Why me? Why now?

       Hi there everyone! Thank you again so much for viewing my page! Today I wanted to talk about these two questions: Why Me? Why Now? They are some pretty serious questions and they go right along with the other questions that I have included in my last post. So first of all before I do talk about that. I invite you to read my intro page (if haven't done so already) so you can learn a little more about my story and how it applies to these questions and how these questions can apply to your life as well.

       Well, let's get down to it! First question is: “Why Me?”

       Now this is a great question and my interpretation of this question is: why is bad stuff happening to me or my family or my friends? And to answer that question I want to first address something that is really important: GOD LOVES YOU! Now I know the all caps was a little much but in order to get that across I want you to see it plain as day that He loves you soo much! And He will never stop loving you. Now, why do things happen why do we have to suffer or have hard times of loss or depression? Well that is something that I faced almost daily for several months in a hospital room. I had a brain tumor and had multiple diseases from it and so I had reason to be bitter and curse God for what He had done and I wanted to just die because everything was SO hard!! I asked Why me God!?! Why me?! But after tears and crying out in pain and long lonesome nights, I found out why. Because of the love that God has for me and because of that knowledge, I came to realize that everything I went through was so that I could live my life with a different point of view and with a new sense of life and of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I realized that God gave me one day more to live, to breathe, to enjoy life and to experience a new perspective! 

       Now, I know life isn't just peachy and that you just sit there all day drinking Pina Coladas, but I believe that through the tough stuff, through the hard times and through our darkest hour, we grow closer to Heavenly Father and we more fully feel His love for us. I also feel that my greatest Joy has come from times that have been the hardest and from times that were the most challenging. So why does bad stuff happen if the Lord loves us so much? Well it isn't out of anger or whether He likes someone better than someone else, or if He is cursing us for doing something wrong and I want to make it clear that that all of those ideas in entirety are not true, but the truth is that there is opposition in all things. There HAS to be good and evil or God would cease to exist. And God knew that we would go through these things because of this. So he gave us a way to learn from our mistakes and through the power of the Atonement, increase our relationship with our Father in Heaven.

       I realize now that it was through the darkest hour that I came to realize that the question I should be asking is not: Why me? But: Why not me? And that is where service comes in. For it is through lifting others that the Lord lifts us.

       Second, Why Now?

        So this question is like the last one but in a different light. Why Now? Well there are several answers that I believe help answer this important and serious question. So first is: Plain and simple, it is God's will. He is in control and knows all things. As our Father in Heaven, He knows what’s best for us and even though it may seem like the wrong time and place for something to happen it is what the Lord wants because He knows better than you or I. Sometimes we face challenges like death of a loved one, disease, tragedy, natural disasters, war, and the list goes on. These may seem really inopportune and really hard to deal with. But one of the reasons we may go through these things is so we can learn to take on challenges with a new sense of direction and experience. A fabulous quote and example of this is given by one of my favorite inspirational speakers, John G. Bytheway and yes it is pronounced just the way it sounds, "by the way". He is an amazing speaker and as given some great advice about this and about learning from hard times and I quote: "Wise people learn from their own experience. Super Wise people learn from Others' experience." So when we take on these challenges with our own experience and the experience of others', we can more easily take the challenge with a positive attitude and outlook. Another answer to this question is that each of us is uniquely different from everybody else and that isn't a bad thing but it means that each of us has a different plan or even a different path to take. The goal is ultimately the same but getting there is unique to each of us. Just like with my cancer I lead a different life and walk a different path then most of my friends, I realize that each of us have different feelings and emotions and with those characteristics comes a different path. That is why sometimes things may happen and sometimes it may seem like bad timing but in the big scheme of things it can make a world of difference. I want to share an experience that is specific to missionary work and before I talk about this I want you to know that we can all be a kind of missionary if we set the example and follow the example of Jesus Christ. 

                      So, back to the experience, as I was being treated for my cancer, many of my friends, who were being treated alongside me, had a rough go at cancer and some had been at it for years!! One friend in particular who was very special to me was Ronell Ragbir. I met Ronell as I was being treated. She was a tough girl and had been battling cancer in her leg far longer than I was battling. She was always a shining example and she never gave up her fight against cancer. As we became friends I taught her about the Gospel of Jesus Christ through example and through quiet acts of kindness. She was a wonderful friend who shared with me that anyone can change and no matter what we have done that Jesus Christ is there for us. I am so grateful to have been her friend and when she died, from her horrible disease I felt unhappy and felt that I had failed as an example. But I prayed for her and asked that she might find the truth and might feel of God's love for her as she was in the Spirit world. Some years later after my treatment and after Ronell's Death, I was sitting, studying in my scriptures. As i did, I felt a strong impression that Ronell was okay and that things would be okay with her and that I shouldn't worry. 

