more serious, as now I am in 3 campaigns. 2 are pathfinder campaigns (one I am a Walrus-humanoid fighter with a *bad* Russian accent) and one where I am a frog rogue. Needless to say I love being a frog :D. We had frog shenanigans in our past meeting for the Frog Campaign, which tend to go along the lines of "Hey Froggy make a stealth check" *Rolls Obscenely high since 13 base stealth* "Alright you are not invisible and on your party members back, go adventure around to route out a gang." Fun times.
However, my last campaign isn't exactly DnD, but actually another Table Top called "Call of Cthulhu," where you adventure and investigate to do something related to the Lovecraftian mythos. Combat in this game is highly unadvised not because it isn't easily possible, but because you will get destroyed by the monsters. However, my fun in that campaign comes in when the Keeper (person running the thing) introduces the "cannon sock", a peice of a sock that can change a joking and sarcastic comment like "I will attack the monster.... Joking not going to" into "Wait, I HAVE to now? oh crap." Thus far, we have made my friend's male character fall in love secretly with my character (also male). The catch is that I had a bad role, and thus have the exact minimum you can have in a stat in appearance, meaning I am the ugliest living thing ever. So ugly I have become exotic and thus have a secret admirer. Fun times.

To Learn to Give

Short blog post today, this time I am going to be talking about giving. We have all heard the stories of Christmas being a holiday of giving, and how giving is the true spirit of Christmas. Considering the holiday is supposedly to be remembering Christ (along with the token consumerism) I feel this is very appropriate, mainly because of Acts 20:35, in which Paul remarks that one of Jesus's teachings is that it is better "to give than to receive." I honestly feel that this is very much so true. Giving, in a sense, is a way in which we can rejuvenate ourselves. Many religions, Mormons included, say that we should try to be in the world but not of it (basically don't lose yourself in the "secular things of gambling, whoring, money, etc.). However, I personally have always found it vague on how we are supposed to avoid being so "worldly". Queue the traditional lesson of Christmas. I find giving to others through service and any means we have is a very good way of refreshing oneself. Helping others has recently become a way in which I can calm myself down from anxiety. The gift of giving is a way in which we are able to pull ourselves closer to the spirit and push ourselves away from the secular desires around us. We no longer become swamped in our desire to better oneself when we are focused on helping someone else. Doing so also encourages others to give, thus causing a chain reaction of spiritual help and warm fuzzy feelings from being a good person. I feel that being able to give is giving just as much to us as we are giving to those we help, namely through blessings and a rejuvenation of the spirit. I would like to challenge everyone to give something to someone over the next week, such as give a small sad kid a cookie, or help with service or volunteer work. I plan to.

Interesting Idea about the Early Church of Christ and Some DnD Fun!

So, as tradition at this rate, Sunday is the day in which I do my religious talking, but I'll save that for the end. Why? Because DnD and very poorly made priorities. So I have started another campaign for DnD (and am debating maybe hosting a campaign but I'll think about that one more before I commit). So in this campaign, we are dropped into a world with nothing, and we are completely amnesiac save for our abilities and personalities and names (all else is gone). This is a Pathfinder campaign, and a few of my friends are playing for the first time, while the only experienced people are me (with a few campaigns), my friend Zac (who made a bard into a lich cause he was reaaaaally good) and the DM. However, I have now discovered my new favorite species for a tabletop. The species is called a Gripplis. They are small sized (2 feet tall) sentient frog humanoids. Now, I love this idea, mainly because I played Chrono Trigger for a while and my favorite character in the game was Frog (a hero who was cursed and became a Frog-man for trying to escape his duty and give it to his friend). However, I am also a rogue with an extreme will to survive... and I nearly died the first encounter we had. So now I have my plans. Since I am amnesiac (but with really high stats since I rolled very well) frog, in order to role play my character, I plan on having a hidden agenda that is basically searching for immortality. At the same time (should my party become my friends) I am a more loyal friend and won't want to harm them in my plot for not dying. But for now, I need to plan on how to gain information on what I should do.

And now, for the religious stuff.

