Everything Denotes That There is a God

There is a story in the Book of Mormon that I love.  I'd like to share it with anyone who take the time to read my blog.  This story takes place many years before the coming of Christ.  The story is about a man named Korihor.  Korihor was an anti-Christ, which means he did not believe in Jesus Christ, or of the coming of Jesus Christ.  He went about the land of Zerehemla teaching his false doctrine to the people of the church of God. He taught things like people could not truly believe in something they had never seen.  He would preach that there would be no Christ. He said, "Oh ye that are bound down under a foolish and a vain hope, why do ye yoke yourselves with such foolish things? Why do ye look for a Christ? For no man can know of anything which is to come.

  Behold, these things which ye call prophecies, which ye say are handed down by holy prophets, behold, they are foolish traditions of your fathers.
   How do ye know of their surety? Behold, ye can not know of things which ye do not see; therefore ye cannot know that there shall be a Christ.

   Ye look forward and say that ye see a remission of your sins. But behold, it is the effect of a frenzied mind; and this derangement of your minds comes because of the traditions of your fathers, which lead you away into a belief of things which are not so."

He also taught that the leaders of the church would teach people these things to gain favor and wealth.
  Because of the things that Korihor taught he led away the hearts of many.  Korihor was brought before the High Priest Alma.  Alma tells Korihor that Korihor knows that he and the other leaders of the church labored with their ownto support themselves and their families.  That he never abused his leadershipe postion.  Then Alma asks Korihor a couple of great questions. "Believest thou that there is a God?"  Korihor said, "nay".  Then Alma asks, "What evidence do ye have that there is no God, or that Christ cometh not? I say unto you that ye have none, save it be your word only.
   But, behold, I have all things which are a testimony unto you that they are true."
   Korihor tell Alma that if God showed him a sign he would believe.  To which Alma replies, "Thou hast had signs enough; will ye tempt your God? Will ye say, show unto me a sign, when ye have the testimony of all the holy prophets?  The scriptures are laid before thee, yea, and all things denote that there is a God; yea, even the Earth, and all things that are upon the face of it, yea, and it's motion, yea, and also all the planets which do move in their regular form do witness that there is a Supreme Creator."
   I like Alma know that there is a God.  I do believe that Jesus Christ came and that he was the Son of God.  He took upon himself the mistakes, pains, sicknesses and all other things.  So that we can return to live with God.  For no unclean things can dwell in the presence of God.  There had to be a way for us to become clean.  That can only be done through Jesus Christ.  Gaining Faith in Jesus Christ can be done in many ways.  My faith in Jesus Christ was first gained through the Book of Mormon.  That's how I came to know that he was not only a man, but my savior, my redeemer, my way to live with God and my family forever.  I hope this touches your hearts and helps you to know that there is a God, who knows your situation and Loves and truly cares about you.  He is waiting for you to doubt not, but to be believing.  In the Sacred named on Jesus Christ, Amen.

 
 

Baptism, My Purpose.

  My Purpose is to invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the Restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ, and his atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy ghost and enduring to the end. 
   I feel like I need to do more to fulfill that purpose online.  So as I read from the scriptures this morning I decided to try to find something to write about and I found my topic; Baptism.  Baptism is essential to our salvation. In John 3:5 in the New Testament is says, "Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God."  Being born of the water means to be baptized, and of the spirit means to receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost.  This Scripture I quoted has a story behind it.  Christ is talking to a Pharisee and ruler of the Jews named Nicodemus.  Now Nicodemus comes to Christ in the night and says, " Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him."  Then Jesus says what I quoted earlier.  So he tells Nicodemus that he needs to be Born of Water and of the Spirit or he wont be able to live with God.  And Nicodemus asks a classic question, "How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?"  He thinks logically and says, "how in the world can I be born again, I can't enter my mothers womb again!"  To which Jesus responds, "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.  That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.  Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.  The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit."
The answer of course is Baptism.  Christ set the PERFECT example.  It is always amazing to me people who believe that baptism is not necessary.  Of course it is necessary, Jesus Christ was perfect, and he was baptized...hmm sounds like we should be baptized, as imperfect as we are.  In the Book of Mormon it says, "And now, if the Lamb of God, he being holy, should have need to be baptized by water, to fulfil all righteousness, O then, how much more need have we, being unholy, to be baptized, yea, even by water!"  Christ was baptized.  "And again, it showeth unto the children of men the straitness of the path, and the narrowness of the gate, by which they should enter, he having set the example before them.  And he said unto the children of men: Follow thou me. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, can we follow Jesus save we shall be willing to keep the commandments of the Father?  And the Father said: Repent ye, repent ye, and be baptized in the name of my Beloved Son."
Follow the perfect example, Jesus Christ.  Find the path for you and be baptized.  Baptism is the gate by which ye should enter.  Then stay on the straight and narrow path which leads to eternal life.  If you have questions please look me up of facebook by searching, "Elder Austin Goff".  Ask any questions you may have.

