Category: Faith

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Faith

Why are Latter-day Saints so eager to tell me about what they believe and to invite me to learn about their church?

We spent last weekend cuddled up in our Airstream listening to our church leaders and their inspirational messages centered around Jesus Christ. It is always a fulfilling weekend for us, leaving us spiritual uplifted with a renewed determination to be better and do better.

The last address, given Sunday afternoon, took me by surprise. Elder David A. Bednar (always one of my favorite speakers!) started his talk by saying, “My message is directed specifically to individuals who are not members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I will address a fundamental question many of you may have: ‘Why are Latter-day Saints so eager to tell me about what they believe and to invite me to learn about their church?'”

As far as I know, never has a leader of our church spoken so directly, clearly, and beautifully to members of other faiths. I invite you to listen to his answer here on the blog, and then if you are interested see the full text and video of his address on lds.org.

I specifically loved his heart-warming story about their two sons, a band aid, lots of ointment, and a desire to share as a “natural consequence of a most helpful and beneficial personal experience”.

He concludes with his personal testimony, which I absolutely echo and believe with my whole soul, “Absolute truth exists in a world that increasingly disdains and dismisses absolutes. In a future day, “every knee [shall] bow” and “every tongue [shall] confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:10–11). Jesus the Christ absolutely is the Only Begotten Son of the Eternal Father. As members of His Church, we witness He lives and His Church has been restored in its fulness in these latter days.”

As always, we welcome insightful, sincere questions about what we believe and why.

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Faith

How to be welcoming at church

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Full-time travel as an active Latter Day Saint family provides us with plenty of experience visiting new congregations. Each week, we walk into a new building, meet new people, and visit new classes. We’ve had all kinds of experiences and we’ve learned a few things about effective ways to welcome people into church. Some of our suggestions are specific to the LDS faith, but I’m sure this can be easily adapted to the particulars of any faith.

Say Hello

Introduce yourself. There are plenty of ways for this, and you’ll likely find ways that are comfortable for you. “Hi, my name is Sam. Are you visiting today?” “I’m not sure I recognize you. My name is Sam.”

Introducing yourself is particularly easy if you happen to find yourself sitting nearby.

It is a fairly common practice in Sunday School and in Priesthood and Relief Society meetings to welcome visitors and ask them to introduce themselves. When this happens, it becomes easier for other members in the meeting to strike up a conversation. Leaders, please don’t forget this. If you’ve been talking to a visitor and are sitting by them, you might find it easy to introduce them to the rest of the group.

During the last 6 months or so, it has become a common practice for the Full-time Missionaries to greet new folks at the door of the chapel just prior to Sacrament Meeting. In one case, we even found ourselves being greeted by the Bishop as we entered the chapel. In these situations, I feel comfortable and at ease.

Guide Them

Visitors are not going to know where different meetings are held. This can be particularly confusing on 5th Sundays or other days with an irregular meeting schedule. Pointing out the location of Sunday School can take the worry away, and even encourage them to stay if they were unsure. If they have kids, point out the direction of the primary room. If you can, walk with them and show them the way.

Visitors unfamiliar with the meeting structure might not even know there are other meetings. Offering to help and guide can help them feel accepted. In one ward, a mother with kids approached after Sacrament Meeting, and asked if they could show the kids where the primary room was.

One time that is frequently forgotten is the transition to Priesthood and Relief Society after Sunday School and after Priesthood opening exercises. Often the next meeting is in the same room, but it helps to know. If you see someone new, or if a visitor is introduced, guide them to the next room after the meeting.

Invite Them

If you are aware of any activities in the following week, invite the visitors to attend. Even if they are traveling, they may still be in town. Even if they can’t attend, they will appreciate the invite. We’ve been invited to after church ‘linger longer’ meals, BBQs, and even service projects. Firesides are another great activity. If they have kids, they may also be interested in youth activities during the week.

You’ll notice that all of these points involve being brave and opening your mouth. It isn’t as difficult as you think, and the benefit you can bring to someone else’s life can be profound. As active members, we don’t depend on the welcome-ness of people at church to keep us coming back. For visitors of other faiths, recently moved-in families, or others returning to church after time away, a welcoming environment can be very encouraging and helpful.

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Faith

Come Listen to a Prophet’s Voice

General Conference

If you’ve been following us for awhile, you’ve probably worked out that we are Mormons, or more properly, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. If you haven’t worked that out yet, Hello! When we talk with others about religion, questions often arise about the difference between what we believe and what mainstream Christianity believes. Before I start, you can be assured that we believe in Jesus Christ as our Savior, and rely upon his mercy and grace. Though there are significant differences between what we believe and mainstream Christianity, EVERY difference can be attributed back to one basic difference: We believe that God has called prophets on the earth today, in the same way that he called Moses and Noah (and others) in the past.

We believe that God has a prophet on the earth today, teaching us with the same power, authority, and urgency as Moses. What would a prophet of God tell us today, to guide us in our lives? Twice a year, our church holds a worldwide conference, where we all tune in to listen to our Prophet, Thomas S. Monson, and other leaders speak to us. Oct 4-5, 2014 is our next conference.

Because the Internet is awesome, you can watch the entire conference online live (go here), or video archives later. The entire conference consists of 6 sessions: Two on Saturday, two on Sunday, a special session held for Women and Girls, and a special session held for Men and Boys. (The session for Women and Girls actually happened yesterday, and is already viewable online!)

