Tristan, Alaina, and Alex photo
taken by Melinda
In a world where the word "Mormon" isn't so strange anymore, I see the end of an era. I treasure our strangeness. I love most everything associated with being a member of Christ's church.
I love the peace and beauty of the temples. Conference weekends fill me with love and joy. I love the way I feel inside when I am attuned to the spirit of the Holy Ghost. I love the way women and flowers and babies are cherished,
the way husband and wife are equal partners,
the central role that families and extended families take,
that journal-keeping is a way of life, along with work,
play, and healthy living and learning.
Nothing can take the place of having the scriptures and a living prophet
to give us comfort and guidance and to soften our hearts
and strengthen our reliance on our Heavenly Father.
(I even let Him run things once in a while.)
I get a thrill whenever I see missionaries out and about.
It's so important to me to have our home feel like an oasis and a refuge
from the world - that's not a cliche. It's the exact truth.
Knowing that we can live as eternal couples and families is everything to me.
Everything that I have learned, from both doctrine and personal experience,
tell me that the veil is thin and our loved ones are near to us.
We believe in a personal, loving relationship with our Father in Heaven.
We believe we have a Heavenly Mother,
and that we can learn and grow forever, eventually becoming like them.
We believe in repentance and in Jesus' Atonement for our mistakes and sins.
Knowing that repentance is available to me, 24/7, is a miracle!
Jesus experienced every sadness, despair, loneliness, and pain that I've ever felt. Imagine Mark doing that for me, and how overwhelmed I would be
at his sacrifice. That's what Jesus did for me.
And for you.
Isn't Heavenly Father's plan glorious?!
I want to be like Elder Holland and Pres. Uchtdorf and
proclaim the truth of what I know to be true.
I want to state un-apologetically that my heroes include Joseph Smith and
Gordon B. Hinckley and Sister Hinckley!
I really don't wish to be strange anymore
because I want the world to learn the truth and become just like us.
I want them to know where they came from, why they're here,
and where they are going.
We're in the process of doing that.
Many won't hear or accept what we believe, and we respect that.
But I wish they would.
Because...
"You know what happened to the man who got everything he ever wanted?
He lived happily ever after."
I love you!
xoxoxo
2 comments:
Oh, I loved this post! I will have to re-read it again!I have been so gone from the blogging world, but I felt sick tonight so I just laid here and read some blog posts. It has been fun, and I feel glad that I have the best and funniest and nicest family. Although others are close. Oh, and I love your quote at the end. Did you know the movie didn't end with that? The director called the scriptwriter (who was on vacation) while they were filming the movie, and said that it needed a better ending. The scriptwriter, I don't remember his name, just came up with that in a second and threw it out there. The director was quiet and then said, "I like it." And it was history in the making!!
I love that last quote! Willy Wonka, right? What a great post. I too want the world to know about our church. It is so unreal that a Mormon is running for president, and has a high chance of winning! I often wonder how the church will be affected if he wins. We will obviously get even more attention.
Also, we missed all of Saturday's sessions because we were gone so we have a lot of catching up to do!
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