Yep, Another Dog Story

Sister Weir again. And yes, you read the title correctly. This is another dog story. We were visiting a lady yesterday, and she has a cute pug. Her name is Sophie (the dog, not the woman). Sophie was really excited to see us, and she was jumping up and down, like a child on Christmas morning. I don't know if all pugs are like this, but she breathes heavily, and sometimes even snorts out snot. She was sitting on my companion's lap, and basically sneezed all over her. We were laughing hard about it, but at the same time, it was slightly gross. As I was trying to see how I can relate this to the gospel, I thought of how easy it is to spread germs when you sneeze. And then I thought how illnesses that are contagious are catched through sneezing and coughing. And then finally, I related to how knowledge of the gospel of Jesus Christ is contagious.

Once you feel the happiness that comes from knowing and living the gospel, you just can't help but want to share it. You want everyone to experience the peace and joy that you feel in being a part of it. And then when you "spread" it and your fellow brothers and sisters "catch" it, they can feel of the happiness it brings to their lives as well. Then, they want to share it. See, it's contagious.

Alma baptizing at the waters of Mormon

In the Book of Mormon, a great man named Alma, is preaching the gospel to the people in the land of Mormon. He's teaching them about the gospel of Jesus Christ. And he basically asks them if they are willing to bear one another's burdens, to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things and in all places, to keep God's commandments. Because that is what you are covenanting, or promising God as you are baptized. God promises us that we can have the Spirit. And this is what the people did and said after Alma has told them this..."And now when the people had heard these words, they clapped their hands for joy, and exclaimed: This is the desire of our hearts!" (Mosiah 18:7-11). I added the exclamation point at the end of that verse, because they were excited to be baptized. They were thrilled to be able to stand as a witness of God.

The gospel is exciting. It does bring joy, and it is the way to true eternal happiness. We can share it. We need to share it. Because God is our Heavenly Father, we are all brothers and sisters, and family is important. We want our family to be happy.

I know that Heavenly Father lives and He loves us and He wants us to be happy. Every single one of us.

Thanks for reading. Until next time...