Wisdom in choosing to serve a mission

The scripture that really stood out to me in class this week was James 1:5 which says, " If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God." I love this scripture because it is the scripture that Joseph Smith read when he was having serious questions about which church to follow. Luckily, he was in tune to the spirit's promptings and knelt down to ask the Lord which church he should join. That is what we need to learn, to read the scriptures and apply their words to our lives, so that our actions are directed by the words we read in the scriptures. When we ask God questions he has three ways of answering us. One, with a yes answer. Two, with a no answer. Finally, the third answer he will give is silence. This third answer tells us that we can make our own choice. God will not ever let you get too far down the wrong path without telling you that it is not the right thing; if it is the right thing then God will make it clear and confirm the path you have chosen as the right choice. This process of asking the Lord has been monumental in my life. I have used this system in my life many times to make decisions and it always works. This is what I did with deciding to serve a mission. I pondered it out in my mind and made my decision because I had great desire to serve the Lord and I felt like it was the right thing for me to do. I prayed and asked if this was the right thing. I didn't necessarily receive a "yes" answer, but I did feel good about my decision. I proceeded to start my papers and along the way the Lord has made it clear to me that I am to serve a mission and that I have chosen the correct path for myself. I am so grateful that I have been able to apply the teachings of the gospel to my life just as Joseph Smith did to find out which church to join.

Nothing comes and nothing leaves

1 Timothy 6:7 says "For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out of it."
This scripture truly touched me this week during class because it brought back an interesting phrase that I heard my Judaism professor, Professor Wood, use last fall in my class. He said, "The only things you take with you after this life are your knowledge and your relationships, so don't waste time on worldly things that you won't even be able to bring with you after this life." This thought came to my mind because we cannot focus on worldly things for we cannot bring them with us after this life and they will only give us temporary happiness. There will be no everlasting, eternal happiness if we choose the things of the world over the things of God, like money,  pride, our reputation, popularity, and other pride-invoking things. Our relationships with people and the knowledge, more specifically the knowledge that we gain in the gospel is what will bring us true and lasting happiness. The more knowledge we gain our this gospel, the closer we can draw to our Savior to be closer to him. Also, the relationships that we have in our lives are so important. The relationships we have with our families and with our future families, most importantly our spouses and children, the people we are sealed to are the most important and will bring us the most happiness.

Paul warns

Acts 27:9-14
Paul speaks the truth in these verses. Paul has been called as an apostle of God and he has been specific authority to receive revelation from Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father above. These verses talk about Paul's journey on a ship to Rome where he is to be tried and judged for his teachings in Jerusalem. He will go before Caesar, but first they have to get there alive. In verses 9 and 10, Paul begins to tell the crew that if they don't slow down and go another way then a heavy storm is going to come. The crew did not listen to Paul, but instead listened to the captain who assumed everything would be fine. In verse 14 it says, "But not long after there arose against it a tempestuous wind, called Euroclydon." This verse signifies the changing tides of the sea from a calm water to a "tempestuous storm" and that is when the crew began to fight for their lives. Paul received direct revelation from the Lord and he warned the ship's crew that something bad was going to happen, but they did not heed the words of the apostle and paid dearly for it.
Just like in Paul's story, we receive commandments and direct revelation from the Prophet and his apostles who in turn receive this revelation from the Lord. If we choose to heed their warnings and keep the commandments then we will receive many blessings and be much happier for doing so, but if we do not listen to the words of the Prophet and his apostles we have many consequences. We need to honor the Prophet and his apostles because they are the spokespeople of Jesus Christ to his Saints on the earth.