Earlier this week I was impressed with something to write about. I didn't have the time at that very minute and when I did have the time, many of those pressing thoughts had left my mind. This morning, I woke at about 3:00 a.m. and couldn't go back to sleep, so what did I do.....grabbed my phone, of course, and scrolled through Facebook. It was filled with the usual, but I also came across some disheartening posts and updates from LDS sites that caused some emotional upheaval. The thoughts I had earlier in the week started to come back to me as I tried to process what I was reading through the Facebook links. As those thoughts came back into my mind I felt stronger than ever about sharing them.
I want to tell you all why I am a Mormon. What does that have to do with the emotional Facebook posts, you ask. Bare with me here, I hope to explain it all.
So why am I a Mormon? Or by its official name, why am I a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints? The short and most basic answer to that is... because my parents were and I was baptized at the age of 8. At least that's how it all started for me. That was the beginning. But in reality, it started much earlier than that. My ancestors joined the LDS church in the 1840s. That ancestry is filled with faith, strength, passion for truth and right, sacrifice, and the list goes on and on. I grew up on a family farm with my grandparents living just behind our house and I witnessed first hand how they lived the gospel of Jesus Christ. That example still sticks with me today and influences my life and my choices. As I grew up hearing their stories of faith, something inside of me just "knew" there was truth to what they did and why they did it. I grew up knowing and understanding their reasons and driving force. I believe I was simply blessed with the ability to see and understand truth. I have come to realize that as a true blessing, maybe even a gift, as it doesn't come as easily for others.
Now let me go to the real beginning. I'm going to tell you things that Mormons believe, but in doing so, I am telling you what I believe. I am not just a Mormon by name, or by religious affiliation, I am a Mormon inside and out. It's what I am made up of.
We lived in a pre-mortal world as spirit children of a loving Heavenly Father before we were born. Have you ever held a new born baby and looked into their eyes. I'm guessing you have. So that little spirit was in this pre-mortal world not long before that birth took place. In this pre-mortal world, our Heavenly Father told us of a plan. He would create an earth where we could gain bodies, experience things we couldn't experience in the world and in the state we were currently in. We would learn new thing, gain strength and knowledge and when our earth life was over, our spirits would return to that Heavenly realm, with the possibility to live with our Heavenly Father again. Have you ever wondered where you came from? I mean really came from. Why are you here on this earth? Where are you going after you die? These are not mysteries to me. The answers are absolute.
We believe in a savior, Jesus Christ. He was there with us in the pre-mortal world. He presented a plan to come to this earth with a most specific mission. Lucifer was there in the pre-existence too. He also presented a plan, one where he would eliminate all choice and we would follow all our Heavenly Fathers commandments without fail and all would return to live with Heavenly Father again. Forced...with out option to even think for ourselves. He would take all the credit and glory for all of our success in returning. Christ's plan was that we would be able to make choices for ourselves. Learn from our choices, the good ones and the bad ones. Knowing we would make bad choices along the way and even sin, He would come to this earth and atone for our sins and imperfections. The atonement is a complex subject, but in simple terms, if we recognize our sins or imperfections and have a sincere desire to improve or change bad behavior, we can be made perfect because Jesus Christ already suffered or atoned for those sins. I didn't say we are perfect, but we can become perfect and it is a life long process that won't be achieved until we are finished with this mortal life. We believe that our Heavenly Father chose Christ's plan, but there were many who wanted to follow Lucifer. They (Lucifer and his followers) were cast out of Heaven and would not have the opportunity to be born and gain bodies. We believe that Lucifer and his followers, in their anger, are now actively working to keep those that are born to this earth from returning to live with Heavenly Father again. I believe that all to be true. I've never doubted. Evil exists in this world. It is evident all around us. It affects all of us in some way or another. But I also believe in good. The mercy offered to us all through Jesus Christ is what makes this earth life so worth while. Jeffrey R Holland stated, "However many chances you think you have missed, however many mistakes you feel you have made … , I testify that you have not traveled beyond the reach of divine love. It is not possible for you to sink lower than the infinite light of Christ’s Atonement shines.”
I believe we have been given prophets, even from the beginning of time with Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, etc. Prophets that gave us direct council from God to help us along the way. To help us stay clear of that evil or to help us get back on the right path when that evil has effected our lives. We believe that Jesus Christ was born in the meridian of time to fulfill the law of Moses. That his ultimate sacrifice was necessary to the whole plan. We believe that after his death and after the death of his apostles, the direct revelation from Heavenly Father to His prophets was lost. The dark ages is a period in history when revelation was gone. It is prophesied in the Bible as a great apostasy. We believe in the Bible. It is filled with great truths and teachings and recordings of God's dealings with man in the eastern world, not to mention a record of Christ's life and teachings. But we also believe that God has placed prophets in other parts of the world. He communicated with the western world too. Those records are found in the Book of Mormon, which is a sacred history of people on the American continent, both before Christ and after Christ. It is a second testament of Jesus Christ as the prophets prophesied of his birth, his life, his mission. It records how He, Jesus Christ, came to these people after he died and was resurrected. He spent time with them teaching the same things He taught in Jerusalem. I believe all of this to be true.