       I knew and know now that she has found the Truth and has found peace beyond this life. It brought me great peace and knew that Heavenly Father had helped me to feel peace. Now this experience was hard and at times I really wish I had got to know Ronell better and better befriend her, but I understand that God had a plan for her and that although things did not work out like I expected, I know that things will be okay. This is how it is with this question that sometimes we ask "Why Now?", “Why Me?" And sometimes life is unfair and sometimes seems cruel and I know it is hard but if you have faith in God and in what He wants for us, then He will guide us and help us through experiences that can change our lives for the better and will lead us to times of peace and Joy! It is hard, it is tough but God can help you know why these things are happening and how they can change your perspective, life and heart. It will be alright in the end. The Promise that God gives is that we will have Eternal Life if we follow the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

       One last thing, you may experience some hard stuff in your life or you may have experienced things already, but if you wonder why or find yourself asking these questions, I plead with you to pray to Heavenly Father. Your answer will come if you have faith and do your part to be ready for that answer by reading the scriptures and by repenting of your sins. It may take time and you may not receive your answer but know that God will help you in some way known or unknown and that he will come to your aid if you are ready and worthy to receive it. I know it and have seen God answer my own prayers and know that He will answer your own in one way or another. Take a leap of faith! I promise it will be worth it!

-Elder Sheets     

The 3 questions

       Today I want to talk about three questions that I have thought of in my life. Also I want to talk about how they and also how they can be answered. Now at one time or another in your life you may have thought of these questions and wondered what the answer was to them and so for today I am going to focus on those three questions. What are those questions? Well they are:

1. Where did I come from?
2. Why am I here or what is my purpose?
3. Where am I going after I die? 

       So with those outlined I want to talk about the answers and how we can apply them to our lives and our understanding.
1. Where did I(we) come from ?
     
Answer:  We believe that we came from a place called the Premortal World or Preexistence. Where with lived with God. This is a place where we decided to follow God's plan for us. When we came to earth we were born into this world and given a body from God.

2. Why am I here or what is my purpose?
     
Answer: When we come to earth we are given a physical body. Why? Well, God wants us to be     happy  and find joy and peace in our lives amidst the confusion and evil of today's world. This is important  because, without knowledge or experience of this world we can never become like our father in Heaven.
       As we become more clean and pure and do good and righteous things the more we can be closer to our Heavenly Father. As I have gone through my life I realize more and more that my purpose here on earth is to share the gospel and to become more like Heavenly Father.
       I know that our purpose is definitely individual but for the most part our purpose is the same and it is: to learn and grow and to find joy in doing what God asks of us. as we live our lives and try to center ourselves on God and Jesus Christ we can find more joy and love in our lives.                                                                                                                                                  

3. Where am I going after I die?

Answer: Death is a hefty thing. It will come to all of us and is a natural part of life. It is hard to have family or friends die and I know how you feel if you have experienced this feeling. It is hard. But we believe that Death is not the end of life but the beginning of a second life. As we die our bodies are separated from our spirit and through the atonement of Jesus Christ we can be again reunited or resurrected with a perfected and pure body never to be separated again.
       Moses 1: 39- "For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man."

       So after hearing all of these things I want to talk about something that I feel is really important. It is this: That Heavenly Father loves you and really cares for you and as I have said before, I wouldn't be sharing this with you if He didn't love you, but He does and He always will. Now your probably thinking, why did He send us down here? Well if you read the link above about God's plan for us then you understand that God gave us this opportunity so we can learn and grow and become more like Him. He just didn't send us down with out any directions or instructions. He sent us down to earth when the Bible and the Book of Mormon are here for us and when living Prophets called of God are here to give us guidance and direction. No matter what we things we may have done or have seen or heard, we can be cleansed and have our sins washed away through repentance. And yeah sometimes it will be really rough, and sometimes it may be hard to see our true purpose through all of the other stuff. But the closer we are to God, the more clear our purpose becomes. It's true and I know it with all of my heart! I love the Lord and feel His love for me and know that He is reaching out to you and I and all we have to do is give our lives to Him and do our best to follow Him.

       I bear witness that Christ lives and the God is our Father and Creator and the He lives and I know that we are His children. I know this gospel is true, and I can't say it enough! Because I know it is true! And I do testify of these things in the Name of Jesus Christ, our dear Brother and Savior, Amen.  

My Perspective

             Today I want to talk a little about my perspective of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and how the Church of Jesus Christ has personally affected my belief on God the Father, His son Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost. First I wanted to mention that thank you again for viewing my blog and second I know it will change your life.

