MYFAITH

I’m a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and there is no thing, person, goal, or ideal that is more dear to me than my faith. I believe in a loving God, who is the literal Father of our spirits. I believe that his Son, Jesus Christ, was a joint-creator in our Father’s plan for us, and oversaw the creation of the world. I believe that he later lived a sinless, divine life as a mortal, culminating in the Atonement: his suffering for our sins and sorrows in the garden of Gethsemane, his voluntary death on the cross, and his literal resurrection three days later, counting days by the Jewish system. I believe without the Atonement of Christ, all people would be lost to the two great barriers separating us from God: sin and death. I believe that families can be together forever, bound as husband, wife, and child through the course of time and throughout all eternity.

I believe that God has called prophets at various times throughout Earth’s history, and that these prophets have lead with priesthood authority as the mouth-pieces of God. I believe that at other times, in his wisdom, God has held back the fullness of the gospel in periods called apostasies. I believe those who went (and those who still go) without the opportunity to receive the fulness of the gospel can still be redeemed through Christ, if they choose his path in the worlds to come. I do not believe any person is unjustly or unmercifully condemned. I believe the Bible was the perfect word of God when its various parts were written, but that it has been twisted over time, in parts, by wicked or ignorant men.

I believe that in 1805, God the Father and his resurrected, perfected Son, Jesus Christ appeared to a 14-year-old boy named Joseph Smith, ending the long apostasy that had lasted since the death of Christ’s apostles. I believe that Joseph Smith was called of God to translate from plates of gold The Book of Mormon, a book of scripture untainted by time (because it was hidden from men) that recounts God’s dealings with a small percentage of the Native Peoples of the American Continent. Every page of this book witnesses that Jesus is the Christ, the one and only path to salvation from sin and redemption form death. I believe that Joseph, though he was imperfect like any human being other than the Savior, became the Lord’s prophet in these, the last days, and that since that time there have been prophets guided by God, holding the authority and priesthood of God, leading His church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, even down to our current time and current prophet. I believe all this was and is a manifestation of God’s love for us.

I don’t know everything. I don’t know how it can be that there was an Adam and Eve and such concrete evidence of Man’s evolution from lower forms dating back long before 6,000 years ago. I accept them both as parts of a larger truth that will someday be revealed. I don’t know why Joseph Smith made such serious mistakes, or why he sometimes did things that are despicable by the standards of our society. I don’t know why some church leaders have said horrible things about minorities or claimed obscure, bizarre doctrines. I don’t know why sometimes in church history it seems that men were leading, and not God. These moments are regrettable, by a tiny chunk of a much bigger picture, a much more compelling history of charity, faith, foresight, perseverance, joy, and service that is the tradition of the Mormon people. I don’t know why there is not yet (and perhaps will never be) sufficient archeological evidence to back up the claims of the Book of Mormon. It is not a science that must be proved with physical evidence before belief is justified. These things are and must be matter of faith. If they could be proved so easily, there would be no room for spiritual growth.

But don’t think that means there is no evidence. The evidence that this church is God’s church, and that this work is his work, is in the sublime, wordless feelings I get as I pray and read the book of Mormon and the Holy Bible. The evidence is in the incredible joy I reap along with the sorrows of life. The evidence is in transformed lives, answered prayers, and blessings upon blessings upon blessings. The answer is in the regret and sadness that has always come to me when I have strayed from the teachings of our modern prophets and from the feelings that God has given to my spirit, heart, and mind. I don’t know why others in other faiths feel as strongly about theirs as I do about mine, and I see the contradiction there. I can only do my best, following the dictates of my spirit and conscience. I do believe that anything that leads a man or woman closer to the true and living God is of God, regardless of its origin. 

I bare my witness to the world that I know—as far as anyone can be said to know anything—that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the kingdom of God on the earth, that Jesus is the long-promised Messiah and the only road to everlasting redemption and joy, that The Book of Mormon is the word of God along side the Holy Bible.

The answer you seek are out there. The longing of your soul cannot be filled with money or pleasure or success, but it can be filled.

Please reach out to me if you have any questions.