DAKS

First snow fall in Utah

2010-11-21T12:06:00.000-07:00

Freedom

Enjoying each others company

2010-08-29T22:45:00.000-06:00

Indian Flag

My visit to India was fabulous. I enjoyed every bit of my stay in India. It was good to see all my friends and meet new people . I traveled to Bangalore, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad and Coimbatore while I was in India. I came across people from different back grounds, loving people sincere and genuine in their words. I call that as my sweet homeland. I was able to eat all varieties of food which I liked and that can be seen the way I look now. I traveled to Hyderabad so I can have Hyderabadi briayni which has a very unique taste and it is my favorite. I went to Kolkata and went to church in Kolkata, conducted a fireside which had 27 people for the first time according to the branch president. In the fireside we watched “Finding faith in Christ” a movie made by “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints” which shows the life and sacrifice done by Jesus Christ for us so we can return back and live with our Heavenly Father. I am so grateful to Jesus Christ that He died for me so I can return back and live with my Heavenly Father. Met all my friends in Bangalore which was awesome, everyday in Bangalore went very fast. I visited and stayed with my awesome parents for few days. Every city I visited was going through intense infrastructure change which was awesome. Below are some pictures of my visit.

Paradise Briyani

Idli & Sambar

Candy

Gygaya Candy

Two best people in Hyderabad

Candy

Thevin Kannan Dance

Alma's cafe

Elder Bruce R. McConkie Final Talk

2010-08-15T19:10:00.000-06:00

Forgiveness: My Burden Was Made Light

2010-08-15T19:00:00.000-06:00

Forgiveness: My Burden Was Made Light

My BEACON

2008-12-07T14:47:00.007-07:00

IN THE DARKNESS OF THE NIGHT,
I FELT THE CHILLNESS IN MY HEART,
I FELT, LONELINESS OF THE BREEZE,
MY THOUGHTS WERE LIKE THE WAVES OF THE SEA.

IN A DISTANT I SAW THE BEACON,
STANDING LIKE ME, BUT WITH FAITH
TO SHOW LIGHT TO THE TROUBLED SAILORS
HOW HAPPY HE WAS – THOUGH LONELY

IN THE LIGHT OF BEACON, I SAW LIFE OF CHRIST
STOOD AS AN EXAMPLE FOR MANKIND
TO SHOW LOVE EQUALLY TO EVERYONE
HOW HAPPY HE WAS THOUGH LONELY ON THE CROSS

-Daks.

General Conference Oct-2008

2008-10-11T19:45:00.028-06:00

The October Conference was very spiritual and great. The talks were great and it is a warning voice from The Prophets, Apostles, General Authorities and General Presidencies from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. If all the talks are put to gather it would sense like “wear your armor, gird up your loins, prepare all you can, stay away from evil and get ready for the worst”.
It was a wonderful sight to see saints from all over the world come to the conference which proves the prophesy of Isaiah "And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem."
The General Conference was interpretted in 84 languages and almost every nation saw the conference. We are close to the prophesy which is mentioned in Doctrine and Covenants "And this gospel shall be preached unto every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people."
I am grateful to be part of this great and marvellous work. I am a living example of this prophesy…I love this gospel. I know that this Gospel is true, I know that The Book of Mormon is true, I know that Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God and he saw The Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ, I do know that Jesus Christ died for our sins, I know Prophet Monson is leading us in these days. I know The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the only true and living church on this earth.

Few Pictures from this conference...

The Protestors aggressively tried as usual to distract all the LDS members going to the conference...

Our members walked in reverence and didn't pay attention to the protestors. They are the living examples of the Gospel.

The men walking for the Priesthood Session...

The Saints after the conference....

-Daks. :-)

Proselyting in Bangalore

2008-09-15T10:30:00.000-06:00

A week ago in Bangalore, India on a Sunday evening two missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints were beaten by a mob of 20 Hindu radicals and the mob handed the two missionaries to police stating that they were bribing the Hindu’s in that area to join the church. The Hindu radicals dislike conversion to Christianity so they stop the missionaries who are involved in this process. They try to launch false complaints, ill treat or beat the missionaries. They disturb churches and threaten the people to stop preaching and stop converting. This has become very common now days. If we look it from a wide spectrum there is a shadow support from the current state government.
The mob outside the police station started to increase and they demanded for s very severe action against the missionaries. The news spread and LDS members came to know about it within minutes. Few Young Men and the Branch President went to the police station to see if they can relieve the missionaries from the custody but the mob attacked the members even before they can enter the police station. These young men and branch president went for their home teaching so they were still in the priesthood attire. It was easy for the mob to recognize that they were from the same church. Mob did hand over the rescuers to the police station stating that they are also part of the group.
By this time the District Presidency and his councilmen arrived in the scene. They were very badly treated by the mob. The following video is about them; the video was recorded from a TV channel and sent by a friend of mine from Bangalore, India
There are two members in this video who are being ill treated by the mob. Since the video is in regional language I tried to translate as much as I can, in the beginning of the video a Hindu radical says "they asked me if I have 5 minutes to talk for which I agreed, once they started talking they said they will provide money and whatever my need might be they can fulfill on the condition that I should be baptized in their congregation"

Anyhow after couple of hours the members were released from custody but they arrested the missionaries who were released after two days. It’s sad that a fast developing country like India has radical groups which do not allow people to practice freedom of religion.

The Temple of The LORD

2008-08-16T00:55:00.001-06:00

I have been asked many times by my Parents, Friends and my sister the meaning of The Temple. Why The Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints talk about Temple. My parents, few of my friends and my sister are not member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I have always thought how best I can explain them.

