To My Children

One week from today, my son will be born.  This has caused me to think about the things I would have my children know.  I want them to know the things of my heart and the things which are not my own to keep.

This morning I listened to a devotional given by then Elder Dallin H. Oaks called "Weightier Matters".  From it, I gleaned some things are weightier or more important than others.  I believe learning is important but application is more important.  Doing a kind deed is a vehicle for showing love.  My body is important but it is merely a vehicle for me to experience, to grow, to learn, and to become.

As much as any mortal person can know...

I know Heavenly Father is real.  I know He loves me, personally.  I don't grasp how he is able to know and love each of us individually, I simply know it to be true.

I know Jesus Christ lived.  I know he lived a perfect life, overcoming EVERY obstacle set before him.  I know Lucifer tried to deny him, and all of us, eternal life.  I know Christ overcame the temptations and wiles of the Evil one.  I know he did so because of the great love he has for all of us.  I don't understand how anyone can live in this world and never sin, I simply know he did so.  I know he fulfilled his "part" of the plan of salvation.  I know if we trust in him, we are able to grow in this life and prepare to live in the world to come.

I know the Book of Mormon is a true book.  I know it has become a treasure to me.  I also know it is a treasure which I sometimes keep locked away instead of benefiting from daily study.  I know when I read it, a conduit is opened from Heave into my very soul.  I know thoughts, feelings, instruction, and answers flow readily into me.  I am not always attentive enough to perceive them, but they are there.

I know Joseph Smith was a prophet of God.  As Moses' words live on today, he is a living prophet.  So to, the words delivered to Joseph Smith are alive and so is he.  I know he had "human" moments in his life which may cause doubt in the eyes of the unbeliever.  I know he was an instrument in the hands of the Lord to bring about MUCH good.  He lived his life to bless others.  I can only imagine the pains, loneliness, terror, exhilaration, and love he felt in his life.  Like other prophets before and Christ himself, no one on the planet could console him in the darkest hours.  His strength came from Heaven.

I know this life is a wonderful "test".  I like to think of test as it is used in Rugby.  It is an opportunity to showcase our talents and our abilities.  We can grow, falter, learn, repair, love, laugh, dream, pray, damage, cry, support, and a myriad other actions.  Because Christ effectuated the atonement, we have the agency to choose for ourselves the outcome of our lives.  We set the trajectory.  We change the course.  We decide where we end up.  We decide who we want to have with us but we don't decide for them whether they want to be there, too.

I know there is a LOT I don't know.  In fact, I assume it is the vast majority of knowledge which I lack.  However, I know I can keep learning each day.  I can keep loving more and more.  I can keep perfecting myself and inviting others along for the ride.

I know these things to be true.  I may be wrong.  I don't say this as a caveat but as an admission of my own frailty as a human being.  Every day, I choose to believe in the knowledge I have gained.  I don't believe it will be asked of me as I am but one man but, if asked, I would lay down my life in defense of my Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, my family, or the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  I love the Lord because he first loved me.  He taught me how to love and I will live the rest of my life learning that love.

 I didn't edit this post, there may be flaws but such is life.