       I want to start off with a quote from President Gordon B. Hinckley, former prophet of the Church: “The time has come for us to stand a little taller, to lift our eyes and stretch our minds to a greater comprehension and understanding of the grand millennial mission of this, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.”

(“This Is the Work of the Master,” in Conference Report, Apr. 1995, 95.)

       Although this quote was said in 1995, I feel it still applies. Let’s pay attention to one part that I think is really important here “…to lift our eyes and stretch our minds to a greater comprehension and understanding…” Now when this is by itself it makes the main point of this quote a little clearer. So what does it mean to have “greater comprehension and understanding”? Well from my perspective I feel that this is talking about education and learning. This not only means gaining knowledge or gaining more information. It is learning at its best! When I was in High School, there were several classes I really struggled with and some I did really well at. And I notice now that the classes I did really well in were the ones that were most interesting to me.

       As I went through High School, more and more classes began to open up to me and I began to be excited to learn and even excited to go to class in anticipation of what else I would learn. Now for me, this is how I feel about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and about the Book of Mormon. As I have learned more and more about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

       I gained a knowledge of its truthfulness and with that knowledge I gained a testimony of the Truthfulness of the Church. I know this Church is true and no one will ever take that knowledge or conviction away from me. And because of that knowledge I want to share it with others who have not yet experienced it for themselves.

       Sometimes in this life we may feel that we don’t know where to go or what to do or why we are even here. And sometimes it may feel scary to not know and that is why I am sharing this with you. I wouldn't share this if God didn't love you enough to send me to share this with you! But I am sharing this! Because God loves you so much and wants for you to know that there is a purpose to this life, that He is there for you and that He wants you to succeed! God is there for us! I know it and I have seen it in my life. And I know it is scary to move forward, to change, and to learn. But that is why we are here, to learn and to grow and to find for ourselves the joy of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

       I know that it may be hard to hear this but yeah, I believe with all my heart that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the true church and I know it may seem hard to even begin to accept that. But this I know: That the greatest happiness and pure joy I have ever had in my life is from being a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and from gaining a testimony of the Book of Mormon and of the Prophet Joseph Smith and the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

       I love every one of you and hope that you know that I care enough that I want to share this with you.

       Now I want to end with two quotes from President Hinckley that I think really add to what I have said. Now, before that, some of you are probably are wondering how to learn and to grow. Well there is one answer to that and it comes in three parts:

1.  Learn as much as you can by attending school and getting a good education

          a.     This will help strengthen the foundation on which a family is built upon.

2.   Study the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the Scriptures including the Bible and Book of Mormon.

          a.     This will increase your faith in God and will help you find peace in your life and help you have a firm testimony.

3.    Pray to know the truth about what you have learned. And continue in faith as you continually learn and grow.

          a.     You can never pray enough and by asking God to help you understand the things you.

       If there is anything that I have wanted to leave with you is this: that God is there for you and the more you learn about Him and ask for His help the more closer you will get to your Heavenly Father. (Now for the quotes)

       “Believe in Jesus Christ, our Savior and our Redeemer, the Son of God, who came to earth and walked the dusty roads of Palestine-the Son of God-to teach us the way of truth and light and salvation, and who, in one great and glorious act offered an atonement for each of us. He opened the way of salvation and exaltation for each of us, under which we may go forward in the Church and kingdom of God. Be not faithless, but believe in the great and wonderful and marvelous blessings of the Atonement.”

(“Selections from Addresses of President Gordon B. Hinckley,” Ensign, Mar. 2001, 64.)

       

       “This is my prayer for all of us—'Lord, increase our faith.' Increase our faith to bridge the chasms of uncertainty and doubt. . . . Grant us faith to look beyond the problems of the moment to the miracles of the future. . . . Give us faith to do what is right and let the consequence follow.”

( “Lord, Increase Our Faith,” Ensign, Nov. 1987, 52–53.)

       I know this is true and know that it can change your life if you are willing to let it change you. I am so grateful to be here on the earth today to share with you my message and solid testimony, that Jesus Christ lives and that God lives and has restored the fullness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ again to the earth today and I do so in Jesus Christ's name, Amen.

-Elder Sheets      

A little faith goes a long way!

In supplement to yesterday's post, which by the way thank you for viewing and if you haven't done so I invite you to do so now, I wanted to talk a little more about faith and works. Now, remember this is my opinion and no I am not going to try to convert you in any way nor will I be disrespectful to other religions and cultures. And I mean that. Now, Back to Faith and Works, there is a very fine line between what we do and what we think. Sometimes we reference both of these things by words like actions or thoughts or ideas. So with faith comes a hope or even a thought that something unreachable can be reachable or making the impossible possible. A scripture from the Bible speaks more about the power of Faith: Matthew 17: 20 "And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, if ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you." 

