What To Do When Your Relationship With Jesus Is 'In The Toilet'

Today I had an interesting experience. I discovered that my relationship with Jesus was in the toilet.

Literally.

Yes... yes. That is a picture of Jesus coming out of the tomb, and it fell into the commode. Now before you condemn me for allowing that to happen, hear me out, it was an accident, but I thought I shouldn't let this opportunity to learn pass me by and go down the drain. Get it.. down the drain? Bathroom humor...

Here's how it all began. My afternoon went along smoothly. Had a great meeting in Cookeville with other missionaries, a delicious lunch consisting of meat and barbecue sauce, and a pleasant drive back to Tompkinsville. When I got home I went into the bathroom and decided to admire our new addition to our apartment. See below.

Isn't it beautiful?  It's only 2 dollars at Wal-Mart. What a steal! A house isn't a home in Kentucky until you have a UK toilet seat cover. And you can quote me on that. Well, as I had leaned over to admire this bathroom decoration I foolishly lifted up the toilet seat to try to wipe off some debris that had fallen on the cover. Soon I discovered two very minor but very important details. 1- Gravity is present everywhere on Earth, especially in bathrooms. 2- The shirt I was wearing had a pocket in it, in which I was storing some pictures of Jesus and other items. 

Any guesses what happened? No, a spider did not crawl out and make me scream like a girl and make me slip on wet tile and the pictures flew everywhere and one landed in the toilet. That hasn't happened since I was 6, give me a break already! Well, ok, I'll tell you what happened... Are you ready? Gravity was applied to all the contents of my shirt pocket and a plopping noise was soon heard coming from within the toilet bowl. I grimaced as I knew what had just happened without having to look. I quickly grabbed all the items out of the toilet bowl, except for that one picture of Jesus, and decided to grab my camera and seize the moment. I ran and put everything in front of one of the heaters in our apartment and they are drying at this very moment.
So... what does Elder Huffaker being a cluts have to do with anything spiritual? Good question... I'm still working on that, but let's see if this works for now:

I would like to compare myself, and all of us, to a man in the Book of Mormon by the name of Amulek. When Amulek first appears on the seen he gives a brief background of himself to the wicked people of Ammonihah. Amulek says:  I am "a man of no small reputation among all those who know me; yea, and behold, I have many kindreds and friends, and I have also acquired much riches by the hand of my industry. Nevertheless, after all this, I never have known much of the ways of the Lord, and his mysteries and marvelous power. I said I never had known much of these things; but behold, I mistake, for I have seen much of his mysteries and his marvelous power; yea, even in the preservation of the lives of this people. Nevertheless, I did harden my heart, for I was called many times and I would not hear; therefore I knew concerning these things, yet I would not know; therefore I went on rebelling against God, in the wickedness of my heart..." (Alma 10:4-6). He's sort of a big deal. People know him. (Anchorman anyone?)

My situation in the bathroom could be comparable to Amulek. I had become so distracted by the UK toilet seat cover, that I was ignorant of the things I was carrying in my pocket. Amulek had received and seen many things, even 'much mysteries and marvelous power' he tells us, and he was 'called many times' but would not hear. He was a man, like all of us, that was too distracted by the things of the world to give heed to the more important spiritual things in his life. The Lord reveals in modern-revelation to a prophet named Joseph Smith that "...there are many called, but few are chosen. And why are they not chosen? Because their hearts are set so much upon the things of this world, and aspire to the honors of men..." (Doctrine and Covenants 121:34-35).
What are the desires of our hearts? Do we desire to revel in our wealth, friendship, kinship, and the distractions of the world more than to serve God and to love Him and our fellow-man as we are commanded too? What if we are the Amuleks, or the card-into-toilet-dropping-Elder-Huffakers of this world and we want to change? Luckily for us, there is a happy ending for Amulek and there can be for us as well. As Amulek continues with his story he informs us how an angel appeared to him and told him to return to his home for he is to feed a prophet of God that has fasted many days because of the iniquity of the people. Amulek returns, meets Alma (the prophet the angel spoke of), his house is blessed, they study for many days together and then declare repentance unto the wicked people of Ammonihah. They contend with some lawyers, teach about Jesus Christ, are thrown into prison and beaten and starved for a while... you know, really minor day-to-day stuff that prophets and their companions do.... In the end though, the Lord delivers them from prison, the walls shake, collapse, and kill all the wicked men inside of them. Alma and Amulek come forth unharmed and continue to preach (see Alma chapters 10-15) . From what we hear of Amulek in the rest of the Book of Mormon he lives the rest of his life as one of the greatest missionaries in the Book of Mormon and a devoted follower of our Savior Jesus Christ.
How can we have such a change of heart and return to our Lord when we may feel we have dropped the ball and made our relationship with Jesus spiritually 'in the toilet'? Here's a few steps I would suggest:

1. Recognition- obviously you need to recognize there is a problem before you can change it. Recognition is the ignition that brings change to fruition. Catchy isn't it?  
2. Prayer - we need to in some way acknowledge to the Lord our desire to change and ask for His help and forgiveness.
3. Scripture Study - before Amulek went to preach to the people we read that he spent many days in preparation studying with Alma, this most likely included a lot of studying the scriptures.
4. Church Attendance - if we want to devote ourselves to the Lord one of the best places to begin is by showing our Savior our gratitude for the gift of His Atonement (His suffering for us in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the cross, His death, and His glorious resurrection). We show this gratitude by preparing ourselves to worthily partake of the sacrament in remembrance of Him.
5. Give Thanks - When we have strayed and are distracted by the world the Lord gives us this warning:
"And in nothing doth man offend God, or against none is his wrath kindled, save those who confess not his hand in all things, and obey not his commandments" (Doctrine and Covenants 59:21). Amulek even confessed that the Lord had bless him much in his life and had given him many opportunities, but he had refused to hearken to the Lord. Luckily he changed though. We all have so many blessings in our lives that the Lord has given us, some we easily recognize, but others we will find as we look. As we thank the Lord for what we have we will be prepared for Him to bless us even more.

Our Heavenly Father loves us as does His Son Jesus Christ. They want to bless us so much and to develop a loving relationship with us. They have extended the invitation and provided the way, and it is up to us to choose to leave our relationship in the toilet or to heed the call and 'clean up our act' (pun intended). 

Will you begin by looking for the many little blessings you have been given in your life?