The Refiners Fire.

This past summer in the little town of Eagar, AZ, there was a forest fire that burned 840.702 sq mi. It left only a few homes and cabins destroyed. Nobody was injured or killed but many people where evacuated and asked to leave there homes until the smoke settled. The fire lasted months and many hours were spent trying to get it under control. Forest fires are popular in the norther part of Arizona due to the amount of Ponderosa Pine Trees that cover the mountains and the dry summer weather. Fire is an interesting element. It has the ability to be used for much good and also for much bad. Fire can be a wonderful source of warmth in the cold winter nights. It can bring light to a home. It can even give a romantic touch to a dinner. As we also know, fire can bring destruction and pain to those very same things and people.

In the case of a forest fire, the area burned is completely bare of what once was. The forest is black and ugly, the lumber is useless and non-existent. The once beautiful forest is now scared with events of the past. The things that use to make the forest fun and interesting are no longer there. The wildlife has moved on and life is grim. The whole city was dark and the smoke as so thick you could hardly see.

There is however a ray of sunshine that comes with the fire. Have you ever heard the saying " Everything gets better with time."? This is the case with the fire. As years go by the rain will fall one drop at a time and new life will begin to grow in place of the old. The new grows healthy and strong because of the rich soil that is now all around. The trees have a wonderful chance to receive plenty of sun and all that they need. Anything that once was bad for the forest has now been burnt or moved on. After the years go, by the forest is back to normal and most of the time its even better than before.

In our Life at times we are like this fire. We go through life, we work, go to school, have kids, ect. We think things are going well then a life changing even happens. We lose a job, relative or close friend. We lose our home, have to move or to tell you the truth life can just get  a little busy and overwhelming. We begin to look at the world around us and our own lives. We see black and ugly scars that for some reason seem to be all around us. We feel burnt out, useless, and even non-existent. I have felt this way! It is not a happy time!

There is again a ray of hope! It is called the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Just like the fire, time and faith will cure our sorrows and heal our lives from the destruction. Life does move on, things will get better! The Atonement makes it possible. Christ heals from the inside out. He changes us one drop of rain at a time, He help us see out weakness and then strengthens us. (Ether 12:27) He has his arms of mercy stretched out to us! The Atonement of Christ has amazing life changing abilities that will help us change. He invites all to come unto Him, to follow Him that He may make our burdens light. I testify of his love and of his patience.

What Matters Most.

There are a lot of things that mean a great deal to us in life. Some of these things are temporal, material, or spiritual. A lot of times the things that we consider the most important are really not important at all. I often times think of who i want to be and the things i plan to do in this life. My mind will then go through the various jobs, careers, and hobbies that i think would be pretty sweet to do. I think of the fun i could have and the places i could go. I look at all the wonderful things around me and wonder where should i even start?

     In my life i have family and friends that love to go hunting. They spend a lot of time each year following and watching the elk, around where i live, trying to find out the best place to find them when it comes time for the hunting season. like all other things in life hunting takes practice and skill. It takes time to go out and practice and getting things ready. Many bow hunters will attest to the fact that you need to spend many hours at the range shooting your bow and making sure you can hit your target.

     I once heard a story about two brothers who both enjoyed target shooting. They would go out together and spend a few hours setting up different situations in which you would have to hit various targets. To do so they would have to be focused and skilled. One such scenario was where they set the target on the other side of two trees that were close together, forcing the archer to shoot between the trees and hit the target. Now one brother could do the shot very easily. He seemed to not even notice the trees and just focus on the target. On the other hand his brother for some reason kept hitting those trees and it was getting him really mad. He asked his brother, " how is that you can shoot that target every time and i just keep hitting these dumb trees". His answer was simple but had a huge impact on his life. He said " Its not about the trees is about what I'm aiming for". You see this man knew the importance of looking at the target and only the target. He did not get afraid or distracted by the things around him or the obstacles that seemed to be in the way. He simply looked at the target and took his shot.

     We in our lives have many "trees" that seem to block our "targets". We let life get in front of us and we begin to put our target out of site. We become to preoccupied with whatever we may be doing in life. Some of them are very apparent and seem to make our goals unreachable. Others are more subtle and are as simple as we may have fears that things wont happen they way we want or think. We begin to loose site of what matters most. In my life the things that matter most is my family and friends. I want to have these relationships for not only this life but in the life to come. So i have a goal and now its up to me to focus on the target and take a shot.

