The Creation of the Earth

     After our counsel in heaven, Jesus Christ, under the direction of God the Father, created the earth. If we, as God's children, were going to get a body and gain experiences that would help us become like and eventually have the opportunity to live with our Heavenly Father, we needed a place to go where we could accomplish those goals. Therefore, an Earth was created. 

     This whole earth was specifically created for all mankind to come and dwell upon and to have dominion over the inhabitants of it. There is a scripture I like that talks about the Lord creating the earth and one of the main reasons why. The verse is found in the Book of Mormon, in the book of 1 Nephi Chapter 17 verse 36 and it reads, "Behold, the Lord hath created the earth that it should be inhabited; and he hath created his children that they should possess it." 

     I know that there is a Supreme Being who literally created this earth, specifically for us to come and dwell upon. When in the outdoors just looking all around at all the beauty of the earth, to me, there is just no way that there could NOT be a Creator of this earth. There is no way that everything just "magically" happened. This earth was in fact created by our Lord Jesus Christ and God our Father. Just take a look around you and and ponder about all the mountains, trees, animals and all of earth's natures and you too will come to the realization that there is a Greater Being out there who lives and created this wonderful earth.

    

coming up next in the Great Plan of Salvation: "Agency and The Fall of Adam and Eve"

Furnace of Affliction

    

There is a scripture in the Book of Mormon that I have come to love and that has helped me get through life's trials and look forward with an eye of faith. The scripture come from the 1st Book Of Nephi, Chapter 20 verse 10 and it reads, "For behold, I have refined thee, I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction." The term refine in the dictionary means, " to bring to a fine or a pure state; free from impurities". A furnace is, as stated in the dictionary, "a place characterized by intense heat".
     If anyone know anything about metals, you know that it requires very intense heat to refine or to remove the impurities out of the metal to make them pure and next to perfect. The metals go through a process in the furnace where the intense heat cleanses and purifies each metal.
     In the gospel, each person goes through a process where the Lord refines us and makes become more pure. One of the ways He does that is by allowing us to have affliction and trials in our lives. These afflictions that come upon us are not there to punish us or to weaken our faith, rather to shape us into the best people we can become. An Apostle of the Lord, Elder Dallin H. Oaks observed that like intense heat refines metal and removes impurities, likewise affliction can refine and purify each of us, he says this, "Most of us experience some measure of what the scriptures call 'the furnace of affliction' (Isaiah 48:10; 1 Nephi 20:10). Some are submerged in service to a disadvantaged family member. Others suffer the death of a loved one or the loss or postponement of a righteous goal like marriage or childbearing. Still others struggle with personal impairments or with feelings of rejection, inadequacy, or depression. Through the justice and mercy of a loving Father in Heaven, the refinement and sanctification possible through such experiences can help us achieve what God desires us to become."
     Along with Elder Oaks I believe that the troubles and trials we all face in life can help shape us into who God wants us to become.  I know its not easy to go through trials and difficulties and I don't think they are meant to be. But I do know that if we push through our trials with patience and faith, continue in scripture study and prayer, knowing that everything will turn out okay in the end, then we can truly become pure and sanctified. Our afflictions can truly refine and purify us.