I'm a Mormon

After pondering on what to write about this month, I decided to share a little something about our religious beliefs.

As most of you (hopefully) know, Mr. D and I are Mormons (members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints). I could sit down with you and chat for hours about what this means to me, but in the interest of only chatting about the most important things, this means that I believe I can receive personal revelation from God.

This week our ward at church started a 40 day fast. Each family in our ward signed up for a different day, and each family is going without food for a 24 hour period. The purpose of this fast is to pray for missionary experiences. (The missionaries are always looking for people to teach!) As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, we make the bold claim that our church is the restored gospel of Jesus Christ on the Earth today; we believe that this knowledge brings happiness and that everyone can gain from it, so we want to share God's plan of happiness with others. The plan is that in 40 days we will get together and share the miracles that The Lord has blessed us with due to this fast.

Fasting takes faith. Going without food isn't so bad, but to believe-- to dare to hope-- that The Lord will bless us takes faith. I believe that the first time we do things we have not yet gained a knowledge of takes tremendous faith, but that once we know it to be true or receive a knowledge it, the principles we learn become an innate part of our lives.

I have seen the process of acting by faith on something and then receiving a knowledge of it many  times in my own life.

The Lord promises us that we can know the truth of all things. In the Book of Mormon, Moroni writes, “And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things” . In my life when I pray for guidance from The Lord, I receive it. I know that I can ask the Lord about just about anything and The Lord will hear and answer my questions.

In the Book of Mormon there is a story about faith. Alma compares the word of God unto a seed. He writes,

"Now, if ye give place, that a seed may be planted in your heart, behold, if it be a true seed, or a good seed, if ye do not cast it out by your unbelief, that ye will resist the Spirit of the Lord, behold, it will begin to swell within your breasts; and when you feel these swelling motions, ye will begin to say within yourselves—It must needs be that this is a good seed, or that the word is good, for it beginneth to enlarge my soul; yea, it beginneth to enlighten my understanding, yea, it beginneth to be delicious to me (Alma 32:28)."

I believe we can know something is good because not only does it feel good in our hearts, but when we study it out, it makes sense as well.

I know God lives. I know that God loves me, that God cares about me, and that God wants me to be happy. I am grateful for Christ's atoning sacrifice that enables us to live with God again.

As always, if you have questions or want to chat with me about my beliefs, I try to be pretty open and would be happy to take you out for ice cream so that we can chat. If you'd rather do some research on your own, there's always www.mormon.org.

-Mrs. M.