Avoid The Very Appearance of Evil

One day as a woman was washing dishes and looking out the window. She saw this little bird fly in and out of this tree in the front of her house. As she continued to watch this bird over the next few days fly in and out, in and out, she was wondering what the little bird was doing. So she got a ladder and put it up against the tree and looked in where this bird was flying in and saw that this bird was making a nest. The woman got down and a few days later she got out her ladder and checked again. This time she saw 4 little eggs inside the nest. She was very excited to see this momma bird making a home and raising a family and she couldn’t wait to check on the babies in a few weeks.

One day as she was out working in the garden she heard these little birds chirping. So she got out the ladder again and looked inside. As she looked she only saw 3 little birds and as she looked closer she saw that one was lying towards the back of the nest. She was devastated so see this little baby go. She thought to her self why did this happen why would this momma bird let this happen does she not love her children? As she was looking at the dead bird she noticed a little blood and a puncture in the birds’ chest. The woman looked a little closer and saw a piece of wire twined in the nest. She then got down from the tree and went back to her normal day routines.

                Over the next few weeks she couldn’t stop thinking about this momma bird and why she would bring such a dangerous item into her home. She thought well maybe she just got it mixed in with the twigs and other things she was bringing into her home. Or maybe at the time it was shinny and she thought it would bring beauty to her home. What ever the reason this tiny piece of wire is the very reason why one of her children died.  appearance

                Much of the time we are like this momma bird. We work so hard to provide for our family we are in and out of the house working, playing and trying to do our best to make our home a safe place for our children. If we are not careful we too can sometimes bring in “wires” that can potentially ruin our families’ life. With all the different media, Internet, movies and even friends, we need to be aware of the things we bring into our “nest”.  The Holy Ghost will prompt us on whether or not things are good to bring into our homes or viewed on our TV, computer, cell phones, ext…  We live in a time of fast food, Self check out, fast trak, high speed Internet, instant messaging and all forms of social media. Satan is always on the move to bring us down. Let us as parents and children always be on the look out for potential dangers.  

The Word of God

The Prophet Alma understood very clearly the importance of the scriptures. When contending with Korihor, an anti-Christ, Alma ranked the scriptures (and the prophets!) up there with the largest and most awe-inspiring of God's creations as a witness that there is a God. He said to Korihor:

     "Thou hast had signs enough .... Will ye say, Show unto me a sign, when you have the testimony of ... all the holy prophets? The scriptures are laid before thee, yea .... and also all the planets which move in their regular form do witness that there is a Supreme Creator." (Alma 30:44, emphasis added)

Many people wonder if there is a higher power, let alone a Heavenly Father who thoroughly and lovingly watches out for us. However, everything testifies that there is a God - specifically, the Holy Prophets, the Scriptures, and all the planets!

If you ever find your testimony being shaken or lacking, my best advice to you is to simply study your scriptures! You could go on a space expedition. You could also look up all the Holy Prophets. Or, you could study your scriptures. I can't express to you how truly important they are. They really are as important as the world that we live on.

Then President Lawrence E. Corbridge said this about the scriptures:

     "none of this [the scriptures] makes much difference unless it gets inside of you. All of this is only marks on pieces of paper bound together in leather; it has no intrinsic value, unless it becomes you. The purpose and essential blessing of life is to be changed to become more like the Lord, to realize the full measure of your divine potential."

I'm going to say it again: I can't stress to you how vital the scriptures are. Study them. Let them become a living part of you. Learn from the wonderful lessons and the inspired accounts of wonderful men and women serving the Lord. The blessings are too great to fully explain in my little blog.

So really. Study your scriptures.

(Oh, do you want to know what Korihor's response to Alma eventually was? Let me tell you: "And Korihor put forth his hand and wrote, saying: I know that I am dumb." (Alma 30:52) Just study your scriptures. Don't be dumb!)

Getting Started!!

Hello world this is Elder Sherrow from the Santa Rosa CA, mission. Im a newbie at this whole blogging thing so bare with me as i try to lift and inspire you as my readers. Well i thought i would start out by telling you a little about myself, where im from and fun things like that.

I am originally from Eagar, AZ but am currently serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and more currently, serving in the amazingly awesome city of Vacaville CA. Im loving my time spent here eventhough they say it will start to get really hot, im not looking forward to that at all. In my family i have one sister and my parents, so we are not your normal 8 child mormon family. My family is my life and i love them so much. In fact my sister is pregnant and will be having her baby a month before i go home. Back home i loved doing a lot of outdoors kind of things camping, quad riding, horseback riding, pretty much anything out doors.