Finding the Good...

Of course, I’m always more than willing to share my thoughts on the Gospel and the Church.  Let me just start off by saying that this Church has made me happy in every way—I’ve learned and experienced the greatest moments of my life through this Church, and I mean this sincerely.  There were slums in my life where I wasn’t willing to turn to the Lord and I wasn’t putting my focus on Him, or living the standards that this Church has outlined for me.  These times of my life made me unhappy and discouraged.  I was confused and didn’t find a purpose to my life.  

I’ve come back to the Church stronger than ever.  I’ve sat myself down and let the Lord come to me and speak to my heart…what you’re hearing in your heart is exactly what I heard in mine.  The Lord wants you and needs you—you’re a vital part of His plan.  The calling that you feel in your heart to investigate is Him seeking you out, because you’re going to play a magnificent role in either this life or the next one.  In that, I’m confident.  

About the Church… I love it.  I’ve already mentioned that it makes me extremely happy and this is true, but it is ultimately based on your own personal faith and desire.  I’ve come to points in my life where I have to hand myself over to the Lord and say, “I know that you will do this for me.”  I’ve experienced miracle upon miracle, and all of those things are blessings from my faith.  

One of the greatest things about the Church are the people—the teachers and leaders are completely forgiving and nonjudgmental.  Every week I feel the Spirit from their words.  I’ve developed everlasting friendships and bonds, I’ve used terrific resources to get jobs, my education has been supported and uplifted, and on the whole, I’ve never been alone.  In every situation, I’ve been able to find so much help from my Church friends and leaders.  They come at me with so much respect and willingness, that I do feel the Spirit with them.  I feel God’s love through other people—the Mormon Church is not just about people, and words, and laws, and commandments.  It’s about inspiration, emotion, and sharing this Gospel with other people, and knowing for ourselves if Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father are real.  I’ve learned how to develop a sincere relationship with them.  It’s incredible to see what I see.

Also, the Church makes sense.  We learn about how Heavenly Father created us and does want us to return, but there are many obstacles (trials) that we have to overcome to determine how willing we are to accept God and dedicate our lives to Him.  Not many other religions talk on God’s personal, individual love for us and how he really, truly wants us to come home to Him.  The Book of Mormon makes sense in relativity to God—many people believe Mormonism is anti-Christian, but one of the books that we put our course of study and base our lives from is all about how the work of God was fulfilled before He came to the earth.  It all makes sense—it all comes together so well!  

The Church is reasonable in this way too… it supports our real life on a whole, if that makes sense.  Heavenly Father wants us to dedicate our life to His gospel, but He wants us to live well in the world.  The Church  absolutely encourages education, marriage, careers, and activities.  I’ve been taught through the Spirit by my leaders and teachers to gain an education, because that’s important to the Lord, and the same goes for marriage and careers and doing sports and being a part of things.

However, it does take a lot of dedication, but if you have that desire to return to God and live forever, is it not worth it?  So far, I’ve “missed out” on drinking, and smoking, and premarital sex, and drugs, and cheating on tests, and swearing.  But by leaving those things out of my life, I’ve also “missed out” on being arrested, having lung and heart problems at a young age, getting STDs or teenage pregnancy, losing my life to drugs or being held prisoner by addiction, risk getting caught and losing my education, and potentially offending or making myself personally unhappy because of my language.  But you know why the Church is so great?  Because, unlike many other religions, they don’t immediately tell you that you’re going to be damned and put you through an entire public repentance system.  The Atonement, where Jesus Christ sacrificed himself for us, allows so that we might be able to live again, and repent of our sins personally.  Nobody has to know—it’s between you and God.  And that way of life is so much better than any other.  God forgives us, and loves us, and the ability to communicate through prayer and repent makes me feel so much better.  Mormon’s sin all the time.  I’ve cheated on tests before, and I’ve let a word or two slip, but does that mean that I’m a bad person?  No, because I’ve repented and turned myself over to the Lord.  And this is fully supported by the Church. Even heavy sins such as premarital sex and drug addictions can be turned over to your Bishop and through him, you can return to the Lord.  

I love this.  I love being a member of this Church—no matter how hard the temptation is, I can always close my eyes and turn myself over to the Lord.  He loves me, and I’ve felt that through this Gospel.  It’s truer than any other that I’ve heard, because I’ve felt it within my heart.  Sure, there are a lot of rumors and stereotypes regarding Mormonism, but if I know they’re not true, and God knows they’re not true, then there’s not need for me to fight against them.  I am confident in this Gospel—it’s a lighthouse in the midst of a storm.  Following all of the guidelines and rules has become my decision, and I’ve been in a place where those guidelines weren’t my first choice…it wasn’t good for me.  I wasn’t happy and I was in a potential danger zone almost every day.  After those experiences began to wear thin, I began to return to the Gospel and start doing little, good things to keep myself close to Him. Never, in my life, have I been happier and more confident.  With God on my side, I can do anything.

That is my testimony to you.  I hope this helps you in some way. The Church is a miracle itself, and every teaching is personal and influential and allows me to be more free than I ever have been.  Try going to www.lds.org, I think if you search things and look hard enough, you’ll find exactly what the Spirit guides you to.  Just have faith.

Good luck.