Power of the Holy Ghost to touch people - weak and simple of the other preach the gospel

There's two young Tongan men in our ward; they're 17 and 19. One of them likes to bear his testimony every couple months. Remarkably, when he gets up and talks in his broken English and says basic truths, such as "I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet" and "I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior", I feel it is true. Every time. That young man has the spirit accompany his words.

It's the first time in my life someone has had that power with me. I know the Spirit testifies of his words. I love that young man. He makes my testimony meetings better.

This is what happens when he speaks - 2 Nephi 33:1

for when a man ^bspeaketh by the power of the Holy Ghost the power of the Holy Ghost carrieth it unto the hearts of the children of men.

He touches my heart.

Testimony of Paul - Desire that all knew of the Savior

Paul's answer to Agrippa after Agrippa said, "thou almost persuadest me to be a Christian" is interesting. From Acts 26:
28 Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.

29 And Paul said, I would to God, that not only thou, but also all that hear me this day, were both almost, and altogether such as I am, except these bonds.

He wishes that everyone there were a Christian in quite a powerful way. That is not what many say about religion, "we all worship the same God," or "it's just important that you're a good person". Why didn't he say that? Because he wanted people to have the blessings, comfort, and assurance that he had about life due to the Savior.

I hope to be altogether as Paul was also, a true believer.

Help thou mine unbelief

One of the great stories in the scriptures is of the man whose son has had a devil his whole life. His son is severely handicapped as a result and does crazy things such as jumping into fires. Through tears, the man begs Jesus to help his son. Here's the story from Mark 9:

20 And they brought him unto him: and when he saw him, straightway the spirit ^atare him; and he fell on the ground, and wallowed foaming.

21 And he asked his father, How long is it ago since this came unto him? And he said, Of a child.

22 And ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if thou canst do any thing, have ^acompassionon us, and help us.

23 Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are^apossible to him that ^bbelieveth.

24 And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine ^aunbelief.

25 When Jesus saw that the people came running together, he^arebuked the ^bfoul spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him.

26 And the spirit cried, and rent him sore, and came out of him: and he was as one dead; insomuch that many said, He is dead.

27 But Jesus took him by the hand, and ^alifted him up; and he arose.

At times, all of us are like this man. We have great need for help. We believe God can help us, but considering how difficult the problem is, we have a bit of doubt as well. We think, "how could anything solve this issue? It is so hard." So, we beg for help, and perhaps even acknowledge our lack of faith in asking for it. Luckily for us, God is compassionate. This man did not have to have perfect faith, but instead, desire to have enough faith for his son to be healed, and that was enough.

I appreciate the honesty of this man and the compassion of the Savior. I have had so many experiences showing he cares about us, but occasionally I have my own doubts and questions. As I turn to him to ask for help in overcoming this doubts that come, he does not rebuke me but strengthens me. I love him for this.

Have a great week.

Mark - quickly giving powerful examples of who Jesus is

Mark is a gospel written principally to the Gentiles and quickly tells who Jesus is and what he did. It's the shortest of the gospels and probably the first written.

Notice how much he tells about Jesus in the very first chapter:

1) John the Baptist prepared the way for jesus by preaching about him

2) Jesus was baptized

3) Called several Apostles

4) Taught in synagogues and impressed many by his doctrine, which was spoken with authority

5) Cast out devils

6) healed those with fevers and lepers

7) Fame spread throughout the land and many came to him

Mark didn't waste time in explaining how impressive Jesus is.

But is it true?

I just had a marvelous discussion with my good friend at work. I really like him.

He happens to be quite smart (for instance, got interviews at all of the top 5 business schools in the country). He takes a very logical approach to life and to religion. He explained that he sees Christianity as a crazier set of beliefs than even Greek mythology because Greek mythology teaches lessons that are very applicable to real life whereas Christianity sets up absolutes that are difficult to reconcile to a world with shades of grey. He's a believing, though not practicing Hindu. He mentioned that it's tough to believe that there's a God who is our Father. Quite presumptuous. Pretty unlikely. Also, this thing about Jesus dying for our sins and now we only need say we believe and be saved is also pretty ridiculous.

So, I pretty much agree with his points. It is ridiculous to think that just saying, "I believe" will save one person that isn't as good as another person who doesn't. I understand his concerns. However, I also think someone could just try to talk to God and see what happens. Maybe try to live the way he asks which does have some definite rights and wrongs and see what happens. And then, maybe, if He is real, he'll let you know. So, as crazy as all of it is, it's actually true. And I know because he's let me know. And he'll let anyone know it's true, but they have to do it his way; ask him, live the way he asks.

Concerning the Savior's actions: I can't think of a "why this was necessary" except for 2 points, neither of which I believe other Christian churches would state are true, in general.

1) If we didn't need to return to dwell with God again after this life and also become like Him, it wouldn't be so necessary for someone to take away our sins. The "and become like Him" is important. Because I could see it being okay for someone with sins to be allowed to come into God's presence. Seriously. Satan has been allowed to at times (Job mentions this, and more importantly, Satan was an enemy to our Heavenly Father in the premortal life.) However, if we're supposed to become like our Heavenly Father, but we've made mistakes, some serious and some not so serious, then we all fall short of the glory of God and could never become like him without some major help. That help is the Atonement of Jesus Christ. It's harder to understand the true need for the Atonement without understanding the plan of salvation.

2) Relates to number one - people have terrible things happen to them and these things could/should affect them forever unless there's a power that can wash this away. That power is the Atonement. God needed to do something to help us for our sins (#1), but he also needed to do something to take care of all the bad stuff that happens on this Earth that should affect people forever. It doesn't have to though, and that's because of Jesus' Atonement. It's the power to help what can't be helped without some "miraculous force". The thing is, the miraculous force is an earned force. It's earned by Jesus.

2a) God has the right to be involved in our lives because his son came to earth and earned the right to be involved in life. We can heal people through the priesthood and faith in the Savior because the Savior earned the right to have power through the Atonement. That's why faith in him is necessary to be healed. It's his power, earned through the Atonement, that makes it possible. Once again, he came to earth in part to be able to affect things that couldn't be affected without him earning the right to do so.

So, as I said, I understand my friend's points. I could easily be just like him because his viewpoints are actually pretty reasonable. However, he's wrong about God. God is our Father and loves us and cares enough to be involved in our lives. More experiences than I can name (literally, hundreds of subtle experiences along with a couple of life-changing experiences) have absolutely convinced me there is a God that is actually our Heavenly Father who loves us and has called a prophet and established his church in these days. I am very lucky to know this. It's a little crazy, I admit, but it's also completely true.