The Caves

This Saturday I went hiking again, but this time up to the Mt. Timpanogos caves and they were amazing. It was pretty steep going up to the cave entrance, but it was worth it. We actually went through three different caves and while in the first one the forest ranger guy who was with us told us that we were standing inside a fault line! I thought that was probably one of the most amazing things ever. I've heard lots of people talk about being on top of fault lines, but never inside them. It was pretty amazing. He then told us that if there had been an earthquake that being in the fault line where we were was the safest place we could possibly be. If an earthquake had started at the faultline we were in it would have shaken us a little then moved outward and wouldn't have affected us very much. And if an earthquake had started at a different fault line, when the shock waves reached us they wouldn't have affected us at all because we were so deep in the mountain. So, we were in the best spot possible to receive the least amount of damage.

Learning about all that made me think of a verse I read recently in Doctrine and Covenants section 45. In verse 33 it talks about some of the calamities that will happen in the last days and says, "And there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and many desolations". I thought it was interesting that in the case of such an earthquake the safest place to be wouldn't be in a house, building, cellar or anything like that, but in a mountain. The safest place for us to be is in the place that God has created for us. And if you think of mountains as a metaphor for temples, then the best place to be to stay safe from the spiritual calamaties in the world is in the temple, or the house of the Lord. When we stay as close to Him as possible we'll be safe.

(p.s. the picture is from inside the fault!)

Mt. Timpanogos

This past Saturday I went hiking up to the top of Mt. Timpanogos here in the Provo area. It was a really cool experience for me because, being from the gulf coast of Texas, I haven't really gotten to do much hiking on mountains. I went with my writing class and only two of us made it all the way to the summit of the mountain. Everything was going great and the view was beautiful. Then, about 11,700 feet up the 11,749 ft. mountain something went wrong. Way up at that altitude the wind blows really strong and some sand or dirt or something blew into my right eye. It hurt really bad and the pain was excruciating. I then had to hike back down the mountain half blind with this intense pain in my eye. Sometimes the pain would be so bad in my right eye that both my eyes would just involuntarily slam shut causing my to stumble because I couldn't see the trail any more. This, of course, made me (and my classmate who was with me) worry about my life. I was a little afraid of falling off the mountain. While in the middle of this I remember praying so that the pain would go away. About twenty minutes later we ran into a forest ranger person who happened to have some eye drops in a first aid kit that he let me have. Then, about twenty minutes after that the pain in my right eye stopped. It was still sore from having hurt so much before, but it was more of an ache, which was much more bearable than it had been. After a couple more hours we got back down the mountain to our cabin where our other classmates were waiting for us. Then, after about an hour of being back my eye began to hurt again. I can't explain why. The experience made me think of a theme that I've seen a lot throughout my study of the Doctrine and Covenants. In Doctrine and Covenants 4:7 it says, Ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. Amen." I see this promise everywhere in the Doctrine and Covenants and I know that it's very true. I asked for the pain to stop so that I could safely get off the mountain and it did, then it came back after I had finished getting off the mountain. I was amazed by this experience. The Lord knew exactly what I needed for the pain to stop so that we could get back and helped me. He gave me what I needed after I had sincerely asked.

The first post - Doctrine and Covenants

I'm taking a class on the Doctrine and Covenants this year. I believe that the Doctrine and Covenants is a book of scripture given to the world by Jesus Christ through Joseph Smith. I believe this because I feel inside me that it's right.
I'm a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, better known by most people as the Mormon Church, though that's just a nickname. We believe that the Doctrine and Covenants is canonized scripture along with the Bible (both New and Old Testaments) and the Book of Mormon.
The Book of Mormon was also given to the world through Joseph Smith, but is very different from the Doctrine and Covenants. The Book of Mormon is a book of scripture written by people that lived in the ancient Americas. They wrote some of their history and a lot about Jesus Christ. Just like in the Bible, when we read the Book of Mormon we can learn lessons from people who lived before us and apply them to our own lives.
The Doctrine and Covenants is a book of revelations received by Joseph Smith for the present time. It applies directly to us today.
The reason why we believe it's scripture is because we believe that Joseph Smith was called to be a prophet by God and Jesus Christ. So, it's like in Biblical times. Moses was called to be a prophet, so we accept his writings as the word of God, Isaiah was called to be a prophet, so we accept his writings to be the word of God, etc. In just the same way we accept Joseph Smith's writings as the word of God because we believe that he was a prophet.

So, because I really believe in this I'm excited for the class and learning more about it.