Joyful Wells | Sharing Cups of Water

Fasting also puts you in the shoes of the beggar. Now it’s your turn to go hungry, thirsty, and beg while showing heaven your “anything helps” signs and tokens. How long will you beg before you give up? How often do we pass by beggars?  How frequently do their prayers go unanswered?  How long will we wait? If God has commanded us to be the relief they need, can God answer your prayers by the same means?  “And it came to pass that as he entered the city, he was an hungered; and he said to a man, Will ye give to an humble servant of God something to eat? And the man said unto him, I am a Nephite, and I know that thou art a holy prophet of God, for thou art the man whom an angel said in a vision, Thou shalt receive. Therefore, go with me into my house, and I will impart unto thee of my food. And I know that thou will be a blessing unto me and my house. And it came to pass that the man received him into his house. And the man was called Amulek; and he brought forth bread and ...

Fasting can turn from a burden to a delight. I hope to share a few reasons for this in the next few posts.   First, nothing about fasting requires you to isolate yourself from the world. You’re still a part of your local community. You can fast anywhere and anytime.  While still in the community, you will watch others have the basic survival necessities you go without. Alternatively, you will see other people like you who are also without food and drink. In either case, serve like you usually would, but now you are putting their needs above yours in a deeper way. Give them what you yourself want. This is crucial for true discipleship. “He who seeks to save his life shall  lose  it, and he who  loses  his life for my sake shall find it.” ( Matthew 5:7 ) Fasting cannot, and should not, be separated from serving others. If it is, we’re missing out on a fuller way to experience it. Hence why, we read in Isaiah that fasting and helping people experiencing povert...

Today is the anniversary of when Joseph and Hyrum Smith were killed.  They did not kill themselves out of guilt for betraying Christ, like Judas; they did not die by old age surrounded by loved ones, from an illness, or some alignment; nor did they die by fair battle. Instead, they were pinned into a small room with nowhere to go and ambushed by armed men as if they were hunted animals.  It was a deliberate, planned attack. Last year, a friend and I visited the place where Joseph and Hyrum were killed. We were greeted by a lovely elderly couple serving as senior ministers for the LDS Church. The man of the couple graciously gave us a tour of the building and grounds.  Because we were the only two people there, after the tour was over, we asked him if we could have a few minutes alone in the room where they were killed. He agreed to accommodate our request.  We intended to pray to God, thanking him for sending us those two servants. Words cannot express what we e...

Alvin Smith was the first son of the Patriarch Joseph Smith Sr and Matriarch Lucy Smith. According to available records, he was a worthy and righteous son.   Because he was the oldest righteous son, he would qualify to be the next Patriarch, according to the Holy Order. Unfortunately, he passed away before this Order could be established. On the bright side, I believe that was for a wise reason. Interestingly, when Joseph beheld the vision of those in the Celestial Kingdom, he beheld his brother Alvin. How? Here’s the vision : “The heavens were opened upon us and I beheld the celestial kingdom of God, and the glory thereof, whether in the body or out I cannot tell,— I saw the transcendant beauty of the gate , through which the heirs of that kingdom will enter, which was like unto circling flames of fire, also the blasing throne of God, whereon was seated the Father and the Son,— I saw the beautiful streets of that kingdom, which had the appearance of being paved with gold— I saw fa...

I ambled along the waterway by my home today.  I saw a new plant I hadn’t noticed before.  It was chest high, so I hardly had to bend down when I took a closer look, which I wasn’t planning to do. I saw beetles (some mating), bees, and bright colors.  I almost missed it.  

The Summer Solstice is in two days.  A typical understanding of the Summer Solstice is that Jesus Christ is the fullness of light and most glorious of us all because it's the longest day of the year. Other representations of this sacred moment are the 'perfect day' of coming into his presence, the light we can obtain, and the fullness of light followed by a period of waning darkness. The Summer Solstice is the complete opposite of the Winter Solstice, which was just six months earlier and was the shortest day of the year.  In some cultures, the Summer Solistice is celebrated by wearing a wreath on one's head and holding hands while dancing in a circle around a large fire. Obvious symbols there. But as to these wreaths, men might wear a handmade wreath or, better yet, a crown of oak leaves, and women a crown made of flowers.  These wreaths or crowns represent many things, including ascension, gaining light, and victory over battles.  But the noblest battles are not ju...

