3. Love and Thank Heavenly Father Often

I think that the key word in this one is often. Our Father in Heaven has given us so much. The least we can do is to frequently thank Him for what He has done. Also, when we pray to God, we usually thank Him at the beginning of the prayer for all the many blessings He has bestowed upon us. It is simply said in 1 John 4:19, "We love him, because he first loved us."

Pray to Know the Truth through the Holy Ghost

       Prayer is an essential part in coming to know our Father in Heaven. It's how we communicate with Him. Through the Holy Ghost we can receive promptings and thoughts that help us to know what our Heavenly Father wants us to do. As missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints we invite people to read the Book of Mormon and to ask God if it is true. We cannot convince anyone of this by ourselves. The Spirit is what truly converts each of us.

       An example of this would be... me. My parents taught me about Jesus Christ and about the Book of Mormon. As a child I may have taken their word for it. But as I grew older I realized that I needed to know for myself. I read and studied the Book of Mormon and then prayed to God asking Him if it was true. I can testify that it is. I didn't have an angel appear to me and proclaim its truthfulness, I didn't see a vision, but I did feel something deep in my heart confirming to me that what I had been taught was true. Everybody can receive an answer for themselves. You just have to ask.

Lost and Found

       So once upon a time when I was just a little boy I rode my bicycle down to the church to go to a Primary activity. I can't even remember what it was. Well, after the activity I ended up forgetting about my bike and walking home with my friends. As you can guess, a few days later I realized it was missing. What a tragedy!! I looked every place I could think of, including back at the church where I left it. No dice. It was no where to be found. We kept searching though. One day, my dad and I were driving in his car through the neighborhoods seeing if we could locate it. We said a prayer that we might be able to somehow find this bike. As we were driving I saw, in someones garage, a bike that looked similar to mine. We checked to see if it was. I could tell it was mine because I had mismatched gear-shifters. What a relief! We knocked on the door of the house to talk to them and get my bike back. We knocked and knocked but nobody answered. My dad told me to just ride it home. I was so afraid that they were going to come home right when I was riding the bike out of their driveway, but they didn't and I made it home safely.

       Some people may say that it was just a coincidence that I found my bike after saying a prayer but I believe our Heavenly Father had a lot to do with finding my bike that day. I am grateful for the power that prayer can be in our lives.

The Keystone of Our Religion

The Book of Mormon? What is it?

The Book of Mormon is a book containing a record of the ancient inhabitants of the Americas. It contains a record of their dealings with Christ and our Heavenly Father. It is comparable to the Bible. It holds in its pages the word of God and His commandments to His children. Through this book we can know if The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is really the true church once again restored on the earth. A prophet from the Book of Mormon gives us all a challenge saying, "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." There we have it, a promise from a prophet of God. If we will read the Book of Mormon and pray to God asking if it is true He will answer. I know this is true because I have done it myself. I would challenge everyone to find out for themselves if this book is true.