If you pick one session to watch, choose 10AM Mountain Time, Sunday Morning, October 4th 2014 . The music during that session is always The Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and our Prophet will speak then as well. This meeting is the largest meeting we hold as a church, and a great way to sneak a peek into what we believe and the instruction we are given.

It is interesting to note that not all instruction given by a Prophet of God is dramatic. The instruction we need is rarely something like Leave Egypt! or I’m going to build a boat! but instead reminders of instruction already given, and small but important ways for us to follow the Gospel of Christ. In the most recent instruction from our Prophet, he cautioned us to be careful with our finances and debts. What will he tell us this general conference? Tune in and find out!

Also know that we are more than willing to talk about religion and what we believe. If you have questions something you hear in the conference, or about anything really, reach out to us and we’d be happy to talk either publicly or privately. We will answer ANY question, as long as it is sincere. We love discussions, but find arguments to be unpleasant and non-productive.

We are excited for this opportunity t0 listen to our leaders! Although we are unsure of exactly where exactly we will be, we will definitely be making it a priority to listen!

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Faith

20 Seconds of Insane Courage

In the movie, “I Bought a Zoo,” Benjamin Mee buys a zoo after his wife dies leaving him with 2 young children to raise. The movie is great (except for the swearing – ouch!) but what really touched me was a conversation Ben has with his son, Dylan about courage. “You know,” Ben says,  “Sometimes all you need is 20 seconds of insane courage. Just, literally, 20 seconds of just embarrassing bravery. And I promise you, something great will come of it.”

While applicable to many situations in life, there was one parallel I drew today as I was sitting in Sunday School listening to the lesson about Elisha the prophet, and Naaman the Syrian soldier.

Let me interject here really quick that the great thing about our church is that the lessons are coordinated world-wide. What we are studying in California is the same exact lesson the saints in Cambodia are also learning. The occasional downside is that someone gets off their schedule and we get a repeat lesson. This happened today and at first I was not excited, but decided I’d try and pay attention and learn something new, or look at the story in a different way.

As the teacher shared the video I’ve posted below, one thing in particular stuck out to me:  the incredible bravery of the young maid who spoke up. She was alone in a country that wasn’t hers, serving a people with different beliefs, and probably fairly disheartened. When she heard her master and his wife struggling with the leprosy Naaman had, she had the 20 seconds of insane courage to speak up. She said, “Would God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! for he would recover him of his leprosy.” Not “might” recover him, or “maybe he can help you” but simple faith that simply the prophet can heal. 

The blessings that came from that 20 seconds of her insane courage are expressed in 2 Kings 5:15 where Naaman says, “Behold, now I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel.”  What do you want to bet he told everyone when he got back home that there was a prophet in Israel?

Sometimes sharing my beliefs is terrifying. Sometimes I don’t feel like I can speak up, but even if my words, ideas or beliefs only turn someone’s heart towards the direction of God maybe that is enough.

 

 

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Faith

A Lighter Load

Our house is emptying out. As I look around at bare walls, empty nails, and general less-ness, instead of feeling sorrow, I feel relief. I feel freedom. I feel my burden and load getting lighter. When I have a house full of things, I have to take care of those things, store those things, and that takes time away from other activities that potentially are more important. I’ve felt the burden of material possessions more than ever as we returned from spending 6 months on the road living a much simpler life. Turns out there’s a lot I don’t really need.

Much like ridding ourselves of excess material goods lightens our responsibilities and frees us from distraction, our Savior, Jesus Christ, can lighten our spiritual loads and free us from the heavy burden of sin.

In the most recent General Conference, Elder David A. Bednar gave an address titled “Bear Up Their Burdens with Ease”. He related a story of a friend who acquired a 4- wheel drive truck, and drove out into a forest to cut and haul a supply of firewood for the house. He ventured too far into the drifts and got stuck. Undeterred, he cut and chopped firewood, loaded the back of the truck and then proceeded to try again to get out of the snow. This time he was able to. The additional load of firewood in the truck gave him the traction he needed to get out of the trouble he was in.

Elder Bednar continues, “Each of us also carries a load. Our individual load is comprised of demands and opportunities, obligations and privileges, afflictions and blessings, and options and constraints. Two guiding questions can be helpful as we periodically and prayerfully assess our load: ‘Is the load I am carrying producing the spiritual traction that will enable me to press forward with faith in Christ on the strait and narrow path and avoid getting stuck? Is the load I am carrying creating sufficient spiritual traction so I ultimately can return home to Heavenly Father?’

“Sometimes we mistakenly may believe that happiness is the absence of a load. But bearing a load is a necessary and essential part of the plan of happiness. Because our individual load needs to generate spiritual traction, we should be careful to not haul around in our lives so many nice but unnecessary things that we are distracted and diverted from the things that truly matter most” (emphasis added).

I believe that while  a figurative load is necessary in order to shape and turn me into the person God intends, too much of a load is unnecessary and can hamper that process. Living a life on the road is not an escape from responsibility, obligations, constraints, and demands on our time. Rather it is being more selective and deliberate about those burdens we choose to carry and freeing ourselves from the unnecessary and nice so we can concentrate on our family relationships.