Most Mormons are familiar with Martin Harris's involvement in the early days of the Restoration, but some aspects of the story should receive more attention. Here's my take.  The plates were given to 21-year-old Joseph on September 22nd, 1827. He began translating them about two months later, in late December [1], with help from his pregnant wife, Emma, and close friend, Martin Harris, who were his  scribes. Emma was his first scribe from the beginning, and Martin stepped in for her on April 12th, 1828, a few months later.  It's helpful to know the date Martin stepped in for Emma because, as it turns out, this was when she entered her third trimester. Evidently, help was needed, and Martin could be trusted to assist in the work and be close to the family during this time.  On June 14th, after translating nearly every day and completing 116 pages, the work needed to stop. Emma is now about to give birth.  As Martin prepares to leave,...

During the early days of translating the Book of Mormon, Joseph encountered a problem. David Whitmer describes the situation this way: "He [Joseph Smith] was a religious and straightforward man. . . . He had to trust in God. He could not translate unless he was humble and possessed the right feelings towards everyone .  To illustrate so you can see: One morning when he was getting ready to continue the translation, something went wrong about the house and he was put out about it. Something that Emma, his wife, had done.  Oliver and I went upstairs and Joseph came up soon after to continue the translation but he could not do anything. He could not translate a single syllable.  He went downstairs, out into the orchard, and made supplication to the Lord; was gone about an hour - came back to the house, and asked Emma's forgiveness and then came upstairs where we were and then the translation went on all right.  He could do nothing save he was humble and faithful." (Sai...

"A fanciful and flowery and heated imagination be aware of, because the things of God are of deep import, and time, and experience, and careful and ponderous and solemn thoughts can only find them out. Your mind, O man , if you will lead a soul unto salvation, must stretch as high as the utmost Heavens, and search into and contemplate the lowest considerations of the darkest abyss , and expand upon the broad considerations of eternal expanse. You must commune with God. How much more dignified and noble are the thoughts of God than the vain imagination of the human heart? None but fools will trifle with the souls of men."   ( Letter to the Church and Edward Partridge, 20 March 1839 ). It's my belief that the best place to begin contemplating "the lowest considerations of the darkest abyss" is within ourselves.  Specifically, the darkness we are capable of. 

After I pray and study from 5:30 to 7:30 a.m., I spend time with my family before I go to work. It's a limited window of time, so I have to be intentional. In a future blog post, I plan to write about my schedule, show some of the resources I used to create it, and explain why having a plan works.  My current activity with my kids is playing baseball. My oldest son is 9, and he is very athletic. Sports come naturally to him. My youngest son, who is almost 8, is still honing his skills, so he asks for one-on-one practice time with me to play better in a group. There's something spiritual about that.  When my two sons and I play ball, we throw catch in the street or go to the local city baseball fields. This morning, we went to the field and took turns throwing, catching, or hitting. The weather was perfect, and the field was freshly cut and painted. We had a great time, but towards the end, my youngest son was frustrated that his skills were still lacking. What he doesn't re...

" And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly, and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless  unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ" ( 1 Thessalonians 1:14 ) In both Hebrew and Greek, to be blameless is to be free from guilt and blemish (I will leave links in the definitions to Biblehub to follow and explore around): (Hebrew) naqiy :  blameless, clean, clear, exempted, free, guiltless, innocent.  (Hebrew) amomos :  without blame, without blemish, faultless  -- without blame (blemish, fault, spot) , faultless, unblamable --  without spot or blot. (Greek)  anaitios :  blameless, guiltless .  From   a   (as a negative particle) and   aitios   (in the sense of   aitia ); innocent. If you have guilt now, you will have guilt in the presence of God - but it will be much worse. In that sense, having guilt now is good because you can know what to work on starting this very moment. Of course, ...