"Mormonism"

Ah, the ever heatedly debated subject. Is there a more controversial issue out there? Because if there is, I’d like to know about it.

This article was in this morning’s newspaper. When I went to read the comics, my eyes lit on this and I read it instead. Now, those of you who know me, know that I'm not that much into contention. I'll argue something if I feel I'm right, but only to a point. When I find that I can't convince someone, I generally just give up and move on.

There is, however, one point in which I will never do this. There is one thing that I will argue to the last, not in contention, but in fact, because it's the very basis of what I believe. And that is the LDS church's stand on who Jesus Christ is. on whether or not we are Christian.

I tell you right now, blatantly and bluntly that we ARE! The name of the church is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We would not name our church after a man we didn't believe was the most important man ever to walk this planet or any other.

He is our Savior, Lord, and Redeemer. But more than that. He is MY Savior, Lord, and Redeemer. Without Him, I would be lost, and I know everyone else in this world would be as well. I cannot think of Him without feeling an overwhelming degree of gratitude, love, and joy.

So don't tell me I'm not Christian.

We do not "consider" ourselves to be Christian, as the man in this article states. We ARE Christian. After all, what makes a Christian a Christian? Dictionary.com defines it as "a person who believes in Jesus Christ; adherent of Christianity, a person who exemplifies in his or her life the teachings of Christ". 

I assure you that "Mormons" fall under that category.

I love hearing about other religions. I find it interesting to learn exactly what other people believe from their perspective. As far as I'm concerned, it's the only way TO learn what other faiths teach. What better way to learn what someone believes than to ask them and have them tell you?

In other words, I would never ask a Jew what a Buddhist believes. That just seems silly. So when trying to find out what a "Mormon" believes, I suggest you ask a "Mormon". Mormon.org, for instance is a fantastic website for just such a pursuit, because you'll actually get a true answer, not something from someone who has either been sadly misinformed, as I believe most people out there are, or are actively trying to bring the "Mormon" church down.

You want to know what we believe? Read our book. If that isn't proof of our devotion and love for our Savior, I don't know what is. The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ. How many out there know the full name of the book? It stands along side the Bible in proclaiming to the world that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Redeemer. It's purpose is to "the convincing of the Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God, manifesting himself unto all nations". The book is true. I know it is.

The biggest controversy in the article I linked to was about Joseph Smith. For those who don't know who that is, he was the founder of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. You can hear of his experience in how that came about, from his own words, here. If the Book of Mormon is true, and I know it is, then Joseph Smith was a true prophet, because he brought forth a book from God. One cannot be true without the other being true also.

I believe the best way to put this is how President Gordon B. Hinckley, former President of the LDS church put it. I'll only summarize his talk, but the full talk can be found here.

"Joseph’s story of the gold plates was fantastic. It was hard to believe and easy to challenge. Could he have written it of his own capacity? It is here, my brothers and sisters, for everyone to see, to handle, to read. Every attempt to explain its origin, other than that which he gave, has fallen of its own weight. He was largely unschooled; and yet, in a very brief time, he brought forth the translation which in published form comes to more than 500 pages. . . Through all of these years critics have tried to explain it. They have spoken against it. They have ridiculed it. But it has outlived them all, and its influence today is greater than at any time in its history. . . To you, this day, I affirm my witness of the calling of the Prophet Joseph, of his works, of the sealing of his testimony with his blood as a martyr to the eternal truth. Each of you can bear witness of the same thing."

That's powerful. It's amazing. And if it wasn't true, who would dare make such a fantastic story up?

If you want to know what we believe, there you have it. That's my testimony. For the world to see. Ridicule it, admire it, I don't care. It's what I know to be true. And nothing anyone says or argues will EVER change that fact.

Publishing Portals

I think it's finally going to happen.  I am going to be able to publish my novel.  The novel I've been working on for the last 12 years. As I think back on how it began, I can't help but laugh. And marvel. I started it in seventh grade with dreams of turning it into a movie. In eighth grade, though it wasn't really finished, I started making it into a screen play. I'm not sure when it began to be the book it is now, but I do know that sometime between junior high and now, I decided that the entire thing was so cheesy it wasn't funny, and that it needed to just be rewritten. While I was deciding that, I wrote the second novel in the series, which I entitled "The Man in the Attic". I finished that book. And have since started completely over, as it was really cheesy as well.

Am I doomed to write every novel twice?

But now, I've finished Portals for the second time, oddly enough the last line is the same as the original, at least I had that right, and I'm on the editing stage. I and two of my friends sat on the couch for five hours a few days ago and got through the Prologue. Which was only 490 words long. It ended up being 587 words long by the end of the night. We went through it word by word, sentence by sentence, paragraph by paragraph, trying to make sure it was exactly what I wanted. It is much better than it was before, but I had no idea that this process would take quite as long as it did.  I suppose it didn't help that we are three best friends and prone to go on tangents.

The knowledge that I've made it this far is incredible. My dream of being published is details and money away.

Trust the Scrubs

I took my car to the shop today. It always takes a little while, so I headed over to DI to pass the time until they called.  First I headed over to the book section and found a book that looked interesting. I took it to the furniture section and sat down on a green couch.  I read some, fell asleep, woke up, gave up on reading, and went to wander the store.

As usual when I go to DI, I headed over to the scrubs section. As I got there, a little girl, who was all alone, looked up at me and said something completely incomprehensible. I must admit, I'm not that great with kids, so I just stared at her, then turned to the scrubs and started looking through them. She left for a short time, then came back and said something again.  This time I understood the word 'mommy'. Again I glanced around and actually realized that she was alone.  So I asked her where her mommy was.  She didn't know.

So, sighing, I suggested that we go find her mommy. She was all for that idea and grabbed my hand. I figured I would take her to the front of the store where they could make an announcement that she was there. Halfway to the front, she suddenly yelled "there!", let go of my hand and ran up to a cart with a woman standing next to it. I was expecting her to get her mom's attention or something. Instead, she reached up, got a soft drink out of the cart, and started drinking it. I had to laugh.

I reflected later on why she was so trusting to take my hand automatically. Maybe she's just like that, in which case, I'm a little concerned for her well being.  I was obviously not going to do anything to her, but there are those who would.

But, perhaps her mother had taught her, or she just figured instinctively, I'm not sure, that people in scrubs can be trusted. She didn't go to anyone else after I basically shooed her away, instead came back to me. I never realized that this outfit could bring so much respect from one so young.