April 27, 2015

Dear Family and Friends, 

Well I am glad that I didn't complain too much about our snow storm here, because you got it way worse. Haha I am sorry to hear about that! Every time it snows here though I get to shovel like seven or so walks to do service for others so yeah I enjoy that.

So this week I studied a bit on Manna and Bread, and am making connections between several scriptural references to the Bread of life, even Jesus Christ. 

We first read of the account in Exodus of the children of Israel who were two million strong, who stood in great need of sustenance. They then came across this unknown substance in the desert. They called it manna because that translated means "what is it" for they knew not what it was. There is no explanation as to the natural product of this heaven sent food; nothing known to man can answer the requirements of this strange food. 

The children of Israel were commanded to gather enough for themselves, taking no more than needed, and those that took never lacked and never gained more than necessary. They had to gather it early, for if they didn't, worms would grow from it and it would stink, and if left in the hot sun, would melt. However on the day before the sabbath, they were to prepare their meals and gather twice as much manna for the proceeding day, and sure enough it was blessed because they were keeping the commandments of the Lord; it did not breed worms or stink after they left it out over the day before sabbath. 

The manna was used by God to teach lessons for spiritual instruction as well as physical sustenance. Israel was told that with the failure of other food (‘suffered thee to hunger’), His provision of manna was to ‘make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live’ [Deuteronomy 8:3,16]. God used the provision of manna on six days and not the seventh to teach Israel obedience, and convicted them of disobedience [see Exodus 16:19,20, 25–30]. Jesus Christ uses the manna, God-given ‘bread from heaven’, as a type of Himself, the true bread of life, and contrasts the shadow with the substance: ‘your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead’ [John 6:49], but He could say, ‘I am the bread of life … which came down from heaven; if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever’ [John 6:35, 51; 26–59].

Paul’s statement in 1 Corinthians 10:1–4 makes clear what the Lord was seeking to teach Israel regarding Christ when He provided both manna and water for them. Elder Bruce R. McConkie’s commentary on Paul’s statement is very enlightening:

“Christ is the bread which came down from heaven, the Bread of Life, the spiritual manna, of which men must eat to gain salvation. (John 6:31–58.) He is the spiritual drink, the living water, the water of life, which if men drink they shall never thirst more. (John 4:6–15.)”

The “hidden manna” mentioned by John in Revelation 2:17 was explained by Elder McConkie as being “the bread of life, the good word of God, the doctrines of Him who is the Bread of Life--all of which is hidden from the carnal mind. Those who eat thereof shall never hunger more; eternal life is their eventual inheritance.” (Doctrinal New Testament Commentary, 3:451.)

The prophet Nephi tell us how we can sustain our soul through the "bread of life" and connects that spiritual and physical hunger we must have concerning the importance of modern day revelation and scripture both ancient and modern:

3 Angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, they speak the words of Christ. Wherefore, I said unto you, feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do. (2 Nephi 32)

Angels declare to us through the veil and by the power of the Holy Ghost as to the truth of these things we read in the scriptures, which are the words of Christ. We must feast, or consume plentifully, of the scriptures and receive guidance as to all things we should do, such as seeking eternal life through the Great Mediator, Jesus Christ and obtaining Christ–like attributes. 

As we learn from the experience of the Israelites, we too must see ourselves as spiritually and physically in need of our Fathers divine help, however we must work now while it is day, because the night cometh where no man can work (John 9:4)(Alma 34:33). We cannot let the graciously given bread go to waste because we would not rise to the call of the prophet.

We must "work out [our] salvation with fear before God" (Alma 34:37). Yes "...It is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do" (2 Nephi 25:23). Christ expects us to work! Even from the beginning of mankind, we see that Adam and Eve worked physically for their supplication and sustenance. The Lord told them that "in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat thy bread," (Genesis 3:19) stating the physical and spiritual work we must do to become reconciled to Christ through the Atonement. We must work for our salvation; we must work now and not procrastinate! 

We must be humble enough to abide by his commandments and laws, and by and by, we shall inherit eternal life in His presence; a blessing which even the most imaginable of us could not even begin to fathom. 

We partake of bread every week in remembrance of our Lord and Savior, specifically to His sacrifice of the Atonement. We know that bread to be our spiritual life–blood, and the constant reminder of the covenants we made before God, angels and His representatives. We also are reminded by the sacramental bread of the resurrection of our bodies and spirits, wherein we will lifted up to meet our Heavenly Father again."And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life" (John 3:14-15). The Israelites were shown and reminded of that sacrifice we remember today by the ordinance or sacrament when they looked to that ensign Moses held up for their healing and remembrance of whom hey must look towards to live.

"The ordinance of the sacrament has been called “one of the most holy and sacred ordinances in the Church.” It needs to become more holy and sacred to each of us. Jesus Christ Himself instituted the ordinance to remind us what He did to redeem us and to teach us how we may avail ourselves of His Redemption and thereby live with God again."

"With torn and broken bread, we signify that we remember the physical body of Jesus Christ--a body that was buffeted with pains, afflictions, and temptations of every kind, a body that bore a burden of anguish sufficient to bleed at every pore, a body whose flesh was torn and whose heart was broken in crucifixion. We signify our belief that while that same body was laid to rest in death, it was raised again to life from the grave, never again to know disease, decay, or death. And in taking the bread to ourselves, we acknowledge that, like Christ’s mortal body, our bodies will be released from the bonds of death, rise triumphantly from the grave, and be restored to our eternal spirits."

"With a small cup of water, we signify that we remember the blood Jesus spilled and the spiritual suffering He endured for all mankind. We remember the agony that caused great drops of blood to fall in Gethsemane. We remember the bruising and scourging He endured at the hands of His captors. We remember the blood He spilled from His hands, feet, and side while at Calvary. And we remember His personal reflection on His suffering: “How sore you know not, how exquisite you know not, yea, how hard to bear you know not.” In taking the water to ourselves, we acknowledge that His blood and suffering atoned for our sins and that He will remit our sins as we embrace and accept the principles and ordinances of His gospel." ("The Sacrament and the Atonement" - Elder James J. Hamula, Oct. 2014 General Conference)

Now with the Children of Israel, Christ's example, and how we remember Him in our sacraments we offer every week, keep in mind those thoughts as you read the following scripture where Christ proclaims His divinity in being the author of our salvation.

51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.

52 The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat?

53 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.

54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.

55 For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.

56 He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.

57 As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.

58 This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever. (John 6)

I know Christ lives. I know that He was foreordained to be our Savior and has done everything for us to return to our Father in Heaven and be perfected in Him. I know we must work while we are here in these wonderful bodies we've been given to learn how to live in Heaven again. I know that as we look to Christ in everything we do, in the good and the bad, we will be raised up to suffer our trials and afflictions with patience with a firm and steadfast hope of eternal life to come as we obey His commandments and fulfill our spiritual reservoirs by reading the scriptures and listening to the prophet. 

I hope ya'll have a great week and look for the miracles that are woven into our everyday by our Loving Heavenly Father!

Love Elder Patterson 

Raining and the sprinklers are on... that is kind of funny! :)

There is so much construction and landscaping happening in our area and I am so excited to get back into these machines when I get home!