Well, this week I slacked off on taking notes for stuff I could email about. So this week’s letter is going to be a little shorter. But no worries, next weeks will be adventure filled.
Let me try and think of things I can write about...
First- let me explain one of the things that we run into a lot, I'm not sure if I explained it last week. Because we are in Utah, everyone knows about Mormons. We talk with a lot of people who are less-active. They pull the "two face Mormon" excuse. Basically they say that they don't agree with the Mormon Church because all the members are hypocrites. They act one way at Church, and another way during the week. As a Utah native, I am all too familiar with this. I can empathize with them- to an extent. Too many people get offended because of that and they choose not to go to church anymore. But that's a weak excuse, in my opinion. People need to remember that the gospel is true, no matter what others do. If they have sufficient faith, they need to stop thinking about what other people do, and start thinking more about what God wants them to do. Its super disheartening, because I know that they know the church is true. It's really hard to help them because I don't have any new information for them. They all know about the church. They all have read from the Book of Mormon. So the best thing we can usually do is testifying.
One of the things I have noticed as I teach lessons and talk to people about religion is my demeanor. It’s amazing how calm I am. Every time we talk to someone of a different faith, they get really worked up and try to prove us wrong. Sometimes, my companion gets worked up as well. But I'm blessed because I don't. There is no reason for me to get worked up. I know for myself that the gospel is true. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. People can criticize my beliefs all they want, it’s not going to make me change. There is no convincing someone who doesn’t want to change. People tend to think that religion is something you can debate. They have the "to each his own" attitude. Or the "as long as you are a good person you will be saved". For a while I wasn't sure how to express to them that there are commandments to help us be happy. But yesterday, I had a great conversation with a guy and we were both edified by the Spirit as I testified.
We were talking with a guy named Brian, and he was telling us that he didn't agree with how the Mormons portray God. Of course he brought up the whole "two face Mormon" topic, (we get that a lot) and he gave us this example:
"I don't believe that if I drink whiskey God will send me down to hell. I am a good person. I believe in living a good life. There are plenty of Mormons that go to church, pay tithing, and act like saints when they go to church, but go home and beat their kids. They are the ones going to hell. I don't believe that there is just a heaven and a hell. I believe in an instance heaven. A heaven for each person according to what they did on earth. I'm not going to hell just because I drink whiskey and smoke some pot every now and then. You Mormons say I will. I don't believe God is that much of a jerk."
I could understand what he was saying, and I knew how to explain to him the Church’s beliefs. It was super cool because I could feel the Spirit testifying through me, and I could feel us both being edified. The entire time that I was testifying, Brian would be nodding and saying "that makes sense."
I said something like this:
"We have a lot of similar beliefs Brian; I totally understand what you are saying. I also believe in something similar to an instance heaven. We believe that there are three kingdoms, the Celestial, Terrestrial, and Telestial. I know that when we go before God at the judgment bar, and if we didn't live lives that would qualify us to live in the Celestial kingdom; we aren't going to be begging God to let us go there. If we want to smoke some pot, and drink whiskey, we won't want to go somewhere that doesn't let us smoke pot and drink whiskey. We will want to go to a place that does allow it. When we stand before God, we won't be begging Him; Jesus will be begging us to change, to want to live the commandments. When He asks us to change, and if we don't want to change, we won't feel comfortable to change. We won't feel comfortable in the Celestial Kingdom. But I just want to tell you that the Celestial Kingdom is the best kingdom of them all. It is the place that we will feel the happiest. Pot brings a certain type of pleasure, but it doesn't bring true happiness. This book that I'm holding in my hand right now has the guidelines, rules, and directions to true happiness. God wants us to be as happy as Him. He has given us this way. Yes, there are rules that we have to follow. Yes, there are times that we don't understand those rules and we don't want to follow them. There are times where breaking those rules seem to promise more happiness than if we kept them. Brian, just like you, I believe there is an instance heaven. I believe that we will go to a place that we have earned. We will go to a place where we feel most comfortable. Not where we will feel most happy, but where we feel we deserve to go. I can promise you that if you follow the rules, and live your life according to the plan that Heavenly Father has given us, we will be worthy to live in the Celestial Kingdom, where we can feel the most happiness. It's hard sometimes to follow the rules right now, but they are rules for a reason. They aren't rules just to hold us down, but to help us grow, and become happy. I can promise you that if you live the commandments, you will be happy. I know I am."
I love you all!
Keep reading the scriptures, and following the commandments. I promise it will make you happy.
Elder Garver
No comments:
Post a Comment