       Wow! So this scripture clearly says that if you have faith the amount of a mustard seed you can move mountains or in context to be able to do things that are seemingly impossible! That is amazing! Now what is impossible? Well, not really anything if you have the help of the Lord. He is all powerful and can help us in our darkest hours. So where do Works fit in to the equation? Well, from what I have learned Grace is given to us by Jesus Christ, through His Atonement. I believe that God gave us the Atonement that we might repent of our sins and find peace of mind as we are forgiven of our sins. So how do we repent? Well, I personally think that that is where the works come in. As a Mormon I believe that there are five key principles that we should follow to truly be eligible for Heaven. 

1. Faith in Jesus Christ

2. Repentance

3. Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins

4. Receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands  

5. Enduring to the end or repeating 1, 2 4 and 5

Now I feel that Elder Haggard can better explain this concept through a post he put on his blog recently.

2 Nephi 25: 23 also explains the power of work: “For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do.”

So what does "after all we can do" mean? Well that is what I consider the work part of the Equation and the best way to describe faith and works is with a metaphor:

       There once was a man that applied for a job at a local grocery store. He met with the manager and got the Job. The next day the man came to the store and asked that the manager give him a large sum of money. Knowing that the man had not yet worked in the store the manager said "How can I trust that you will work for this money and not run off with it?" the Man answered "I need the money and I will pay you back when I have enough." The manager again explained that He couldn't trust him and that he was a new employee and had little trust in him and would not give him the money. Thus the man was not given the Money.

Was this fair? 

Was it the right thing to do?

What if you were in the manager's shoes what would you say?

       So in this example the manager was Christ and we were the employee asking for money (repentance). Now Christ gave us the Job (Atonement) but we need to show that we truly can repent by forsaking those sins and by promising or covenanting with the Lord that we won't do those things again. If we never work for our salvation, we never will show our gratitude for the Savior and His amazing Atonement. 
       Wouldn’t you feel bad if you were placed in front of Christ and He asked "what good did you do?", "What did you do to lift another?" And you didn't have anything to show for it? I personally would feel horrible, and I don't want anyone to feel like that. Because Christ loves us all and will always love us no matter what. But we need to show our love for him so that He knows that we truly are grateful for His Atonement and for what He has done for us. John 13: 34- "A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another."

       Continue forward in faith and show God that you truly are grateful for His son Jesus Christ and I promise that you will feel of His love for you and will find peace in your life and joy in your hearts, I know it!

-Elder Sheets

Faith

Today, I wish to talk about something that is dear to my heart and something that has changed my life forever. That subject is faith.

       Now before we begin talking about faith I wanted to share something. Now my life has been a great experience and although there have been some rough spots here and there, I still feel that life itself is what I am most grateful for! And although it has been rough and I have had cancer and a variety of other tribulations. I still don't consider myself the worst of the bunch since I know that some of you out there probably have it much worse than I do; Now back to faith. So you’re probably thinking "what's his point?" Well to answer that question I will now bring up faith.

       Faith, one of the many things that I know only so much about is amazing to me. Faith is a power greater than all of us can imagine. Each man, woman and child is given faith and with that faith we can do amazing things that can help us come closer to God and to Jesus Christ. 

       So what is faith? Well Alma, an ancient prophet from the Book of Mormon said of faith: "And now as I said concerning faith—faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true." (Alma 32:21)

       So Faith is a "hope for things which are not seen, which are true." So with that in mind I go back to my life. So amidst my trials there was one thing that I did when I had cancer and that was having faith. Now what did I hope for that was unseen in my eyes? That I would be cancer free and free from the pain that it brought. Now it was simple but some things can be simple, but the point is, Faith is there for us and when we have faith that God will help us or maybe have faith that things will get better. God will do His part to help you according to His will. 

       So you see? Without faith we really can't do anything and without God's help we wouldn't be able to progress and grow in life. But that's not all; there is another part of the Formula that allows us to progress. When we came here to earth (or through birth), and I assume you the reader came to earth or were born, Gain two valuable and priceless gifts. One: the Body and two: the ability to choose for yourself or Agency. Now, it may seem a little weird to think that our thoughts and choices are a gift but think of it this way:

God gave us gifts before we were born, he blessed us with the power of Agency or to choose good from evil and when we came to earth we were given a Body that we might use it to choose either good or evil.

