Being more Christian

I have seen this blog written by Greg Trimble shared quite a bit amongst my LDS friends today, but it really is too good not to share. It struck a cord with me. The past few weeks in my seminary class we have talked a lot about being more Christian. I think often as Mormons we come off as too cliquish and that is not what the Gospel of Jesus Christ is about. Sometimes I sit back and think we are so much like the Pharisees and the Sadducees when it comes to our Mormon "culture".  I am reminded of an experience I had years ago while serving in the LDS branch at the Youth Corrections facility. There was a  young man and he had an amazing head of hair. I mean girls would be jealous of his hair. It was long and naturally curly. One time we were talking one on one and I asked him how come he didn't go to his family ward anymore.  He told me that often he would want to and occasionally he would  get enough courage to go. He didn't have any "church" clothes to wear so he would wear his jeans and nice shirt, but he would always feel judged, not only by his clothes but because of his hair (and he was sporting a little bit of facial hair as well).  In the course of our conversation I told him that our Savior wanted him to be there, and it didn't matter what he looked like. He needed to go to church, and go for himself. Whether he followed the counsel, I do not know, I hope he did.

I don't want people to think that I am diminishing the importance of dressing properly on the Sabbath and the respect that gives to His holy day, but I do believe for some it may take time to get there and they need to be in church to feel of His spirit and partake in the goodness of Christ. I often wonder if our sacrament talks focus too much on the details of being a Mormon (like how many more times do we need to hear about goal setting in January, and some of the other topics that is often repeated), but instead lets focus on the principles and messages of the Savior. Think about how many talks we listen to each Sunday and not once do they mention the Savior or his teachings.  Sometimes the only mention of Christ is at the end when they end in his name (the talks today in my sacrament were excellent, just incase anyone was wondering.)

A few years ago, I brought a young woman from Argentina to our church service. She was staying with our family for a few days as part of vocational exchange group through Rotary International. I literally prayed that our sacrament meeting would focus on Christ and not just some of our commandments. Luckily, the good bishop must have been inspired beforehand and it was a great meeting. She came away asking good questions about our beliefs compared to her own. I believe that as we focus our messages in church toward the teaching of our Savior as found in the scriptures, our congregations will become more Christ like.

We as Latter-day saints tend to feel embarrassed about openly  expressing our devotion and love to our Savior, yet we have an amazing missionary force that goes out in their late teens and early twenties to testify of Him. For many of them, that is their first real experience telling people what they believe. They try their hardest to get those they teach to come to church and they are just praying that the membership will show them Christ like love and that hopefully somewhere that the gospel of Jesus Christ will be taught.  So as I read the blog I mentioned above, my heart desires the same thing in our congregations. So often people do not ask questions in classes or give comments because what they have experienced isn't what is the "normal" in our church conversations,. Just the other day in my seminary class (I am trying hard to have the kids actually discuss things and hard topics) we got into a small discussion on Heavenly Mother and the creation of the Universe. Yep pretty deep stuff, but I was able to point to their gospel apps and have them find the essays that have been produced.  We talk about how prayers take some time to be answered and how we need to have an eternal perspective on things. At the end of the day, what matters is that we truly come to know Jesus Christ (John 17:3) and not just know of him. We do that by showing the same compassion he had, we need to make sure all feel welcome at His church  and the activities we have. The color of your hair, the tattoos on your body, piercings you may have or wait for it...the facial hair one might have, does not determine how much Christ loves them, so why should they determine how much we love them?

The Path of life

So I realized that it has been like a year since I wrote on the blog. I guess I should write a few things. The past few days I have been doing a lot of reflection. I think that is a positive thing. Yesterday, Kris, her parents and I attended the funeral of her great uncle. He lived just 45 minutes north of Logan. He and his wife were always so good about coming down to special events like weddings and baby blessings. He died at the ripe young age of 96. As I attended his funeral and listened to his 7 surviving children speak, I was overwhelmed with the desire to be a better father and husband. Again that is a good thing. I also thought about how out of a marriage, came such a large posterity. It was amazing to realize that the majority of the chapel was filled with children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. Here was the true legacy of the man.

I am reminded of the teachings of our Savior when he talked about the real treasures of our life. Its not all the material things, but its the eternal things, like our family that matters most. Yet in life we get caught up in all the material aspects. Keeping our jobs, paying our mortgage, having food on the table etc. It is easy to forget or neglect the most important items, our family. In recent months I have been following the life of a young girl that is the niece of an old high school friend. This young girl was only 3 and diagnosed with a rare and deadly form of cancer. Her last few months was spent with her parents enjoying the last precious moments. There is a hope of eternal reuniting . As I have read the facebook posts, watched the tribute videos and witnessed a community come together to give her and her family joy in a very hard time, I am thankful for the knowledge that I possess of the eternal nature of families. Because of that knowledge, death I know is just a stage of eternal progression. I have also recently witnessed that with my own family as my brother-in-law lost his mother to cancer. Again the knowledge that I now have brings me some peace while others may seek but haven't found it quite yet.

With that said, today I am reminded of my beginnings down the path that has led me to where I am today. It was a path that began being born of goodly parents. These two parents, showed me great love and patience. They were witnesses to me of true love that was shared between two individuals. They loved and still do love each other much more than I probably can fathom. They were kind and patient with me. They allowed me to grow up free of doubt and fear of the future. They showed me and my sister what it was like to be parents.

It was a path that took me to my senior year of high school, with confidence and surety of a bright future. It was a path that led me to question who I was, and what I truly believed in. It was path that brought me into contact with individuals that would teach me about a loving Heavenly Father and his Son Jesus Christ. A God that loved all, and had prepared a plan so that all men may be saved if they will just believe. It was this plan that touched my heart as I began to see that our Father in Heaven, will give us many chances to come unto him and most importantly there are many mansions. The hell that I had heard about, wasn't an eternal damnation, but those in my family that I loved but had passed on, could still find eternal peace. It was a path that led me to the waters of baptism, committing myself to serve Him who saved me. It was a path that led me through mists of darkness yet I held onto the rod and survived my first year of college committed to serve him where ever he would send me.

It was a path that led me to give up everything for two years and serve the people of the Dominican Republic. It was there, that I saw firsthand the power of God in healing, blessing and changing people's lives. It was there that I saw once again the patience of my two loving mortal parents as they lost dear ones and I was unable to come home to be with them. It was a path that led me home after two years with the ability and confidence to face all challenges and trials and that would lead me to my eternal love, my beautiful Kristina.

Now 14 years later this path continues to lead straight ahead. I know not what mortal trials we will face, but I do know that the path leads to one place. That path is back home to my Father in Heaven, but with me, will be all those that helped me along the way. With me will be my family, my friends and all those that accept the truths of the restored gospel. But also the path will be kind to those that choose another direction. For in the fathers kingdom there are many mansions and may I add different kingdoms of glory. And so as I reflect this day, I am thankful for the path I have followed and for the friends I have met. I am thankful for my beautiful six children, who continue to insist that they have birthdays. But probably today, I am more thankful for my testimony of the Savior Jesus Christ. I know He lives. He is my Redeemer, my Savior. He is who I can go to regardless of what is happening in my life. He is always there.