Wax Strong

The scriptures are full of the term "wax". It can be used in a good way, as in Alma 17:2 speaking of a group of young men that "waxed strong in the knowledge of the truth".  It can also be used in a bad way, as in Alma 8:28, "the people did wax more gross in their iniquities." A good example of both is found in the Old Testament, 2 Samuel 3:1 "but David waxed stronger and stronger, and the house of Saul waxed weaker and weaker.".
I love the term "to wax". I think of Elementary School when we learned about the Pilgrims. For a fun activity our teacher had us dip candles. She handed us a long string and set us up in a line and had us dip that string in the wax and then go to the back of line. Eagerly we began and rushed up to make our first dip and then get back in line, visions of our very own hand made candle dancing in our minds. By the third dip we all began to realize that candles aren't made in seconds. Each dip added a nearly undetectable layer to our candle and soon I began to care less if my candle was too thin to even stand on its own; I was BORED. But, I reminded myself how much I would love to have my own candle and so, I continued to wait my turn in line over and over and over again.
And that is how it works in life. None of us become candles over night; it takes a lot of time and patience. Every action we take either adds a layer of good or bad wax to us. In many cases what may seem to be an overwhelming task is just a task meant to be done over time. When we look at the candle making process dip by dip it is far less overwhelming than thinking about trying to make it a candle all at once. Similarly, when we begin to slack off just a "dip" we know we must be careful where each dip might take us. The Book of Mormon tells us:
"Now ye may suppose that this is foolishness in me; but behold I say unto you, that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise. And the Lord God doth work by means to bring about his great and eternal purposes; and by very small means the Lord doth confound the wise and bringeth about the salvation of many souls."

-Alma 37:6-7

Mosiah tells us to "watch ourselves" that we "perish not" (Mosiah 4:30). It is the little things that matter-nothing is too little to make a big difference. As we watch each "dip" we make we will begin to see just how much the little things shape our lives-that it isn't "foolishness" to believe they do. We will also see that through very small steps God can help us achieve great things and to become great-nothing is too big for Him. Through Him and through careful diligence to His word, we can all "wax strong".

Invite Him In

I have been thinking a lot about trials lately and I read something in the Old Testament that stood out to me. It is the account of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego being thrown into King Nebuchadnezzar's furnace. Those three men refused to worship the King's golden idol, and were punished by being bound and cast into a furnace that had been made seven times hotter than normal. Amazingly they were not burnt at all. In fact, as Nebuchadnezzar looked in to see them he found that those three were not the only men in the furnace. He asked his servants what they saw, and this was their reply:

"...Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God." (Daniel 3:25).
As soon as the King saw this he commanded they be let out, and not only did he let them go, he promoted them in the "province of Babylon" and commanded that anyone that spoke against their God would be punished. (Daniel 3:26-30)

Often in our lives we may find ourselves thrust into the furnace of affliction. Sometimes, that furnace is way hotter than it should normally be. At these times in our lives we have a choice; let the fire burn or purify us. How do we decide? We choose whether or not we invite Christ into the fire with us. Without him our trials will make us bitter, depressed, angry, frustrated, and weakened. With him they will make us more patient, compassionate, aware of God, strong, grateful-the list goes on and on, and the thing is, it is our choice. If those men had gone into the furnace alone they would have been killed, and, interestingly enough, had they not gone in at all they would never have been promoted nor been able to have a whole nation view their testimonies through the experience. We are the same. We have the opportunity to be "cast" into furnaces. In those moments we are blessed with Christ's help to bless and purify our lives and character and to be able to share this testimony to anyone watching. Our fires can be a blessing to not only us, but to those around us-if we so choose. Robert Frost has told us to "take the path less traveled", but I would add that when we take that walk, it matters just as much who we invite to walk with us. I think Hymn 85 "How Firm a Foundation" sums it all up pretty well:

“When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie,
My grace, all-sufficient, shall be thy supply;
The flame shall not harm thee; I only design
Thy dross to consume and thy gold to refine."