Temple has been important in all dispensations and this dispensation is not an exception. We can see lots of references in the Scriptures about the Temple. 2 Chr2:1 is just a reference to show how important the Old Testament people thought about it. The legacy of building and maintaining the Temple continued in all the dispensations. Temple played a very great role in the Old Testament from a very early age. Tabernacle which was built by Moses and his people as its stated in Exodus 25 is a typical example of how important Temple was at a very early age in the church.
In the Temple as I word it, all the Personal and Ancestral saving ordinances are done. Temple is the House of The Lord. If we like to know about a person we learn about them and try to visit them more. It’s Our Heavenly Father whom we are trying to know more about and come closer to Him, one way to do that would be to visit His House which would be The Temple.
Church is a place where any member of the church or non-members can visit and learn. The Temple is a place where worthy members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints who keep and follow the commandments of the Lord are allowed. Temple is a place where the Lord dwells. It is His house.
The ordinances which are done in Temple cannot be done anywhere else. All The Temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints does carry the words “HOLINESS to the LORD” and “The HOUSE of the LORD”. The purpose of the Temple was revealed to Prophet Joseph Smith at a very early stage of the church and the saints in the early age struggled to build a Temple due to the economic and other persecutions which they faced from other communities. Building more Temples by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is one of the key substances which vividly prove that the church is built upon by revelation and Jesus Christ is the chief corner stone. Temple is a holy place to worship and make covenants with God. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is building Temples all over the world to make Temple blessings available for all Heavenly Father's children. In http://www.lds.org/ website a small definition has been given for the Temples “Temples are places of learning. Their principal purpose is to provide ordinances necessary for the children of God to enable them to return to dwell with Him. Temple ordinances lead to the greatest blessings available through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Everything in the Church—the meetings and activities, the missionary efforts, the lessons taught and the hymns—all lead to the work done in holy temples.” In the Temple personal endowment is done which in other words would be to make personal commitment to The Lord. It’s an important ordinance which has to be done to live with our Heavenly Father.
Celestial marriages are done in the Temple. Usually in the wedding its said death will part the couple but we (The members of LDS Church) proclaim to the world that if a couple is married and sealed in the Temple of the Lord the marriage will be celestial as long as they live worthily. Death doesn’t part the couple but they will remain and continue to grow in The Heavenly Fathers kingdom after they pass from this life.

Baptisms for the dead are done in the Temples. There are many in the human population who are good and who haven’t had the opportunity to know about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They who have passed away will have an opportunity to learn about Jesus Christ after their death. The scripture in the New Testament 1 peter4:6 “For for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.” And in the same 1peter in chapter 3 18-19 says “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison”

Since the gospel is preached to them they have to be baptized The Lord did substitute a plan for them means someone else will be baptized in their behalf in The Temple. 1 CORINTHIANS 15:29 says “Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why are they then baptized for the dead?”

Once a person is baptized they are given the gift of the Holy Ghost. All the saving ordinances which are done for a living person is also done for the dead.

The parents and children are sealed in the Temple so as to fulfill the words of Malachi 4:5-6 “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful eday of the Lord: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.” This sealing power is given from on high. The parents and children are sealed for time and eternity. As it says in the scriptures whatever is sealed on earth will be sealed in Heaven. If we are sealed to our parents and children and if we live worthy of the gospel every day The Lord will bless us to be together forever when we return back to Him by His atoning power. I know that these things are true.

President Gordon.B.Hinckley (July 1997) said "Attend the Temple -...We will be a better people, we will be better fathers and husbands, we will be better wives and mothers. I make you a promise that if you will go to the House of The Lord, you will be blessed, life will be better for you"

The Latter Day Saints generally attend Temple regularly. Elder Vaughn J. Featherstone mentioned that "I promise you that all who faithfully attend to Temple work will be blessed beyond measure. Your families will draw closer to the Lord, unseen angels will watch over your loved ones when Satanic forces tempt them, the veil will be thing and great spiritual experiences will distill upon this people" I am grateful to be a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and to know the sacredness of attensing the Temple. I know that the purpose of the Temple is true.

-Daks...

JESUS THE CHRIST

2007-09-20T15:20:00.000-06:00

Amidst the darkness A Light was born,
A Light that illuminate minds from fallacy,
A Light that lights heart with happiness,
A Light -leading everyone to eternal life.

Born by THE Divine Power,
Born in a humble manger,
Born to take away sorrows,
Born to take away infirmities.

THE SON OF THE HIGHEST
THE LORD OF THE LORDS
THE KING OF KINGS
JESUS CHRIST - THE ONLY BEGOTTEN

Who was from the Beginning,
who is Alpha and Omega,
Who is without Blemish,
Whose Kingdom has no end.

HE was adored & also was hated by many,
HE came to do the will of Heavenly Father,
HE is The example of meekness and obedience,
HE SPILIT HIS precious blood for you and me.

The Creator of this universe,
The Carpenter of my heart,
The Mediator between life and eternity,
The Offering for our sins.

His message to the world is simple & important,
Love God and Love your Neighbor,
The Creator and rescuer of my life,
JESUS THE CHRIST-THE SAVIOR

- Daks

Holy Ghost

2007-06-19T20:17:00.000-06:00

Darkness prevailed all around me,

And I heard a low shrill voice,

The voice said – Pray,

Thought have done that before.

Thinking how to overcome darkness,

Laid I, not knowing what to do,

Confused, exhausted and mystified,

My heart burdened with pain.

Heard the voice again,it pierced my heart,
Peace swept through me suddenly,

The voice said listen to the promptings,

Listened, darkness dissipated from my mind.

The voice was of the Holy Ghost,

Baffled by my problems, was confused before.

Heeding to the promptings was wise.

Wisdom - is not to question inspiration.

Christ suffered more than anyone could,

Understood, Heavenly Father is supreme.

He is the author and finisher of me,

And I am a CHILD of GOD.-Daks