In All that I Do and Say

"So, where did you serve?” and its iterations have become my least favorite questions. What do you say? Oh, I didn’t?  That’s not strictly true, you can serve anywhere and everywhere. One reason I dislike those questions so much is because they are based on someone’s assumption of me and my life as a member of the church, and because I didn’t have a decent answer. Equally painful were questions from people I knew asking when I would go, or why I hadn’t gone yet. My mother says she has also fielded questions about whether I’m going to serve a mission, especially after my older sister returned home, feeling like she has to defend that I am active, temple-attending, and worthy, although I haven't served a mission. I've make a habit of turning uncomfortable questions and explanations into a sort of joke so that others don’t feel uncomfortable, but that solution only works one way.      It was about two years ago that this started grating on me, in part because i...

   Issues are an interesting thing, because you typically aren’t aware of them until they apply to you. Media blows up with groups supporting things like LGTB rights and other racial and political causes, but issues more specific to our religion and Mormon culture get far less traction. Because of this it is sometimes easy to feel alone and think that the church leaders are unaware or unconcerned with such issues. If recent days are any indicator (and they should be), those assumptions are proving incorrect. I feel that their responses to recent issues are carefully thought through, and provide great counsel and comfort for those who listen. (Things will come out right now, we can make it so) A year ago, I didn’t feel like there was adequate counsel about an issue I felt overwhelmed with, so I wrote to try and get over it, and it made me find answers that had already been given. (Now I recognize that many of the answers they give to address these "new" questions are the sa...

Life. It's such a funny thing. In many ways it can be summed up by a quote from a Disney movie. Sing it with me: The Ciiircllee of LIIiiiife! Without an understanding of the Plan of Salvation we have no appreciation of the life before and no hope in the afterlife. But because I believe in God, and have faith in the plan set by Him, I have peace. This week in devotional, a church leader used the analogy of a clock to describe steps of the pride cycle , and more importantly, how to get out of it. No metaphor is really perfect, but since there are literal exits and entrances to "life" we're going to go with it. Mortality. Not always the most pleasant of subjects, but it's part of the circle (or roundabout) of life. At a concert this week the director was introducing a set of songs and she said Death was her favorite topic. Second was love. I think we like the perspective that comes with our views on eternal life. It goes a little too far to say we're cav...

In the scriptures it can sometimes seem like we need a miracle to believe in God. If he's not appearing to us or parting seas, how can we really know for sure that he is there?!? But, you see it isn't time for trumpets and tempests or angelic visitations now. I used to envy those who were converts to the church, they had such cool experiences. I guess it made me wonder if I would be a member had I not been born into the church. Thankfully, around the same time I realized that I should be a "convert," we should all become converted to what we believe and voluntarily make the commitment to be a disciple of Christ. I didn't have one big experience that lead to that realization, and I don't have one big conversion experience. I have countless small stories and experiences that have led to the biggest growth in my testimony over the course of my life. Here are a few collections of related small things that have made the biggest difference. It won't take as lon...