So what I want to talk about this time is some interesting things that my professor mentioned in class for New Testament. This has to do with Acts again, specifically with the conversion of Lydia the Seller of Purple. Brother Griffin talked about several things that caught my attention about this person. The first was that Lydia was, most likely, one of the richer people in the city and, despite being a woman, had her own household of servants and such and had the money. The next, more interesting one was how Luke (the author of acts and at the time there) and his companions found her. Brother Griffin described it as basically the missionaries going like "Hey, we are having no success among the men, so lets say hi to the women." The next thing he mentioned was that if the head of the household (Lydia in this case) was converted then the whole household normally would follow. But what really struck me about his lesson was that he mentioned how, with callings in the early church, the servants and slaves could potentially have religious authority over their masters. and despite this, the people in the church made it work. Even if the religious leader in one specific area was a slave, he was still able to do his calling. In God's eyes, being a slave or a head of a household was unimportant to his church. What was important was your ability to fulfill his calling and serve him in faith. And that somehow, despite social norms at the time, he was able to communicate this to his early church and have them work together and worship and serve in faith was amazing. I am thankful for that lesson I learned that day from Professor Griffin, and am thankful for what it has shown me.

More Religious Stuff, and a Rant After about DnD

Hello all! How has everyone been? I have been doing good, though a bit sick today. Before I do my weekly religious discussion thingy, I want to talk about some stuff I have been doing. Japanese 101 is a class I have thoroughly been enjoying, and Chem 106 is surprisingly enjoyable. Also my time has been full of video games, homework, and Dungeons and Dragons (a new hobby of mine). Just recently I have picked up my first set of dice (black and orange wispy design). Dungeons and Dragons is a very fun past time, and having finished my campaign, I look to be part of 3 soon (one I am in, one I will be in, and a later Call of Cthulhu). In my current campaign, I am a great Walrus-man with absolute awesomeness, a bad Russian accent, a fatherly attitude to many, and a adoptive daughter that is a pink puffball (another player) that barfs up ponies at will. Fine times. As you can see, DnD is a chaotic experience for all. But nonetheless, I find it a great way to interconnect with people, even if I am massively socially awkward and have problems maintaining a conversation past "how are you? I am good". For those debating whether to try DnD, if you can find a friend group who plays, its a wonderful experience of adventure, and a lot of misadventure.

Time for religious stuff. Today I would like to talk about something discussed in my New Testament class that I felt was intriguing. The chapter in question is Acts 10, and really its the whole chapter. Before when I read it, I didn't feel anything particularly interesting about the chapter, but I was quickly proven wrong in the class discussion we had. My professor started by talking about how things were going for Peter before everything happened. It can basically be summed up with Peter and the church believing that they needed to teach the Jews, and how God wanted them to teach the Gentiles, and also for them to realize that the law of Moses was fulfilled. So in chapter ten, God does this in a peculiar way. He first sends an angel to Cornelius, a Roman, and tells him the equivalent of "Hey, you should send some people to Peter, I am going to tell him to do stuff and he needs to start with you" and Cornelius being okay with that and sending some people. Peter then is sent a vision of foods he should eat (which are not kosher by the way). Peter acts repulsed and receives the vision two more times, prays a bit, then houses the men sent by Cornelius (it also at the time isn't kosher to welcome in, eat with, and lodge Gentiles). Whats I overlooked about this story that is so important is the nature by which God managed to change Peter's actions. Before this story Peter would not have housed those men because it wasn't kosher and he felt his work was with the Jews. But God, knowing this, sent a vision to Peter to try and tell him that the law of Moses was null, and that it didn't matter to him whether his believers were Jewish or not, but also that he needed his apostles to teach the Gentiles as much as he needed them for the Jews. Thrice God sent Peter the same vision, where in Peter's eyes being offered foods such as shellfish (which the Jews had not eaten for 1500 years about) was appalling on a cultural level. Yet God was patient and waited for Peter to understand and realize what God was saying, that God  wanted Peter to not focus on the Law of Moses or the Jews, but on those who would be otherwise alienated by the Law of Moses. That's what I find most amazing about this, that God has such unparalleled patience.

The Act of Forgiveness and who knows what.

