New Beginnings....

Start of a new year is coming up! Many people make new year's resolutions and give up on those a few months into the year... I have done that many times!!! Every year in fact and often several times in a year! But one thing a new year brings is the hope for a new beginning, starting with a clean slate. The past year of mistakes, regrets, failures, successes, and joys is now a thing of memory... It's time to start anew. So with the beginning of the year I have one goal and I challenge each of you to set a similar goal in your own personal lives... To come to know Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ more personally. And here is a four step plan on how to do this:
1. Believe that They exist and that They love me (Mosiah 4:9)
2. Study the Scriptures daily (John 20:31)
3. Pray to Heavenly Father in the name of Jesus Christ (James 1:5)
4. Obey all His commandments as best I can (John 14:21-23).
The difficult thing in this is how do I measure how much I know my Heavenly Father and my Savior? There isn't a scale to measure with... But I think the Savior has given us a measuring stick in the scriptures. John the beloved wrote: "Hereby we know the we know him, if we keep his commandments....He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked" (1 John 2:3,6). Again, the question remains... How do I know how I am doing? How do I know if I am humble, kind, merciful, happy, selfless, and becoming more like my Savior? One last key: James 1:5 (also listed above! How neat!) "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him." We can pray to know how we are doing and what we need to improve on. God will show us through the Holy Ghost (Moroni 10:5) how we are doing and where we can improve.
I promise that you will come to know Heavenly Father and His Son as you do those things listed above!
Have a happy and hope-filled new year!