The Power of Porter

Doctrine and Covenants 4:7 Ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. Amen. We are all familiar with this concept taught in the scriptures. We sometimes mistakenly think this means that God will always give us the blessing or answer we are looking for. Let me share a story.  A good friend of mine told me that his little boy was awake in the night throwing up. He pleaded with God to just help him sleep through the night. God is so powerful, and this was such a small thing that would help his family so much in that moment. His child proceeded to throw up multiple times that night.  We all pray for things like this. Of course he loves his child and wants him to be healthy. So does God. So why did it feel like God didn’t answer his prayer?  A few scriptures to help D&C 88  63 Draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you; seek me diligently and ye shall find me; ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. 64 Whatsoever...

I was able to go up to the cabin for our family reunion as a missionary! I love Montana. I love my family. I am so grateful for the knowledge and testimonies of Christ and His church that we all share. We, as members of His true and living church, really are the luckiest people on Earth. Families are central to God’s plan. They can be rough sometimes, and no family is perfect, but that’s the way they are intended to be. We are given families to help us become more like Christ. He is the perfect example. Strive to emulate Him in all your interactions, but especially your family. Honor your parents. Love your siblings, in-laws, and all others as yourself. Charity is the key. Pray for it. God is listening.  

In a leadership meeting, a Sister shared her experience of transferring from a proselyting mission to a service mission. She was originally serving in California and was having an extremely hard time. She wanted to go home but felt like that would make her a failure. Returning home from a mission is a hard and scary thing. She was stressed, afraid, and unsure what to do. A general authority came to speak in her mission. He was informed that she was struggling and he wanted to meet with her. She told him what was going on. He kindly looked her in the eyes and as he spoke, it wasn’t his voice she heard. She felt as though God was speaking directly to her through this man. He told her it was okay for her to return home. She cried as she heard exactly what she needed to hear. from her Father in heaven. She no longer had fear or anxiety about going home. She knew God wouldn’t be disappointed and that everything would be okay. She now loves her service mission and has realized that this is e...

People tell me that they love my posts and look forward to them. This has made me feel the need to write something awesome every week, which has caused me to feel a little overwhelmed and is the reason I didn’t write one last week. From now on, I will not miss another week, and I apologize if you are disappointed, but I realized the point isn’t to wow everyone every week. So everyone lower your future expectations haha.   I have had an amazing couple of weeks. We spent the weekend of the fourth up at the cabin, and it was a blast. Literally. I had an amazing conversation with Mark Durham, who is a relative of mine. I don’t know very many people who are as close to the spirit as he is. He is color blind and has learned to mix colors and paint using only THE SPIRIT to guide him to the correct colors and mixtures. So amazing. He has served as a bishop, mission president, and is currently a patriarch. He was a successful businessman and has a strong faithful family. I hope I am just li...

Think about your personal prayers. Ask yourself these questions, and ponder the true answer. Am I being sufficiently sincere? Am I asking in faith? Do I have real intent? Am I truly communicating with Heavenly Father, or just going through the motions? Am I only praying and studying during rough times, or is it a regular part of my life? How do I make my prayers more meaningful? Please take time to think about all of these questions, and then please go study these talks.  From “Ask in Faith” By Elder Bednar “We can move beyond routine and “checklist” prayers and engage in meaningful prayer as we appropriately ask in faith and act, as we patiently persevere through the trial of our faith, and as we humbly acknowledge and accept “not my will, but Thine, be done.” 3 things:  First, ask in faith and act.  Elder Bednar says that he understands it as “the necessity to not only express but to do, the dual obligation to both plead and to perform, the requirement to communicate an...

We can all be superheroes. How? We learn in gospel principles that following baptism, each of us has hands laid on our heads to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. If we are faithful, we can have His influence continually with us. Through Him, each of us can be blessed with certain spiritual powers called gifts of the Spirit. These gifts are like superpowers, but we can only have them if we are faithful to Christ. The Lord has said: “For all have not every gift given unto them; for there are many gifts, and to every man is given a gift by the Spirit of God. To some is given one, and to some is given another, that all may be profited thereby” (D&C 46:11–12). To develop our gifts, we must find out which gifts we have. We do this by praying and fasting. Sometimes patriarchal blessings will help us know which gifts we have been given. We must be obedient and faithful to be given our gifts. We then should use these gifts to do the work of the Lord. They are not given to satisfy our curi...