Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints<\/a> was His church despite the weaknesses of man. I wanted to be a safe haven for loved ones struggling.<\/p>\nI felt like a last leaf on a wintering plumeria tree.<\/p>\n
Questions Are OK<\/h3>\n Someone posed a question I\u2019d heard years before, in July 1992, asked by a belligerent Scottish preacher on the Isle of Lewis.\u00a0 We\u2019d been teaching one of his parishioners\u00a0and the preacher joined our discussion, which was awesome! The preacher became more and more antagonistic as our time together went on, and then he asked a question that I didn\u2019t know the answer to and it shook me a little bit.\u00a0 He got up suddenly, grabbed his parishioner,\u00a0 and shook his feet at the doorway of our friends\u2019 home. It was shocking.<\/p>\n
My scripture study focused on that question for months. I read the Book of Mormon over and over again looking for clarity.\u00a0 It dealt with the question in various ways, but in coordinating discrepant ways based on the way I asked the question.<\/p>\n
Why didn\u2019t I receive an answer?!<\/p>\n
Mental Question Shelf<\/h3>\n I put the question on my\u00a0mental question shelf. I never completely give up on getting answers, I just set them aside after\u00a0 sufficient study hasn\u2019t yielded results, expecting to learn the answer at some future time.\u00a0(Admittedly, after what I determine is sufficient study time :))<\/p>\n
Ten years later, that same question prompted the evacuation of my friend\u2019s faith. I felt so frustrated.\u00a0 Why had I still not received an answer to that question?\u00a0 Maybe because my belief was wrong.<\/p>\n
A war of words and tumult of opinions commenced, all in my mind and heart. I sifted concepts and doctrines. I examined my\u00a0perceptions of doctrines versus other ways of understanding them. What did I actually know to be true?<\/p>\n
Many of the actual voices of dissent I heard said that if this question remained unanswerable or tilted against long-held views, the church wasn\u2019t true. That was absolutely true.<\/p>\n
But I still didn\u2019t get an answer about it.<\/p>\n
An Answer Without Answering The Shelf Question<\/h3>\n At the stop light before that interstate ramp, the Holy Ghost whispered an option I hadn\u2019t considered. If I leave this church, what would I have to do<\/em> to be compliant<\/em> with other churches\u2019 view of salvation?<\/p>\nAs I turned onto the onramp, these thoughts flashed to mind.<\/p>\n
Many churches I\u2019m familiar with teach that I just need to believe in Jesus and I\u2019d be saved.\u00a0 I believed in Jesus, that wasn\u2019t in question. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints teaches a belief in Jesus. So technically, I checked that box for other churches\u2019 declaration of faith and salvation prerequisite to heaven.<\/p>\n
Many churches I\u2019m familiar with require baptism to be saved. Besides believing in God himself, the baptizer doesn\u2019t necessarily need any specific authority to baptize. No particular words are mandated. I have been baptized by someone who believed in God.\u00a0The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints teaches a belief in baptism, more specific in authority and execution than any other faith I\u2019ve heard learned about. So technically, I checked that box for other churches\u2019 baptism salvation prerequisite to heaven.<\/p>\n
Many churches I\u2019m familiar with espouse a code of conduct\/moral code based on the Biblical 10 Commandments and Jesus Christ\u2019s elevated teachings in the New Testament. I believe and follow the same and was taught to do so in\u00a0The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. So technically, I checked that box for other church\u2019s living a moral life prerequisite to heaven.<\/p>\n
If, as other churches teach, God in His magnanimity accepts each of these diverse, though generally similar, paths to Him, then my path would be accepted too.<\/p>\n
And what have I gained by adhering to a covenant path prescribed by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in addition to these requirements for salvation?\u00a0 That prompted question hit as I crested the summit into that sunset. Memories and joy and experiences burst into my mind\u2019s eye like fireworks in Hawaii at New Year\u2019s! Temple and revelation and covenant and ordinance and callings and my mind stretching and stretching and stretching.<\/p>\n
The Holy Ghost reminded me of experiences where I encountered Christ. Floods of specific moments came to mind when I knew what I knew and I knew that He knew that I knew.<\/p>\n
In 15 seconds of onramp, the Holy Ghost healed my conflict through logical reasoning. I realized my personal tree was full and still thriving.<\/p>\n
However, I still didn\u2019t receive an answer to that question.<\/p>\nPC: Em\u0151ke D\u00e9nes<\/figcaption><\/figure>I put the question back on the mental shelf.\u00a0 I studied the topic regularly in the ensuing years.\nOn March 15, 2018, in the 9:00 am endowment session at the Laie Hawaii Temple, the Holy Ghost took that question off of my mental shelf, brought it to my mind and heart, and answered it! I felt sheer happiness!! Then I realized that answer prompted a thousand more questions. They will probably be going on the shelf.<\/p>\n
And that\u2019s OK.<\/p>\n
I know holding on when questions aren\u2019t answered is sometimes hard. I know not every question is answered when we think we need it to be answered. I know the Holy Ghost will teach us at the right times, in the right ways for us. And it\u2019s easier to bring things to our remembrance if we\u2019ve laid a foundation for Him to do so.<\/p>\n
There are so many specific things of God\u2019s overarching plan that I don\u2019t fully understand. Having a mental question shelf to put unanswered questions on enables me to keep asking, searching, pondering, and praying for God\u2019s wisdom when I\u2019m ready to receive and comprehend it line by line.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
My internal conflict came to a head as I drove up an interstate onramp towards a vivid sunset.\u00a0 I don\u2019t remember where I\u2019d been or where I was going, but I remember everything about that moment.\u00a0 I can wind it down in total slow motion. Passing the tiny misshapen tree on the left as I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3071,"featured_media":446,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[23,3,30,18],"class_list":["post-549","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-realization","tag-ask","tag-overcoming-trials","tag-prayer","tag-seeking-truth"],"yoast_head":"\n
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