Fuel of the Gospel

Last week I wrote about some simple discoveries about the restoration and I want to continue that thought with this... What moves the gospel to places were it has never been? I mean for example what moved the princes of the Nephites to teach the gospel to the blood thirsty Lamanites? After stewing on the subject for a while I realize that what has brought the gospel to places where it has never been is faith.

Turning back to our restored car, the gospel in its completion moves a man no where, touches no nation, compels no man without the faith that moves them to do that witch they have never done. Who built boat because of faith? Nephi, Noah, Jared. Who taught the gospel to the natives? John Taylor, Aaron, Amon Omner and Himni. These are just a few examples of people who took the restored gospel (or more likely allowed the gospel to take them) to places where it needed to be.

I admit when weird things like this become my discovery that I realize that I am still being taught by God in my adulthood. I remember when one of the prophets said that they were still learning the gospel from the temple even in their senior years, I thought they were crazy but now, teaching the gospel to children has changed my view of this and perhaps even my understanding.

The stories of the Gospel are like ogres... er... onions, no they don't stink or make you cry (well most of the time) but they got layers. Sometimes you dig in and discover them sometimes its by complete blessing (I am certain that its not by accident) that these moments hit you like a ton of bricks. The spirit becomes overwhelming and you cannot deny what you just learned through the spirit and while you are not whisked away to some place like Moses or Jesus you have your own version of a vision and see things the way God intended you to learn them.

Sometimes the gospel scares me to death because it is so serious but like a good body of water you need to just jump in and absorb the moment. I am certain that there will be more moments like this. As they say God is the same yesterday, today and forever. I might change but I know that it is for the better because I have fuel to drive me.

Links comes from here and here.

The Restoration of the Gospel

I find it increasingly amazing how God can teach us all so much in such a simple way. Earlier this year I was teaching the four year old class about the restoration of the gospel (something that could be compared to the complexity of the human body or American tax code). It struck me by the Holy Ghost through inspiration that I should use something physical to explain something so diverse and broad. I wanted to desperately to say that the restoration was necessary and that only God could do it through chosen servants but how?

It was then that I realize that we, the children of Adam, love restoration. We rebuild stuff all the time; cars, buildings, antiques, etc. There is nothing that we have attempted to really figure out how it was built in the first place. The inspiration continued by telling me that I should use the car as my chief example. One the day of the class I drew a busted up car on the chalk board and explained to the children that at one time the gospel was like this car. I then asked them if this car could be driven. They looked at the drawn car with its trunk smoking, tires flat, and busted up ends and with smiles on their faces coyly said no... I then asked them to explain why I could not go to the store in the car. They then began to show piece by piece why I could not go to the store.

After redrawing the car to a more perfect form I then asked them to tell me if I could then travel. There was headlights and taillights and good tires and again I asked them If I could go. The good children asked if there was gas in the car and I told them no. They immediately said that the car needed gas. I then showed them that that the Holy Ghost is like fuel in a car. Even if every aspect of the gospel is restored it means nothing if men and women are pushing the gospel to their destination. The fuel of the gospel needed to be part of the restoration.

When I was done with my lesson, I could not believe my mind. I had taught with the spirit a lesson that I finally understood. I had taught the lesson of the broken mirror for many years on my mission but the way that it had been taught, all things could be done with a tiny mirror as with a bigger mirror, it just might of taken longer. This has been a frustration though still a good tool with teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. Taking a step back and looking at it, it has become different and new and fresh to me.

The week that followed, I heard complements of the lesson as my four year old class had told their parents about the restored gospel and how important it was to be fully functional and working so that we all could understand Jesus and his message to the church. Some parents were very impressed that their child could understand such a concept that was sometimes vague or overwhelming. I could only give credit where it was due and thanked my Heavenly Father for teaching me the restoration.

The image is located here.