Perth, Australia Temple
The last couple of weeks at church, we have talked about how declaring our testimony, or beliefs, of the gospel can help bring others unto Christ, which is what our church aims to do.
Of course many of us are afraid to share our testimony to people who are not members of the church, in case we scare people away, or offend them in some way.
But I am going to take this chance here, to say I wish everyone could learn about our church and become members! So I will share my testimony with you:
I believe in Christ, and I believe in the Bible. I know that The Apostles whom lived on the earth in Jesus' time, eventually died and the priesthood was lost to the world. But in 1820, a 14 year old boy,
called Joseph Smith, was trying to find out which church to join, so he prayed in the woods,
and was visited by God and Jesus Christ,
and told to not join any of the churches,
and told to not join any of the churches,
but to restore the priesthood to the earth and call this church
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
Joseph Smith was lead to a site, by the angel Moroni, where ancient scripts were buried, and he was able to translate them into modern English.
These scripts told of those men before the coming of Christ that prophesised about his coming, and tried to establish the church throughout the world. The translation of these ancient scripts are now what are known as the Book of Mormon, which was finally published in 1830, ten years after Joseph Smith's first vision.
There are so many wonderful lessons in the Book of Mormon, that remind us to be good and kind, and to not let pride build us up and take over our lives. The stories and messages are so good you can read them again and again and again! Pick a question you have about your life, and you can open to a page and will find the answer to your question! This is not magic, it is simply good sense and God's love.
Joseph Smith
If you, like Joseph Smith, are searching for happiness, for a way to turn over a new leaf, and start afresh, this is the way of getting there. Some missionaries once said to me, " So how is your life going, do you think you could come to church?" At the time I answered " No, my life is good and everything is fine, " to which one of the missionaries then asked:
"But could your life be better? "
Undeniably it could, it can always be better, and the things we learn at church help us to become better people when we are reminded of what God would have us do.
Could your life be better?
Don't be afraid to find out what our church can offer you.
without even entering it's door. But it is a very nice feeling to do that too!
Love and prayers to you for your spiritual journey!
xx
This is an interesting post. I understand what you mean about being worried about offending people when talking about church. I consider myself a spiritual person, though probably not spiritual enough. However, having had some bad experiences with churches and church people, I have a resistance to organized religion. It's a whole philosophy thing and has more to do with what people have done in the name of religion than religion itself. Or rather belief, itself.
ReplyDeleteWithout getting into all my issues against this (people who use their religious learnings to bomb abortion clinics, other churches, and a slew of things...) I wish that people would be more open to just allowing each other's beliefs to stand without the violence and that sort of thing.
You're right - everyone's life could at any time be better. I remind myself of certain things when ever I start to feel underprivilidged - like I have the joy of life, grandchildren's love, nature, etc.
So I respect you reaching out to others, and wish you could do so without the fear of offending.
I have other questions also - regarding Joseph and the modern day Latter Day Saints - as in Utah and how they've broken away from the multiple marriagees that they used to allow, and other things...like coffee, soda, etc. And how similar many of the religions are.
What was the concern about "modern" religions? Now they would be old fashioned, but I wonder what the concerns were and how the stand is on gay marriages, etc. If you're not offended by any of my questions, I just would like to get info - though I am not planning on converting - just would like to learn a bit more about some of the relgions without the rabid input that sometimes passes for gospel. Are you willing to dialogue back and forth on this privately?
Oh, Mardel, you are so sweet to reply to my post! Thank you for helping me feel it was okay to post my religious beliefs in a public forum.:)
DeleteI would definitely like to talk to you further about these things, even if it is just to clarify how our beliefs came about etc. I think your questions will help me get an idea of what I can talk about in these posts; what the public would like to know about "the Mormons" in a 'safe' place.
Thanks again, and I'll catch up with you soon by email. :)
Just reading this post now. I love learning about others (I did not know you were a Mormon) and have always loved learning about religions other than my own (Judaism). As far as I am concerned, if people shared their beliefs without violently trying to make others follow them, this world would be a much better place.
ReplyDeleteYes, it was more than okay to post this in my opinion.
And I am sure you know that while everyone associates The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints with Utah, Joseph Smith was born and raised and founded the church right here in my home state of NY.
Thanks for your support, Mark. I enjoy hearing about other religious beliefs too, but I guess my fear of sharing is because our Church has a history of being persecuted, especially in its early days, which is why 70 000 members of the Church travelled from New York to Utah in the 1840s, following the murder of Joseph Smith. The Sacred Grove where Joseph Smith had his first vision was in the 10-acre forest of their family's farm in western New York. :)
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