We believe that after a long apostasy with no communication from God to his prophets, a young boy was being prepared to fulfill his mission on this earth. Yes, Joseph Smith was young. At the age of 14 he questioned all the religions being taught. Some taught very conflicting doctrine. He had the insight to know they couldn't all be true doctrine. He had enough goodness in his heart to want to know for himself which church he should join. He read in 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." He believed with all his heart his prayer would be answered. He went into a private grove of trees and asked his sincere question of which church he should join. As I said, he was being prepared for his specific mission on this earth, therefore, his prayer was answered in a most miraculous way. God, our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ appeared to him. He was told none of the churches had the complete and true doctrine at that time. That ended the great apostasy. God was again communicating with man and a prophet was being prepared. We believe that over the next several years, Joseph grew in knowledge and spiritual strength. He was lead to the plates that had the history of those people on the American continent. We believe that through divine inspiration, Joseph, of little formal education, was able to translate those records into the Book of Mormon. Through divine inspiration and prophesy, he was able to restore the church that Jesus Christ organized when He was on the earth, both in Jerusalem and on the American continent. You see, when the great apostasy occurred and revelation was lost, that perfect church fell apart. There were many bits and pieces of it around, but no revelation to hold it together and continue. As many good and honest people searched for goodness in the world, they sought after religion and found some of those bits and pieces. Religious groups were formed and given names in this effort to find goodness. We believe that all religions have good and many of those bits and pieces of Christ's church exist in all of them. But we also believe that the whole doctrine was lacking, until it was restored in it's fullness by Jesus Christ himself, through a latter day prophet, Joseph Smith. We believe prophets have continued from that day to this very day. We are promised that revelation will not be taken from the earth again. We believe we have a prophet today, Russell M. Nelson, who recently followed Thomas S. Monson after President Monson's death. President Nelson presides as president of a world wide church. We believe and sustain other prophets as they are called to the Quorum of the Twelve, just as Jesus had twelve apostles. Jeffrey R. Holland, mentioned above as the author of a quote, is one of those 12 men. These men lead our church and give us council directly from our Heavenly Father. I know these things to be true. We have a world wide conference twice a year and with the marvel of technology, it can be heard, viewed, read, all over the world. All (Mormons and non Mormons alike) are invited to watch or listen. One of those conferences is occurring this weekend (March 31, 2018 and April 1, 2018). There are 3 sessions on Saturday and 2 on Sunday and can be viewed live on www.lds.org or viewed at a later date on the same website. We Mormons love this conference time and love and look forward to listening to these prophets of God.
There are so many things I could continue writing. Perhaps I should save some of that for a later post. But I do want to add.....yes, there is controversy in the church, as there is opposition in all things. As I said, evil does exist and we believe that. Paul prophesied of many horrible things that would take place before Christ returns. So why should these things be surprising? There are things I don't know and can't answer, but I don't let the things that I don't know interfere with the things that I do know. One of my blog posts expresses how I feel about being a woman in the LDS church. That topic carries controversy in a world where people want to disregard true doctrine for changing times and opinions. True doctrine doesn't change and I for one am not the least bit threatened by that. In fact, it gives me great comfort. As for the things I read this morning on the links, well perhaps you've read those things too. As I said earlier, evil does exist and it can and will effect all of us. People are not perfect and this church is made up of millions of imperfect people, some with little imperfections and some with big sins. But the doctrine is true and perfect. It is Christ's doctrine. I know this to be true.
I love being a Mormon. I love the peace and comfort it gives me in my life. My membership doesn't give me that peace and comfort, as there are many with that same membership who lack that comfort. But what does give me peace is knowing that I am trying my best and that I'm not alone. I have guidance through ancient prophets in the Bible and in the Book of Mormon. I have guidance through latter day prophets in our conferences and other sources. I have a loving Heavenly Father who does not leave me to fend for myself. I have a loving and merciful Savior, Jesus Christ, who not only helps me on my life long quest for perfection, but can heal wounds inflicted in this imperfect world filled with imperfect people. I love this life, in all it's imperfections, because the good far outweighs the bad. I know this all to be true.
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