Hello all! Another spiritual post today, as I am still getting used to all of this. For those who wonder why I have posts like this where I previously had posts on video games and stories and such, it is because I have a class that asks for me to regularly bear my testimony. These types of posts will only become more common, so bear with me. I will have some more regular news about myself and such, later.

This week, I was studying Acts 7-12, and very quickly came across something that stuck out to me. Specifically, it was Stephen's faith. Stephen, in Acts 7, bears his testimony to Israel saying basically that they were apostate, and for this he is stoned to death. A "fun" and "happy" story. But what really strikes me about that is Acts 7:60, the very last verse, where Stephen, right before he is about to die, cries to God to forgive those who kill him. This is exactly what Jesus did when he died on the cross. I was impressed by the shear faith it takes for someone to be literally dying by large stones falling from the sky (I like to imagine they were lobbed) and then say "God, these people don't know how stupid they are being from this. You should forgive them so they don't get screwed over too much later." That essentially what happened, for both Jesus and Stephen. For Stephen to have so much faith that he is able to do the same thing Jesus does is absolutely incredibly.
What really sticks with me is how Christ-like Stephen became even until his last moments. Often (as many Mormons and I would believe Christians know) people are told to "act like Jesus" or would say "what would Jesus do" when giving advise. And often, doing that helps us make good decisions... sometimes. But it does help. What is so spiritually invigorating about Acts 7:60 to me is that Stephen literally did the exact same thing that Jesus did. He didn't hesitate, he didn't wish any ill will on his killers, he didn't resent them in any way. But instead, he used his very last breath to pray for them, so that if they never came to repent he hoped that at least his prayer would help them in the last days. He showed love for them, just as Jesus did during his life. I feel that this is what it means to be Christ-like. Not to ask "what did Jesus do," but to love others no matter what they are, and even if they are literally killing you, you turn the other cheek and ask God to spare them, that they may potentially be happier in eternity. That is what I want to be able to do. I don't think I can now, but I want to be like Stephen, so able and willing to care for others that you are willing to do anything, even give up your last breath. And I challenge anyone who reads this to try to do the same.

Anyway, as for general news on my life, I am thoroughly enjoying Chemistry classes right now, and am considering switching majors (you know, the normal Freshman thing in college) to a Biochemistry one. Other than that, I am doing quite swell. Maybe I will have a normal post one day.... maybe, probably not. I don't know. Well, may the walruses be in your favor. Tally forth and onward! To Victory!

Luke and the Acts, as well as Various Other News.

Its been a while, but I have returned, with new classes for my semester! So to start off, I wanted to talk about something interesting I learned in one of my New Testament classes. This is something I never knew about Ancient Jerusalem and I find it interesting. The verse I am referencing is Acts 1:1, the very first verse in the New Testament not in any of the four gospels. The scripture is similar in addressing as Luke 1:4, and I find it interesting because it is used to be able to identify the author of Acts as Luke. Before my class where I learned this, I did not know that Luke was the author of Acts, but I also learned more about him. First, I learned that he is the most neutral author of Christ, displaying more of Christ's human side as well as a more complete entry compared to any of the other gospels. Furthermore, Luke was a physician, which was at the time a servant's job (opposite of what it is now for the U.S.A). All of this I found interesting, but what really struck me was that, as I have said, Luke strove to show the human side of Christ while trying to keep a full entry. Unlike the other apostles, Luke tried to make Christ human and relate-able, which in a sense makes him feel more capable to fulfill the atonement because he was half mortal. Luke gave a full representation of both events and sermons, including those such as the Garden of Gethsemane. Ultimately, I felt that Luke being the author of the Acts only makes them more credible in my eyes. Overall, I feel that it better prepares me for my study of the New Testament, which I will be doing this next semester.

Anyway, other than two New Testament classes, I also have another Chemistry class (woo), Physics, and Japanese (wooooooo!). So far I am really like Chem and Japanese, and am even debating a switch from a Molecular Biology major to a Biochemistry major. Japanese is hard, but a lot less confusing than Italian to me. I will hopefully have more blog posts soon. But for now, Sayoonara!