I second the voice of Alma to the people of Nephi when he says,
"And now I say unto you that this is the order after which I am called, yea, to preach unto my beloved brethren, yea, and every one that dwelleth in the land; yea, to preach unto all, both old and young, both bond and free; yea, I say unto you the aged, and also the middle aged, and the rising generation; yea, to cry unto them that they must repent and be born again.

  Yea, thus saith the Spirit: Repent, all ye ends of the earth, for the kingdom of heaven is soon at hand; yea, the Son of God cometh in his glory, in his might, majesty, power, and dominion. Yea, my beloved brethren, I say unto you, that the Spirit saith: Behold the glory of the King of all the earth; and also the King of heaven shall very soon shine forth among all the children of men.

  And also the Spirit saith unto me, yea, crieth unto me with a mighty voice, saying: Go forth and say unto this people—Repent, for except ye repent ye can in nowise inherit the kingdom of heaven."

Christ being baptized by John

Hope

Every one of us has times when we need to know things will get better. My declaration is that that is precisely what the gospel of Jesus Christ offers us, especially in times of need.
Thirty years ago last month, a little family set out to cross the United States, every earthly possession they owned packed into the smallest trailer available. No money, an old car, they drove exactly 34 miles up the highway, at which point their beleaguered car erupted.
The young father surveyed the steam, matched it with his own, then left his trusting wife and two innocent children—the youngest just three months old—to wait in the car while he walked the three miles or so to the southern Utah metropolis of Kanarraville, population then, I suppose, 65. Some water was secured at the edge of town, and a very kind citizen offered to drive back to the stranded family. The car was attended to and slowly—very slowly—driven back to St. George for inspection.
After more than two hours of checking and rechecking, no immediate problem could be detected, so once again the journey was begun. In exactly the same amount of elapsed time at exactly the same location on that highway with exactly the same pyrotechnics from under the hood, the car exploded again. Now feeling more foolish than angry, the chagrined young father once more left his trusting loved ones and started the long walk for help once again. This time the man providing the water said, “Either you or that fellow who looks just like you ought to get a new radiator for that car.” He didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry at the plight of this young family.
“How far have you come?” he said. “Thirty-four miles,” I answered. “How much farther do you have to go?” “Twenty-six hundred miles,” I said. “Well, you might make that trip, and your wife and those two little kiddies might make that trip, but none of you are going to make that trip in that car.” He proved to be prophetic on all counts.
Just two weeks ago, I drove by that exact spot. For just an instant I thought perhaps I saw on that side road an old car with a devoted young wife and two little children. Just ahead of them I imagined that I saw a young fellow walking toward Kanarraville, the weight of a young father’s fear evident in his pace.
In that imaginary instant, I couldn’t help calling out to him: “Don’t you quit. You keep walking. You keep trying. There is help and happiness ahead.” Some blessings come soon, some come late, and some don’t come until heaven. But for those who embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ, they come. It will be all right in the end. Trust God and believe in good things to come.

Always have hope, if we do we will be able to have that faith and trust in Jesus Christ.

Miracles

 Mormon 9: 15-21.

15 And now, O all ye that have imagined up unto yourselves a god who can do no miracles, I would ask of you, have all these things passed, of which I have spoken? Has the end come yet? Behold I say unto you, Nay; and God has not ceased to be a God of miracles.

 16 Behold, are not the things that God hath wrought marvelous in our eyes? Yea, and who can comprehend the marvelous works of God?

 17 Who shall say that it was not a miracle that by his word the heaven and the earth should be; and by the power of his word man was created of the dust of the earth; and by the power of his word have miracles been wrought?

 18 And who shall say that Jesus Christ did not do many mighty miracles? And there were many mighty miracles wrought by the hands of the apostles.

