The Parable of the Forgotten Gift

There was a young man who was fast approaching his birthday. He was very excited for the party he would be having, the family and friends that would be visiting, and the presents he would receive. The young man had an older brother who loved him dearly. The brother thought long and hard about what to give his younger sibling. The elder brother knew that a hard winter would be coming, and that his brother didn't have a sufficient coat for the bitter cold that would be coming. The elder brother had been saving to buy himself such a coat, but knew that his brother would need it more, so he took all that he had saved and bought the coat for his brother. The day of the young man's birthday came, and the gift that his elder brother had sacrificed for sat with the rest of the gifts. The party was enjoyed by everyone. The time to open presents came. The young man first reached for the gifts from his closest friends, then to those of his extended family, and the gift from his brother went unnoticed. He was excited for each new gift and thanked each of those who gave him one, but the gift from his brother remained unnoticed. The party ended, everything was cleaned up, and the gift of the elder brother was forgotten. Winter came, and the young man went without the warmth and protection that the warm coat would provide. If only the young man had seen the gift.

We in our lives can experience the joy and warmth of the gift that our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, has given us. He made it possible for all of us to be happy in our lives, but the gift of His atonement is one that we must "open" in order to feel the blessings of it. We must all go through the hard winter of our mortal lives, but if we have the warmth and protection of that winter coat, if we use the power of the atonement in our lives, and "endure it well" we will be forever happy. That gift does us no good if we leave it forgotten.

Always Received With Open Arms

I was recently reading the parable of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15: 11-32. Christ is telling the story to the pharisees of a young man who demands his inheritance from his father. The young man goes out into the world and wastes away his inheritance. At that time in the land there was a famine and the only work the young man could find was to feed the pigs of a "citizin of that country", and all he had to eat was pig feed. The young man knew that even his father's servants were fed and clothed better than him. He resolved to go home, and be a servant to his father, but when his father saw him from afar off he "ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him." His father called for a feast and had his son dressed in the finest robes. The older son was confused, and angry as to why his younger brother was being treated so well, when he had done so much to hurt the family. The father responded to the bittered questions of his son and said: "It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found."

Our Heavenly Father likewise is waiting to receive us with open arms. We all make mistakes, and are all lost at some point, but we can always come home. It has always been a comfort to me that I have a Heavenly father that loves me enough to always welcome me home when I am lost. His love is extended toward all of us who are willing to travel the road back to him.

Trials vs Opportunities

Sometimes we see the diffulties in life as a broken escalater, and fail to move on, because of discouragement. It is better to remember that a broken escalater is just a set of stairs. There are times in everyone's lives that give us the option to stand on a broken escalater, or to climb some stairs. It may require us put forth a little more effort, but it is far more rewarding to climb stairs than to wait for a broken escalater.

Building our homes to be Fortresses

This past week I've been reading in the book of Alma, in the Book of Mormon. I'm at a point right now where two nations (the Nephites and the Lamanites) are preparing for war. Moroni the chief captain of the Nephite army sees the weaknesses in his cities, so in order to protect his people he begins to fortify the cities.

This is Moroni's account of his preparations:

"1And now it came to pass that Moroni did not stop making preparations for war, or to defend his people against the Lamanites; for he caused that his armies should commence in the commencement of the twentieth year of the reign of the judges, that they should commence in digging up heaps of earth round about all the cities, throughout all the land which was possessed by the Nephites.

 2And upon the top of these ridges of earth he caused that there should be timbers, yea, works of timbers built up to the height of a man, round about the cities.

 3And he caused that upon those works of timbers there should be a frame of pickets built upon the timbers round about; and they were strong and high.

 4And he caused towers to be erected that overlooked those works of pickets, and he caused places of security to be built upon those towers, that the stones and the arrows of the Lamanites could not hurt them.

 5And they were prepared that they could cast stones from the top thereof, according to their pleasure and their strength, and slay him who should attempt to approach near the walls of the city.

 6Thus Moroni did prepare strongholds against the coming of their enemies, round about every city in all the land."

Just as Moroni made preparations to defend his people we too can make preparations for our own homes, to make them safe havens from the evils in the world. Some of the most powerful things we can do to protect us from the things that drag us down in life are the simplest.

Some of the things we can do to fortify our homes are to:

• Study the scriptures regularly. The words of God are a special gift that hasn't always been so readily available. If we study the scriptures for ourselves, we will grow closer to our Heavenly Father and His son Jesus Christ.
• Attending church. When we attend church we are surrounded by others who are seeking to improve their lives, and we can share of that spirit that comes from that desire, and become spiritually uplifted.
• Praying personally and as a family. When we pray personally we strengthen our relationship with our Heavenly Father. When we pray as a family we strengthen that bond as a unit.

These are only a few things, but there are many more. It is my testimony that when we work to fortify our homes, and strengthen our families that we are happier, better people. I know that we have been given families to strengthen each other in this life, and that it is our responsibility to protect that gift.