Bam! Who is this fine fellow you might be asking yourself? Well, this my good man, is Joseph Smith Junior. What is so important about this snazzy dresser? Well, you see, this man was the first Prophet of our Dispensation of time! Woozah! Let me explain why that is so important. You see, there was a certain pattern established throughout the ages. Our Heavenly Father would call a Prophet, someone who was placed here on the Earth to reveal the fullness of the Gospel so that God's children could be truly and fully happy! Yup! How awesome is that! Adam was one such Prophet, Noah was a Prophet, and Moses was a Prophet. However, sooner or later the people of the time would decide that it would be much more fun to be wicked and not care about what is considered morally right and be more concerned about the matters of the world. As they began to enter this condition, which is called Apostasy, they would just ignore the prophet or cast him out from their presence, but sooner or later it would get so bad that they would outright kill the prophet! How terrible! When they would kill the last prophet of the dispensation, or he got out of their presence, Father would take away the authority that was given to them away from the world. This Authority is called the Priesthood; which is the Authority to act in God's name, using His Power to perform Miracles on His behalf. Don't worry, we will come back to this authority right here quick and in a jiffy!   
                              
                                       Dear Six Pound, 7 Ounce Baby Jesus

That right there is the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ was born at the end of one of those periods of time called Apostasy. He came forth to take all of our sins upon Himself so that we would be able to return after this life to live with Him and Heavenly Father and be able to have one heck of an eternal family reunion! How awesome is that! Through Jesus Christ's suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane, and having been raised upon the cross, He has made it able for us to return with Him! Talk about the most charitable act of Mankind! Luckily for us, before He was killed and risen upon the cross, Jesus Christ gave this certain twelve men, the Twelve Apostles, the Priesthood Authority! See, I told you we'd come back to that sooner or later!

As it says in Luke, chapter 9, verse 1:  Then he called his twelve disciples together, and gave them power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases.

So Jesus Christ laid his hands upon these fine men and gave them the authority to act in His name; how awesome is that! He gave these men this authority because even Jesus couldn't be in more than one place at a time, so these fellas needed to be able to go out and do miracles in His name. Plus, Jesus knew that he wouldn't be around for a very long time but the authority and the ability to act in His name.  So, we have this 12 apostles going around and performing miracles in His name, doing great deeds, we should be set for life, right?


Sadly, not so! The Twelve Apostles were around for a little while, but the wickedness of the world prevailed. You see, after Christ was risen upon the cross the Jewish rulers did not wait long before they began to persecute the Apostles for preaching in Jesus Christ's name. The Jewish nation, and the Roman Empire, caused for the Twelve Apostles to be killed off which thus caused for the authority to be taken away from the world yet again. However, this time, the authority was going to be lost for a long time. Due to the people of the time having assumed that all the answers were given from Heaven, that the gates were closed and all the knowledge was known; nobody was asking questions any more.

The First Vision! Best Event in 1820.

 

      Nobody was asking Heavenly Father any questions, people were asking amongst themselves and of their churches and their pastors. One day in 1820, a fourteen year old boy was confused about which church he should join; he wanted to know which was the true church to get his salvation in order. He read a verse in the Holy Bible, James 1:5. 

   

 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.

After reading the scripture, he decided to go and ask God himself as James advised. He went to a section in the woods and asked of Heavenly Father which church was true. He recorded just an utterly miraculous event, Father and Jesus Christ appeared to him and told him that he should not join any church, that they were all wrong because they had drawn their hearts away from Jesus Christ. God the Father and Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith to call him as a prophet and to restore his original church back to the world. 

What an awesome message! The true church that Christ established in His mortal ministry has been brought back to the World and has given us the chance to hear His full Gospel again! Woo! 

Being the all-knowing God that He is, He gave Joseph Smith convincing evidence of his divine call of prophet-hood. That convincing evidence is the Book of Mormon.

                       

An angel, named Moroni, appeared to Joseph Smith and directed him to a hidden, sacred record of the ancient American inhabitants, the principal ancestors of the American Indian. This record contained God's dealings with this ancient Americans. Joseph Smith translated the records through the power of God so that the full Gospel would be able to be restored to the Earth; and along with that Gospel came the authority!