I know if we take Christ with us, no fire can ever burn us up, it can only melt us down and make us something better. And not only that, a better sense of peace than you had before will enter your lives because of your trial. Like jumping into a pool after a long days work outside, our lives will seem sweeter and more fulfilling after our labor of soul.

Stones, Serpents, and Chocolate Cake

As a missionary there are often themes that occur every week. These themes range from good to bad to neutral. Whether its slammed doors, prophets, or pumpkin pie you can bet that pert near every week will have a common thread. One week in particular it happened to be a theme of chocolate cake. I for one have no complaints with that being the case because there is nothing I love more than chocolate cake. I especially love to eat it for breakfast. There is no better way to start your day than with two slices of moist, delicious, chocolate cake.
Well, to summarize what my first companion told other sisters about me, "I can put it away". I don't know what it is but some days I can just eat and eat and eat and my stomach just never seems to get full. One night after a good hard days work we sat down and ate one of the most delicious meals of my mission. I was starving and it was divine to be able to eat. Once I finished my first plate I noticed that no one else was taking seconds. I was still hungry but I didn't want to treat the nice dinner like the Golden Coral, especially if no one else was going to eat a second helping. Staring at all the food was maddening, but it was nothing compared to what came next. Desert came out and it was one of those nice big pans of boxed cake mix with chocolate frosting. We were each served a nice sized piece and I must admit I sort of zoned in on that piece of cake. Before I knew it my plate was clean and I looked up and saw that everyone else was just eating their second or third bite. Not only did I feel "piggish" as my great-grandmother would say, I now had a lot of free time to look over at the rest of the cake. I'll admit I may have offered up the desires of my heart (or stomach really) to my Heavenly Father "please let them offer to let us take some home, after all, its a big cake and there are only two of them". As soon as I finished I heard the member ask "Would you Sisters like to take some home? After all, it is a big cake, and there are only two of us". I was grinning ear to ear, but I told my self to wait three seconds to respond, after all, I didn't want my answer to be "YES I WOULD LOVE SOME!" I needed to calm down enough to say "yes please, thank you very much". But, alas, my pause cost me dearly for my companion piped in "no, we have plenty of sweets back home, but thank you for the offer". I was crushed.
The second we got out of there I told my companion, "never, ever, under any circumstance, no matter what we have at home, no matter how full we are, no matter who offers, just no matter what, never, ever, ever, turn down chocolate cake. Ever." Needless to say we laughed about it and moved on. But, the good part is, that the very next day we had another great dinner appointment. At the end the members announced that there was desert, and not just any desert, but a chocolate cake that was made from scratch from a recipe that she got from a bakery that paid 2000$ for it. She added that she purposely made tons extra and that we HAD to take some home with us. My prayer had been answered!
Often times we go through life thinking we need something, and that we need it now. I for one have often told Heavenly Father about what I think He needs to send my way. It is then that the Spirit nudges me to remember Matthew 7:7-11:

"Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?"
I know that because God is our loving Heavenly Father that He knows us far better than we know ourselves. He also loves us far more than to just hand over exactly what we think we need right when we ask for it. Here as earthly parents we strive to love our children enough not to give them exactly what they ask for every time they ask for something. We do this because we have a broader perspective then they do and we know what they actually need is far better than what they ask for sometimes. Heavenly Father works the same way. He has the big perspective and He knows that just around the corner is a homemade from scratch cake and that if I give up the box cake today, He can give me the homemade one tomorrow. He is a perfect father and He knows "how to give good gifts to his children" far better than we do. I know that because of this our prayers will never go unanswered, even if they are answered differently or later than we wanted. I also know that this is evidence that our Father loves us enough to answer our prayers perfectly rather than how we want them to be answered. Often times it means giving up the box cake, but this allows God to step in with the homemade one-we just have to be patient enough to receive it.
For my companion's version of this story click here
For my sister's thoughts on Matthew 7:7-11 click here