 19 And if there were miracles wrought then, why has God ceased to be a God of miracles and yet be an unchangeable Being? And behold, I say unto you he changeth not; if so he would cease to be God; and he ceaseth not to be God, and is a God of miracles.

 20 And the reason why he ceaseth to do miracles among the children of men is because that they dwindle in unbelief, and depart from the right way, and know not the God in whom they should trust.

 21 Behold, I say unto you that whoso believeth in Christ, doubting nothing, whatsoever he shall ask the Father in the name of Christ it shall be granted him; and this promise is unto all, even unto the ends of the earth.

  

I add my testimony to Mormon's testimony of miracles.  They exist, they do happen, but we need to have faith that they can and will happen in our lives.  A lot of the time we have miracles happen in our lives day after day, however, we don't acknowledge or recognize them as miracles.  In the bible dictionary is says that,  "Miracles should not be regarded as deviations from the ordinary course of nature so much as manifestations of divine or spiritual power.  Some lower law was in each case superseded by the action of a higher."  Miracles are Divine or spiritual power.  God is in our lives everyday!  Sounds like a miracle to me.  We are able to see a being greater than we are help and protect us.  Plus he gives us what we need.  I know that miracles were never wrought without prayer, felt need, and faith.  I hope that we all can notice the miracles in our lives.  Not just the incredible, almost unbelievable miracles; but the little miracles that we receive each and everyday.  As we notice those miracles I can promise you all that our faith in miracles and the power of he who is mightier than we will increase.  I know that miracles have not, and will not cease.  For God is the same yesterday, today and forever.  He was a God of miracles in the past.  He is a God of miracles now and he will be in the future as well.  Take these things into your heart and pray earnestly unto God to help you notice those miracles.  If you do so he will help you.  Have a happy Thanksgiving family and friends back home and in my recent homes, and also to those in Worland, Wyoming.  God Bless.

"Lost and Found"

By: Greg Olsen

My Blog

Having this blog has been good for me.  I have been able to write some of my feelings.  My thoughts, and been able to actually know about people reading it.  I hope that as I share my thoughts and feelings that everyone who reads it will be able to get something out of it.  I had someone tell me they had read some of my blogs, and it made me really think.  Am I writing things that will help others, or am I writing things that will help me.  If there is a particular subject you would like me to write about feel free to ask.  I'll try to write about it.  I am on here to help other people.  Not to just write because I was asked to.  I want it to be good for everyone.  Love, Elder Goff

Football and the Gospel.

So the other day I thought back to my high school times.  More specifically,  about the Football team I was able to be a part of my senior year.  I remember long before we were actually together when I was a senior we all started playing together in 7th grade.  We all loved the game, we loved playing as a team.  Seeing the things that could happen when we would play as a team.  Seeing the great things we could accomplish individually when we would listen to what the coach told us to do, and what we had practiced all week before we went out Friday under the lights.  I remember having an English class my freshman year.  We had a writing assignment and I remember myself and Casimiro Zarate our great running back and line backer writing about taking state someday.  So, as you can see this is something we wanted for yourselves.  A goal we wanted to accomplish.  It was only through working as a team and listening to what our coaches taught us.  Then going out on the field and fulfilling the assignments we had practiced all week that we would ever be able to meet that goal.  We eventually met that goal.  It wasn't easy, we never expected it would be.  We truly had to work hard, study our defensive scheme for the week, listen to our coaches.  There were so many things we had to do to make it happen.  One of the best coaches I had would ask us often as we watched game film when we made a mistake because we didn't fulfill our job, "How did that work for you?"  We would usually then say, "It didn't coach."  And he would then say, "All right, well how about we do it my way next time."  To which we would agree and do it the way we had been coached.
All of these things I learned playing football can apply to the Gospel as well.  We know what we need to do to reach our goal of living with God and Jesus Christ again.  We know when we do it our way it doesn't work.  We have to work at it everyday.  We have to study, pray, go to church.  There are things that God tells us to do and we disregard it.  Which doesn't bring us happiness.  When we get it right is when we feel joy.  I hope that when we see others down we will help them up, and be a team.  We are all in this together.  I am grateful for the great friends and coaches that helped teach me about these things.  We must fulfill our jobs, and make our goals happen.  READY...BREAK.

Elder Austin Gene Goff #3