                              

Bam! The authority was restored to the Earth, allowing for us to enjoy the Miracles being worked through Jesus Christ's name.


Now I know that this was a lot to read, but the message of the Restoration of the Gospel is one of exceedingly importance to me. If it wasn't for this miraculous event to have occurred, I would not be able to enjoy the full happiness that I've been able to feel within my heart. I know that Joseph Smith was called to be a true prophet from our loving and caring Heavenly Father; I know that the Book of Mormon is true holy scripture that is comparable to the Holy Bible, but does not replace it. I know that this is the True Church, and I know that if you pick up a copy of the Book of Mormon and read a little bit; even if it's just the introduction, and ask God if it is true scripture inspired of God; that He will give you an answer that will change your life. And I leave you this in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Hurricane Barcala's Beginnings of Awesomness.

       Hello Everyone, I am Elder Barcala, A.K.A Hurricane Barcala, a nickname given to me by a friend back home shortly before I left on my mission! You might find yourself wondering just who I am, or why you should bother reading my blogs of awesomness. Well to start off; I am a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints; a church which I joined nearly three years ago! It has been an interesting experience to say the least, but one that I have loved every single minute thus far. I'm going to break this post up into a few different part; to start with my introduction to the wonderful Church!

Now you may be wondering who this terryifing fellow is; well may I introduce you to the 'Destroying Angel of Mormonism' A.K.A Orrin Porter Rockwell. The reason I have this lovely Wanted Poster as part of my beginnings is because a good friend of mine, Peter Ferrin, loaned me a book about this wonderful role model of a man. You see, I was riding a bus for several hours a day, and Peter being a fine man to work with, saw that I was in need of something to do. So, he would loan me books and I devoured them, and he eventually told me about a guy named Rockwell; and I asked so what? What's so impressive about Rockwell? And he quickly replied well, you see Porter is a member of the Church ( I was not yet) and he once had enough guns to fire 86 times without reloding. So, being way into guns, I quickly agreed and I read the biography within a week. After reading through it, and learning a bit of the Church's history, I would talk with Peter a little bit here and there and he eventually extended the invitation to meet with the missionaries. I agreed, but only on the condition that he would provide a home-cooked dinner since he would always brag about how good of a cook he was. I met with the missionaries, a couple of fine young chaps like myself, and we talked for a little bit and I decided to ask them for a copy of the Book of Mormon, so I could read it myself! 

Halllejuah!!

            Enter the Book of Mormon, a record of Ancient Scripture comparable to the Holy Bible. I took a bad boy like this home and I took the promise contained in Moroni 10: 3 - 5 up.

3 Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how ^amerciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ^bponder it in your ^chearts.

4 And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ^aask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not ^btrue; and if ye shall ask with a ^csincere heart, with ^dreal intent, having ^efaith in Christ, he will ^fmanifest the ^gtruth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.

5 And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may ^aknow the ^btruth of all things.

 

You see, that right there is a promise from our Loving Heavenly Father, one issued through his Prophet, Moroni (A man who was an utter champ, the last of his country)

                                   This is Moroni by the way.

So, I took up Moroni on his promise and read a little bit from the Book of Mormon and got on my knees and prayed to my Heavenly Father and asked for His Guidance, if this was the church that I needed to join, if it was the true church for me. I did not recieve any bright light, any revelation that night, so I retired to bed and decided to sleep on the prayer. When I awoke in the morning, I was filled with Joy, I had felt like our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ had come down and given me a big hug. So I told my friend Peter and my missionaries that I was ready to be Baptized, and a month later on July 2nd, 2011 I was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The next day, I was confirmed by Peter and was officially a member of the Church.

Where am I now? Well, I am rocking a White Shirt, a Tie and a Black Name Tag that says Elder for this awesome Church and helping those searching for the Gospel just like I was so short ago. I can promise anyone who comes across this blog that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the True Church here on Earth. I can testify that God the Father Loves us, that Jesus Christ has taken all of our sins upon us to allow us to return to our Heavenly Father's presence after this life is over. I can testify with all my heart that Joseph Smith was a true prophet of God and that the Book of Mormon is true holy scripture. I can promise all of you, if you take up Moroni's promise, you will have an answer just as I did! I leave this with you in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. Stay tuned for further tidal-waves!!