       Now, we have talked about faith and faith is really important and with our ability to choose, we can find out for ourselves what is right or wrong. Now back to what I was saying in the fifth paragraph. So it is said that there is a conflict or debate on whether we are saved by faith only or by faith and works. Well I am here not to tell you what is right or wrong and if I do go one way or the other I apologize ahead of time. And for the next few Blog posts that I will Post I will talk about faith and other principles of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and how they apply to the LDS faith and how we use them.   

       I want to invite you to talk with the missionaries about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and ask them the questions you have about these principles. I can testify that they can help you and will help answer questions that need attention and rightfully so.

       You are the priority of the missionaries; they want to hear from you and want to answer the questions you have. No they aren't going to try to convert you or force you to convert; but they will help you better understand the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I promise it and I promise that your life will change for good. If you are willing to learn and practice these same principles I know you can find Peace and Joy in your life; and yeah it may be hard but with faith and with doing your part God will lead you to light, and happiness, I know it!           

-Elder Sheets 

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is for all!

       Hello there! If you haven't seen my page yet. I suggest that you subscribe to my blog. It will change your life for the better! Each new day brings an amazing new experience and with those experiences comes joy sorrow, trials, events, happiness, anger, and an assortment of many other emotions. But that is all part of life and sometimes we become frustrated with the way things go. And I admit it sometimes life is not easy but that is where the true joy comes from!

       Today I wanted to mention about my companion here in the Missionary Training Center in Utah (MTC). As I have come to understand more about him and find the good in him the more I have found true feelings of friendship form between us. He has taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ with absolute conviction and knows that God lives and knows that the Gospel has blessed his life. I want to share with you his blog that talks in more depth about him and his experience. He has been an amazing friend and has taught me how to truly love all people. Through his example I have found true understanding of why Christ did what He did and how I can be an example of Jesus Christ.

        My Companion Elder Haggard has taught me to value the Gospel and the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I invite you to read what my companion has to offer in honor of his departure to Benin, Africa. And I invite you to read what I have to say and hope that I can inspire you and show you something better than what the world has to offer.

       I end my post for today with the words of an ancient prophet from the Book of Mormon named Moroni and my own words:

Moroni 10: 3-5:

3 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 ponder it in your hearts.

4 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 real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.

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

"The ink of a pen is a small portion of the pages of a book. It is the thoughts poured into it's pages that matter most!"

-Elder Timothy Sheets

A brief Overview...

       Today I wanted to share my story and how it has changed my life. When I was twelve years old I had numerous health problems and most of which were unexplained. I went through numerous tests and trials and as I and my parents went through some hard times we stayed together. Then one day after an MRI up in Salt Lake City, Utah, me and my mom were reading in  D&C 121 verses 1-8. These verses talk about the persecutions that Joseph Smith had gone through and this is revelation given to him as he was held in jail. As he pleads with the Lord he is promised strength and peace if he endures the trials and tribulations well. As we read this peace entered my heart and I knew that God was helping my through my many trials and tribulations. As we finished reading my Mom asked that we go and check the phone messages as we were expecting the results back from the Doctor that day. As we checked the messages, the voice of my doctor came on the phone. He left a message saying that he had discovered a large mass at the center of the brain and that it was the size of a golf ball. My mom and I looked at each other in horror knowing that my life had suddenly changed drastically. I felt horrible and felt hopeless knowing that I would spend the next era of my life in a hospital. I cried for a long time and cried and cried and cried. 

       The rest of the Month I hardly remember and now that I look back I am grateful that as all I can remember was a horrible experience but no details of such. As my life went on I was treated at a wonderful place called St Jude Children's Research Hospital . It was one of the most amazing places to be and and after Chemotherapy and Radiation treatment and being there for seven months in 2004, going back for check ups feels like going home. The many nurses there are so sweet and are truly angels aiding the children there with cancer and other terminal illnesses. I am so grateful to have been treated there and know that Heavenly Father lead me and my family to the hospital to be treated for my cancer and to learn how to truly live my life! Looking back on all of this I have found true faith in God and Jesus Christ. And have learned that through Prayer and Scripture Study I have found answers to prayers and trials.
       It was hard to go through those things, I admit it was one of the hardest things I have gone through but looking back now I have grown so much to rely on the Lord and to do my absolute best to do what He asks of me. I may seem daft or stupid to say this but if I could have anything in the world it would be to go back and live that time of life again in a different perspective and to learn more about life and the preciousness of it.

       I love the Lord and know that God the Father and His son Jesus Christ live and that they are there for me and know that President Thomas S. Monson is a true Prophet called of God on the earth today, to lead and guide us to find peace and joy in our lives and I do say this in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.