The Chief Corner Stone

"19. Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, 

but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the houshold of God;

20. And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, 

Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;"

Ephesians 2:19-20

I love this scripture! It starts out making sure you know that you are no foreigner to God and to the saints, but that you are known, loved, and recognized as a child of God, then tells you that your foundation must be Christ. Those two things are wonderful to put together, because we can know that we are loved by Christ, who is the "Chief Corner Stone" of the Gospel, and of life in general. Do you know what a corner stone is? It is the stone that holds the entire thing together.

Without the corner stone, or keystone, the whole building, or arch, or bridge, or whatever it is you are trying to build, would come crashing down. It is in this way that Christ is the corner stone of our lives. Without Him, we would be a big crumbly mess of stone. Nobody wants that! There is another scripture that I love that has to do with building your foundation on Christ. It is Helaman 5:12 - 

 "12. And now my sons, remember, remember, that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shalls end forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall."

Isn't that beautiful? I love that scripture so much! We must build our foundation on Christ, for when we do this, we cannot fall into Satan's temptations and his many attempts to bring us down. It is a simple thing that we must do, but with grand rewards! Focus the things you do every day on Christ, and the devil will have no power over you. What a blessing! 

Baptisms for the Dead

"29. Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? Why are they then baptized for the dead?"

1 Corinthians 15:29

My companion and I had a conversation with someone yesterday who wasn't so sure she believed in fully "believed" in baptisms for the dead. This scripture that President Taylor asked us to memorize helps to explain the purpose of it a bit. As a part of the Plan of Salvation, we are taught there will be life after death. After our spirits and our bodies are separated, our spirits will go to the spirit world, where we will have the opportunity to share/learn more about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. That is where we will be until the Second Coming of Christ to the Earth, after which, we will all be "resurrected" and our spirits and our bodies will be reunited forever. There will be some people however that will have lived their entire lives without knowing about Christ's Gospel, or some who will have not followed it during their earthly life. It is for those people that we do temple work such as baptisms for the dead. We do as many of the earthly ordinances that need to be performed in order to fully accept the Gospel and Jesus Christ for those that didn't have or take the opportunity to do so for themselves while they were alive. We are not forcing the Gospel or these ordinances on them at all, it simply gives them the opportunity to choose to follow it or not. This seems like a complicated topic, but it is truly very simple. I apologize that this explanation is so short, but I am out of time. If you have any questions, feel free to post them in the comments. Otherwise, always look to the scriptures for answers! Heavenly Father will answer you through His written word EVERY time you ask.

In Christ Shall all be Made Alive

"21. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.

22. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive."

1 Corinthians 15:21-22

It's interesting that this is the scripture I am sharing today, because the subject that I wanted to talk about relates perfectly to it. A dear Sister in my mission, Sister Parrish, found out last week that her parents and two younger siblings passed away due to carbon monoxide poisoning. We were all devastated, but being so close to the Gospel while out here serving our missions has helped immensely. I have been reminded a lot of the Plan of Salvation, and the truth of "families can be together forever." That means beyond this life. When our bodies and spirits are separated, we live on. This earthly life is not the end, and we are promised that along with making certain covenants comes eternal life with our families. I am so grateful for my Savior and His Atonement, and the plan that Heavenly Father has made for each of us individually and as families. Because of the Atonement and the Plan of Salvation, I KNOW that I can be with my family for eternity, and I will be forever grateful for that.