To those of you who have ever wondered what I'm all about, this is it.
I belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and I am what is typically referred to as a "Mormon".
My whole life, my religion has been a subject of curiosity and opinion to those not of the same faith. I guess I am just writing this to simply tell you all what exactly it is I believe. No frills, no embellishment. Just the simple gospel truth.
I believe that we all lived before we were born onto this earth, in a time called the Pre-Existence. (Makes sense, right?) We all lived there as a spiritual family, with a perfect Heavenly Father who loves us. I believe that our Heavenly Father is more than just a spirit, but a real being, with a body. He created a plan for us to also receive bodies, and gain knowledge and experience so that we could be more like him. Perfect heavenly beings. He wanted us to live for eternity this way, in ultimate happiness.
In order for his plan to work, he needed us to have a leader who could show us the way, and be an example to follow. Lucifer volunteered first, saying that he would make sure that we would all make it back to our Heavenly Father's presence. No matter what. While that sounds well and good, Heavenly Father wanted us to have agency, or the ability to choose for ourselves. Without agency, we would never grow and learn through our experiences. It could not be forced upon us. So instead Jesus, another of our brothers, offered to lead the way, and do his best to show us how to live. Jesus was chosen, and Lucifer was obviously angry. He was cast out of heaven, and some of our brothers and sisters went with him. The rest of us stayed.
So basically, if you were born onto this earth, you stuck with our Heavenly Father. Congratulations!
Adam and Eve kicked us off in the good ol' Garden of Eden, and the games begun. We won some, and Satan won others. Finally, Jesus got his turn on earth to show us how it's done.
Jesus lived a perfect life. He founded his church based in the true gospel. He had 12 apostles, and there were prophets to help as well. Christ performed miracles beyond my understanding, and used the priesthood to work God's wonders.
When I use the word "priesthood", I am referring to the power of God. I'll explain more later.
None of the things Jesus did though, comes close to the greatest sacrifice he made. The night before he was taken to be crucified, Jesus went with his apostles to the Garden of Gethsemane. They waited outside, and he went in to pray.
Christ knelt by a tree and prayed to God, our father, to help him through what would be the greatest challenge.
Now, Heavenly Father is a perfect being. Do you think an imperfect being can live in his presence? Of course not. However, we are not even close to perfect. We all make mistakes all the time, so there had to be a way for us to repent and be rid of our sins. It was then decided that Jesus would be the one to suffer for all of our sins. He would take the pain and anguish and torment for every sin of every person that would ever live, in order for us to be made clean again.
So there, in Gethsemane, Christ suffered the pain of all mankind. The greatest pain, and most selfless sacrifice that would ever be. He atoned for us all. Which is why we call it the Atonement.
Because of my older brother, my Savior, I have been saved not in, but from my sins. If I ever stray, or make a mistake in my life, I know I can pray for forgiveness, do my part to repent, and Jesus's sacrifice makes it possible for me to wash my sins away. Forever.
And then, to top it all off, Jesus gave his LIFE.
John sums it up perfectly: "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." (John 15:13)
After Christ died, his church slowly disappeared from the earth. Many different sects borrowed bits and pieces from the original church of Christ, but it's entirety no longer existed.
Until in the 1820's, in New York State, a boy named Joseph Smith came along. Joseph was a sincere boy, always in search of truth. When he was 14 years old, a group of religious sects came to his area and began preaching in behalf of their various congregations. Joseph attended many of the churches, but did not know which to join, as he was confused as to what was true.
Then, one day he was reading in the book of James, chapter 1 verse 5, and it said, "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."
Well, that seemed fair enough to Joseph, so he went into the woods on a spring day, and decided to pray and ask God what church was the right one to join.
As Joseph prayed, a light began to grow, until it shone everywhere, and Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father appeared to him. They told him that he was to join none of the churches, for none of them had all of the necessary components of the true gospel. Joseph was then told that he was chosen to help them restore the church of God back on the earth.
Joseph spent his life in the service of God, doing his work. He was given the priesthood, and ordained apostles and leaders as well.
I'll take a moment to explain the priesthood. I recently heard it put very beautifully. The priesthood is the power of God, given to man to perform his work. A man with the priesthood is not granted power, per se. Imagine a man opening a window. He is not creating the light, or the warmth. He simply opened the window to allow the light in. That is how the priesthood works in God's church. He allows us to be the bearers of his gift, the we may allow the power of the priesthood to do good on earth.
Back to Joseph, he was also given gold plates with writing on them. A book. a book written by prophets that lived on the American continent in the same age as those in Jerusalem in which the bible takes place. With help from the priesthood, and spiritual inspiration, he translated them into what we now call the Book of Mormon. (Mormon is the name of one of the prophets in the book, now you know where our nickname comes from!)
Anyhow, I think the rest of the story is obvious. The gospel word spread, as did the members of the church. It grew and grew, and now, in 2013, there are thousands and thousands of members worldwide. We follow the same structure as the church Christ founded in his days on earth. We have apostles, and a beloved prophet, Thomas S. Monson, whom we love and revere. He is a mouthpiece of God.
In our church we also have temples, and in these temples we make promises to God, and receive blessings for those promises. One blessing is that of eternal families. I believe God wants me to be with my family forever. With my husband and children forever. NOT "'til death do us part", but beyond. So when I married the love of my life in the temple, we were sealed for time and all eternity together.
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| I got married here! |
I believe as long as I live the commandments God gave me, and live in a Christlike way, I will have my loved ones forever, and I will live in celestial glory with my Father in Heaven forever.
I know in my heart it is true.
I could expound more, and perhaps in later posts I will, but if you have more questions about me, my faith, or beliefs, you can also visit this website or this website.
