Common Misunderstandings

Talking to people all day every day about religion,

we get asked a lot of questions!

I've noticed a trend with some main misunderstandings of our beliefs

doctrine

and purpose.

That's why I'm dedicating this blog post to debunking those misunderstandings! :D

Here are three of the most common misunderstandings:

1. We are here to trick people into joining our church.

Our purpose is to INVITE others

to come unto Christ through Faith in Him,

Repentance,

Baptism and receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost,

and Enduring to the End.

We want people to try our message out themselves

by kneeling and asking God if what we share is truly His message!

The last thing we want are those we teach to accept our word alone

without the witness of the Holy Ghost that it is true.

2. We save ourselves through our works.

This is easily the most common one we get as missionaries.

"Wherefore, redemption cometh in and through the Holy Messiah;

for he is full of grace and truth." 2 Nephi 2:6

We gain eternal life/saved through  and only through Christ's grace.

That is the cleansing power that allows us to be comfortable

in our Heavenly Father's presence and allow us to live with Him after this life.

Christ has said, "If ye love me, keep my commandments." John 14:15

That is what He asks for us to do.

Love him and therefore feel his Grace working in our lives.

That is why we believe our actions or works are so important

because Christ has asked us to act by keeping his commandments.

"faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone...

shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works."
-James 2:17-18

Our faith without works is dead and we believe strongly

that true faith leads to ACTION.

3. We worship Joseph Smith.

Our church has been given the nickname "Mormons"

but the true title is

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

We believe that God has called a prophet in these days

and the first prophet to restore his church in our day is Joseph Smith.

We have a current prophet President Thomas S. Monson.

Christ is the center of our worship services.

Yes we discuss Joseph Smith often because he restored Christ's church!

He brought back, in it's fullness, The Lord's kingdom

to the earth today.

It was through honest studying of the Bible

and personal prayer in which He received a miraculous answer!

His story is miraculous as those prophets of old in biblical times.

We worship Christ as our Savior and our weekly services include the sacrament

which is a reminder of Christ's sacrifice for all of us.


Christ is our Savior and I can testify that His kingdom is on the earth once again.

I can also say without a doubt that you can know it too

through your own experience.

I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Contact the local missionaries here.





 

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Sing that Tune

Excited to use our Piano playing talents

we walked in to the assisted living room.

Right in the middle of the foyer was an electronic baby grand.

This was our stage.

We carefully removed the cover and set up the music stand,

placing the binder open in front of us we began to warm up.

This rock-around-the-clock sing along session was ours.

Then within seconds our confidence plummeted.

They handed us a microphone.

Not knowing in the least bit how these songs go,

being WAY before our generation,

they wanted us to lead the sing a long with our own voice.

We managed to mumble something into the microphone

as little to no one followed our singing and playing.

At the end of one song someone asked if my companion knew how to sing.

Ouch.

The worst part were the nurses telling us to sing louder in to the microphone

assuming that their lack of hearing us

was simply us not singing loud enough into the microphone.

We managed to laugh at ourselves on the way home,

actually managed to laugh at ourselves the whole way home

and then some more.

We continued to return with the same results!

Finally one day one of the nurses started to lead the singing

and the foyer erupted into song!

At that moment I realized they didn't know

how truly clueless we were on how these songs went.

Otherwise they would have stepped in long before!

I can only imagine how frustrated they could have gotten

that we signed up to do this and we couldn't even sing!

We never understand anyone completely.

We don't completely know the reason why people can or can't do things.

There is only one person who does and that is our Heavenly Father

and THAT is why we should NEVER JUDGE someone's worth or person as a whole.

I have found that those people I'm around that may frustrate me,

my frustration at them quickly leaves as I come to know them more

and come to love them more.

Gladly we are not the ones doing the judging for others on Judgment Day

only our Heavenly Father is.

If we could see everyone's past

every trial

every miracle

every success

and every failure

then we could love those around us completely.

My companion and I were trying our hardest!

And in the end that's all the Lord asks.

Love others equal to the potential they have.

Be understanding to others and treat them like you would want to be treated.

No matter what their struggle,

no matter what their beliefs,

we need to show them Christlike love

whether we feel they are doing "their best" or not.

That love may lead to correction!

The nurse corrected us by showing us the tunes

in which after we could increase our capability to lead the session!

Love others enough to help them return to our Heavenly Father

and begin to realize their true potential!

In the name of Him who through we have potential,

Jesus Christ,

Amen.
 

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Forgiving Yourself

Having the tendency to dwell on mistakes,

tear yourself up over them,

and then wave a white flag in defeat,

will never lead you to improving.

Think of Peter.

He denied knowing and walking with Christ.

He denied faithfully standing by his side

He denied all of this three times.

"And the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he

had said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice."

I can't even imagine what it would have been like to be in Peter's shoes. 

Making a mistake I can barely handle my earthly father's "look"

let alone the loving, understanding, majestic, disapproving look upon my mistake

of Him who suffered all of our sins and has an understanding of each of us perfectly.  

I can imagine my reaction being much like Peter's:

 

"And Peter went out, and wept bitterly."

 

Imagine if Peter gave up.

 

If he tore himself apart in worldly sorrow, throwing up the white flag,

 

instead of becoming a tool in God's hand through Godly sorrow.

 

Think of the miracles that would have gone undone!

Think of how much of the Bible we wouldn't have today.

Don't tear yourself up.

Counsel with God,

Allow His Son's grace to work inside of you,

and continue to be the instrument He wants you to be.

Don't let Satan win.

#wearthewinningjersey

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen!

 

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