I remember a time in my life where I found it very hard to keep the commandments. I had the desire to keep them but I still found it hard to and failed occasionally. While this was happening I read this scripture in Alma 37:33 that says:
“Teach them to withstand every temptation of the devil, with their faith on the Lord Jesus Christ”
    What I liked about this is that I learned the secret of how I could keep the commandments even though I faltered - it was through my faith.
    I wrote on top of that scripture:
“Have faith that YOU can keep the commandments”
    I had never thought about faith in that way. I knew that if I had faith I should keep the commandments but I never thought that I should have faith in myself to keep the commandments. The Lord promises that we won’t ever have a temptation more than we can handle. The Lord promises us that the Atonement can work in our lives. The Lord promises that we can have a change of heart. The Lord makes all of these promises that hinge on us keeping His commandments. If that is the case and the Lord keeps His promises how is it that I can’t keep the commandments.
    I noticed that afterwards when temptation would come instead of trying my hardest to avoid it I would think about this scripture and have faith that I can keep the commandments even though it is hard. It was this faith that helped me out a lot and helped me come closer to the Savior.
    I realized that faith is action. When I had faith that I could keep my commandments what started out as a thought turned into the action of keeping the commandments.
    Next time I am ever in a situation where I feel tempted to break the commandments I will think about how I can keep the commandments and because of this faith and the power of the Atonement I will be able to keep the commandments.

Moroni 7 starts with Moroni summarizing what his father Mormon wrote in the rest of the chapter. He stated simply that his father spoke about "faith, hope, and charity." This was a theme that I saw also in Moroni 8-9.


Mormon also speaks a lot about the sources of both good and evil. He gives a good analogy that "a bitter fountain cannot bring forth good water." Our outward actions of goodness can't mean anything if inwards we are not worthy. When we try to be perfected in him we need to focus on changing ourselves on the inside first because the result will be a change on the outside. 


If someone has a problem with pornography they need to focus on having pure thoughts. Just like the Doctrine and Covenants says, "Let virtue garnish thy thoughts."


If someone has a problem with Sabbath Day observance they need to focus on their love of God so that they outwardly express that love by keeping the Sabbath Day holy.


If someone breaks the Word of Wisdom they should focus on gaining a testimony that their body is a temple of God and needs to be respected.


Later on in the chapter (verse 37), Mormon talks about how miracles cease because of the lack of faith. I need many miracles in my life it seems and many times I feel like the Lord is not helping me out. Sometimes it might be because He is testing me but other times I feel like it is because I don't have enough faith in him. 


Also with faith comes hope. Hope comes to us "through the power of the atonement" so that we can "be raised unto life eternal." However all of this comes back to faith because hope comes through faith.


However if we have faith and hope but we don't have charity we are nothing. Charity is something that we need to pray for to get. It is actually something that we need to pray for with all the energy that we have.


These three things are the basics of the Gospel: Faith, Hope and Charity. Hope comes through faith and without charity we are nothing.


I feel like I need to ask myself everyday - What am I doing to develop these three?

Moroni 10 focuses a lot on faith and the power of God. In verse 7 I was able to learn how the two go together. It says that God works by power according to our faith. The power I need to overcome obstacles in life comes from the same faith that I have in the one who gives me power.


I feel like that anytime I am struggling in the Gospel or having a hard time living the standards of the Church I need to go back to square one - which is faith. I feel that as anyone develops and strengthens their faith they will then receive the power to do what they couldn't do before. Faith definitely procedes the miracle, but it also procedes following the commandments, prayer, worship, and repenting.


The last three verses in Moroni 10 are my favorite scriptures of all time. I have read them a lot of times and this time something stuck out to me. Moroni said in verse 32 - love God with all your might, mind, and strength. This is actually something that is mentioned a lot in the scriptures but this time what stuck out to me is the first part - love God. It reminded me of John 14:15, "If ye love me, keep my commandments." In my scriptures where it says "love God" I wrote "keep the commandments."Whenever I read this passage I think to my self I need to keep the commandments with all my might, mind, and strength.

1. How merciful the Lord has been with the Children of Men (aka me and you)
2. Every good gift cometh of Christ
3. The Lord is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow
4. If I die in my sins I cannot be saved in the Kingdom of God