I was just watching General Conference, where our Prophet and Apostles spoke to us for a couple days (live in Salt Lake and on TV elsewhere). It was wonderful, peaceful, inspiring, and insightful. It made me again disappointed with myself in that I have no problem telling a perfect stranger why I joined the church and what it means to me, but that I have a hard time telling old friends, family and loved ones about it. So it is time to publically say...
- I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior, that he lived a perfect life as an example to us and that he suffered and died for us voluntarily so that we may live eternally with him.
- I know that he organized the church on the earth, but that over time, the church changed (partly due to other people killing his apostles, etc) and the true church was no longer on the Earth.
- I know that Joseph Smith received a vision from Heavenly Father (God) and Jesus Christ, when he was looking for the right church to attend. They told him to attend none of them, and in time, revealed the true gospel, which is now known as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
- I know that the priesthood was restored to Joseph Smith through John the Baptist, and Peter, James and John from the New Testament times. Through that we now have present-day prophets, apostles and modern revelation, as occured through these apostles and Jesus Christ when they were on the earth.
- I married my sweet husband, Scott, in the Mesa LDS Temple (much to the disappointment of many of my non-LDS friends and relatives) because in temple weddings, we can be married for time and eternity by living virtuous principles and obeying the commandments.
- I know that I will live with Jesus Christ, Heavenly Father, my family, and many, many more wonderful people for eternity as I continue to strive to live the gospel more fully in my life.
I have been a member of the church for almost 6 years (May 3, 2003), and it has been the most joyful, peaceful time of my life. I am so happy to be a member of the church, because I receive GREAT blessings through my obedience to the commandments. And yes, I am including the blessings I received when I gave up coffee, tea, and alcohol. I can't imagine my life without the gospel. It would be dark and confusing. I would be happy to go into further detail with any of you, and if you would like to research this independently, I highly recommend http://www.mormon.org/ for more information. Thank you.
