The Restoration

One of the things that ceases to amaze me is the love that God has for His children. We are all children of God. He loves us and has sent us here to learn for ourselves how to become ready to return to Him and live with Him forever. What a wonderful blessing this is!!! And yet, I hear too often in the world that God is dead. This is not true. I believe that God has established a method for us to receive truth, and that He communicates to mankind just as frequently as He did to Adam, Moses, and Abraham.

During the summer, I went to a small town in New York called Palmyra. There, I saw a film called "The Restoration". It is about a boy named Joseph Smith. When Joseph Smith was a young man, there were many sects that all preached from the Bible. Each sect claimed that it was the correct church, although all of the sects preached from the same Bible. To Joseph Smith, this didn't make sense. I have the same concern. There are so many churches in existence today. Why would God create so many churches if there is only one God? It just doesn't make sense.

Joseph Smith attended as many church meetings as time would permit. He pondered on the words spoken at each meeting, striving within himself to figure out which one had the truth. One day, he was reading in James 1:5, which reads, "If any of you lack wisdom, let him as of God, that giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him." As Joseph Smith read this verse, he realized that what he needed was to ask God. Since God is all-knowing, He would be able to answer this question.

And so Joseph prayed to God in a peaceful grove of trees. As he did, God the Father and Jesus Christ, two separate personages, appeared to Joseph. One of them said to Joseph, "This is my beloved son. Hear Him" (see Joseph Smith Histroy 1:17). So, God the Father and Jesus Christ answered Joseph's question.

Through this and other events, Joseph Smith was called to be a prophet of God. He received instruction from God, just as Adam, Moses, Noah, and all of the other prophets in the Bible. This is how God shows His love for us, by giving us instruction to lead us back to Him.

Every time I watch this short video, I am touched to know that God loves me enough to give me direction that will lead me back to Him. I know that to live with Him will be more joyous than anything else. I am very grateful for the knowledge that I have of Joseph Smith. I know that he is a prophet of God and that he did see and speak with God the Father and Jesus Christ.

To get a free copy of "The Restoration" for yourself, click here.

We are Free to Choose

I have heard many people say (including myself) that a certain habit can't be helped. Yet, at the same time, we all have the right to choose. We all have the ability to choose what we will do, even if habit supposedly governs what we will do.

I remember talking to a friend in high school. He was a smoker at the time (maybe he still is). I was trying to understand why he smoked. He told me that if he had the choice to start smoking again, he wouldn't start. That made sense to me, but why didn't he just stop? His answer baffled me. "I can't. I'm addicted." The Lord's plan is for us to choose for ourselves either death or eternal life (see 2 Nephi 2:27), yet how is it that we "lose" that ability to choose?

The answer is that Satan steals that ability from us. He starts with something ever so small, such as us forgetting to pray. Then he will move on to something a little larger, such as not going to church. Pretty soon, we find ourselves doing something we never thought we would do, wondering where it all started. In reality, it started because we stopped praying, causing us to forget the Lord. In the scriptures, this process is compared to thread. A single thread by itself is easy to break. But put millions of threads together and you get a rope. Can you break the rope? Yes, but it's a little more difficult. Put a lot of ropes together and it is near impossible to break (see Helaman 6:30). Satan would have us fall away in such a fashion. He starts with the little things and moves to larger things until we are so entangled by sin that it seems impossible for us to break free. But we can break free!

If you think that you are in such a bind, pray for help. Christ can help break the cords that bind you, no matter how strong. I have another friend who had an addiction to tobacco. Giving up the first cigarette was hard. As he promised not to smoke, he found himself sometimes going back to his bad habits. But with much prayer, he finally overcame and now has no desire whatsoever to smoke. The rope of addiction has been broken.

I know that the Lord helps us. He wants us to be free of sin and will help us, only if we let Him. I hope that we will always look to Him in the times when we just can't do it alone.

We need to pray to the Lord

After Nephi and Lehi (prophets of the Lord) had had much success throughout the land in teaching and baptizing, they were taken and put into prison because of their preaching. When the captors were about to take the prophets and slay them, the Lord encircled His prophets "as if by fire" (Helaman 5:23). The captors panicked and were soon encircled by darkness. The voice of the Lord came to them three times, saying that they must repent. "And it came to pass that they all did begin to cry unto the voice of him who had shaken the earth; yea, they did cry even until the cloud of darkness was dispersed" (Helaman 5:42).

In our society, we often forget the Lord and find ourselves surrounded in spiritual darkness. Our minds are clouded so that we can't think straight. We have reached the last straw and can't go any further. We have gone too far without the Lord. We need to pray to him.

We don't have to wait, though, until we have reached such a point. We need to pray everyday, every minute, every second of our lives. We need to remember Jesus' counsel to pray always that we might be able to escape all those things that might come upon us.

My prayers are constantly answered. When I need help, I pray. When I'm sick, I pray. When I'm in a bad mood, I pray. I know that my prayers are answered, and I know that every person who prays in faith will receive answers to his or her prayer (see James 1:5-6).

My Mission Statement

My name is Matthew Millett. I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and served a two-year mission for my Church to Moscow, Russia and Belarus. As I have grown older, I have become more intrigued by the doctrines found in the Book of Mormon and Bible. I have found joy and comfort as I have studied the words and contemplated the deeper meaning to my own life. I have felt how the doctrine of the priesthood has distilled upon my soul as the dews from heaven.

My hope is to share some of my thoughts and experiences that contribute to my belief that the Book of Mormon is true and that a man can get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book. I know that the Book of Mormon is true and I know that it has brought me nearer to God as I have read it, comparing it to the Bible, and pondered its teachings.

I know that you will find the same joy that I have found as you read the Book of Mormon.