Reflections On Being Mormon
This
post is not meant to be “preachy.” In fact, that is the last thing I want it to
be. Instead, I hope this post will be mainly two things: 1) informative, and 2)
an invitation to anyone who wants to learn more. I’m a Mormon, and Mormons
believe in sharing their religion with others. If you haven’t already noticed,
Mormons are always sending missionaries all over the world, posting videos
affectionately called Mormon Messages, and inviting their loved ones to listen
to what we believe. Sharing my beliefs with others is not just a gospel duty,
though; it’s something I sincerely want to do. But as a member of the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I face the sometimes-daunting task of
sharing something I believe with all the conviction of my soul—without being
preachy. This post is an attempt to do that.
My
belief in and devotion to my religion runs so deep that I put off school,
dating, and everything else for two years to teach people in Japan about Jesus
Christ. There were many days spent on the streets and doorsteps of Japan
sharing my faith in Christ with complete strangers. You would think that after
an experience like that, any hesitancy to share my beliefs would be long gone,
but it’s not. I still get nervous to invite people, especially friends and
family, to learn about my Church. In my mind, it seems absurd that I would feel
that way. I mean, it’s not that I don’t
believe what I am offering to others. But the nervousness doesn’t stem from
doubt about what I am sharing; it stems from feeling inadequate in my ability
to share it the right way.
So
what makes it sometimes difficult to share my religion in the right way? Mormons
believe that their church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is
the only true church upon the face of the earth. We not only believe that to be
true, we say that we “know” it. I know how that may come across to certain
people reading this post, but before you peg me as a zealot and exit out of my
blog, I hope you’ll give me a chance to explain. There’s a genuine motivation
and feeling behind writing something so brash on a subject as sensitive as
religion.
I
hope this post can embody the sensitivity that religion deserves and express my
beliefs in the right way. What is the right way to share it? I think it’s
unequivocal but respectful, bold but not overbearing. Charles Malik described
it well when he defined a great leader as being “polite” but “never toning down
the truth just to please others.” But still, with a claim like being the only
true church upon the face of the earth, you can probably see why a Mormon who
has family and friends not of his faith might worry about coming across as
arrogant, fanatical, or extreme. This is especially true when I know those
family members and friends to have exemplary families, generous hearts, and
genuine faith in God. That is why I need to be clear that my belief that there
is only one true church (Ephesians 4:5) does not equate to a belief that all
other churches and religions are bad or insignificant. Quite to the contrary, I
have heart-felt respect for other religions and Christian sects and believe in
the good they both teach and perform.
In
fact, it is not a matter of good or bad, right or wrong. For me, it is a matter
of complete or incomplete. My membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints has helped me “come to the knowledge of [my] Redeemer and the
very points of his doctrine, that [I] may know how to come unto him” (1 Nephi
15:14). The more I experience the completeness of Christ’s doctrine, as
contained in His church, the more I experience the incredible love and care He
has for me; the more complete I feel as a human being. So what are some of the
doctrines that allow me to feel that way? That’s what I really want to share
with you.
God has revealed His plan for us, giving us
perspective and purpose.
Those
that know me well know that I despise doing things without knowing why I am doing them. I can’t imagine
trying to go through life without knowing the real reason for why we are even
here, why we are even alive. But within the teachings of The Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints, I find divine knowledge about the plan for our
lives, including where we were before we were born, why we are here on Earth,
and where we will go once we die. I love having this knowledge! It allows me to
know what it takes to be truly successful—not in terms of salary figures or
fame but in terms of peace and performing God’s will. It helps me know what
really matters and what is not really worth my time. It gives me hope by
telling me what I need to do when I feel like my choices have set me on an
unwanted course. It allows me to avoid getting stuck in life and continually
progress. It helps me feel complete.
God speaks to us today through living
prophets.
Another
way my beliefs help me find success is through living prophets—people who
commune with God and have divine authority to teach His words (Amos 3:7;
Hebrews 5:4). At my age, I am trying to make a lot of important decisions in my
life: What should I study? What career should I pursue? How am I going to make
a real difference in the world? Who do I want to go through life with? Once I
find someone I love, how will I build a happy and successful family with that
person? With how many decisions I have to make and how complex the world has
become, it is hard to always know what will keep me on a path to happiness and
peace. But this is exactly why God has given us prophets along with the plan
for our lives—as the world gets more and more confusing, prophets tell us what
we need to do to stay close to God and remain on the path of joy. The prophet
today is a man named Thomas S. Monson. With him, there is a quorum of twelve
Apostles that guide the Church, just like when Christ was on the earth. Even in
the toughest circumstances and decisions I’ve had to face in my life so far, I
have found tremendous happiness as I’ve followed the counsel of these servants
of God. In an increasingly fragmented world, the direction I receive from
prophets today helps me maintain my feeling of completeness.
The prophet, Thomas S. Monson (center) and his two counselors, who are apostles of Jesus Christ
God has given
these prophets divine power to seal our families together forever, come what
may.
Ever
since I was a little boy, I’ve dreamed of having my own happy family. Because
of that, I’ve been preparing all my life to be a faithful husband and a loving
father. Out of all the things I want to accomplish and become in my life, being
a husband and father reigns supreme. However, as much as this dream is an
important motivator for me, it also constitutes the grounds for one of my
greatest fears: losing those I love to death. The worst part about this fear is
that it is inevitable. Everyone dies. But that’s exactly why I love being a
Mormon. The divine authority living prophets in the LDS church hold is also the
authority of God to seal things on earth and in heaven (Matthew 16:19). When
two people are married, or “sealed,” by this authority, their relationship is
bound in a way where even death itself cannot destroy it. Where man’s authority
can only pronounce us man and wife “till death do us part,” God’s authority can
bind us not just for time but also for eternity. That means that my family will
be mine and I will be theirs, not only until death but even after we die. In
every sense, we will have become an eternal family, never to be separated
because of the authoritative sealing upon our relationships.
That
tastes good to me. It’s consistent with how powerfully we love each other. I
don’t think I could whole-heartedly believe in a religion or a God that doesn’t
teach that I could be with those I love beyond death, for my love itself seems
to imply it. Because of the authority given to prophets in this Church, I know
that we don’t come to earth and spend our lives loving those closest to us only
to have them stripped away from us when we die. This knowledge, while
possessing no guarantee that death will not come to my family, does give me sufficient hope and courage
to love deeply; it gives me courage to love completely.
These
doctrines may be unfamiliar to you. They may be something you already believe.
Whatever the case may be, I know that they are true. I have asked God in prayer
if these things are true and He has given me a personal witness that they are.
Everything good we desire as human beings and as children of God can be found
in Christ’s restored church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The peace, hope, forgiveness, and love I have received from knowing the “very
points” of Christ’s doctrine has allowed me to come to know my Savior in
powerful, intimate ways. It has allowed me to feel truly complete. That is why
I’m a Mormon. That is why I want to share what I believe with those I love. I
apologize if I shared anything I believe in a way that was offensive to you.
That was not my intent. I must admit that even after spending hours working on
writing this post, I still feel it impossible to adequately express things
rooted so deeply in my heart. Thank you, however, for allowing me to try. If
you have questions or are interested in learning more about what I believe, I
hope you will reach out to me. You can also check out mormon.org, if you’d
like.
Also, here’s a great talk from one of our church leaders
to people not of our faith: https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2014/10/come-and-see?lang=eng
