To thrive in heaven

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I was supposed to go camping this weekend. My friends and I attended a concert at an outdoor venue on Friday and had intended to camp near a local reservoir so that we could enjoy some trout fishing come morning. We drove to the campsites near the reservoir only to find that they were all full. Of course they were; it's a holiday weekend. We ended up going home for the night.

Come morning, we decided to try again. This time, we went to a lake up in a different mountain range. When we arrived, we found a camp site a few miles from the lake. We set up camp and tried fishing in the river for a bit. We started the fire and were just beginning to enjoy the evening when one of my friends needed to leave; he had only come with the intention to stay for a little while since he had made plans with others for the evening.

I opted to go back into town with him even though I wanted so desperately to stay and camp. It was Saturday night, and I really wanted to be home so that I could go to church today.

It was a tough decision. I love church and never miss; however, I was seriously tempted to stay and miss this one time because I didn't want to miss out on time spent with my friends in the outdoors.

We are always blessed when we are obedient especially when it involves sacrifice. Sometimes we don't recognize our blessings right away, especially as we allow our minds to be crowded with thoughts of what we gave up.

Today, however, I was able to recognize immediately some of the blessings I gained by being obedient to the commandment to attend church and to honor the Sabbath Day. As I participated in my meetings today, I was flooded with increased understanding of my purpose here on earth and my spirit and convictions were strengthened. As a result of the discussion and scriptures used in Sunday School, my mind was filled with some of the most beautiful thoughts I have ever had. I had a clear understanding of something I had always recognized to be truth but previously couldn't explain why I knew it.

One of the realizations achieved happened after reading and pondering Hosea 6:6. "For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice: and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings." I realized that I attend church not because it is a requirement to get into heaven. Rather, I attend church hoping it will facilitate the change of heart necessary to thrive in heaven.

We are given commandments not as a checklist but to put us in the right mind frame or the conducive environment where growth can occur and knowledge can be gained. It is not the completion of a certain set of actions that will lead to our obtaining exaltation but the person we become as we sincerely participate in these actions.

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