What I believe

Today I am going to talk about my religion. What I want to address here is the recent splitting of individuals in my church. In the wake of the excommunication of the leader of Mormon women stand, Kelly, there are now groups of people voluntarily severing themselves from the church in protest of this discipline. Seeing these people taking these actions to make my church look intolerant astounds me. It hurts to see so many people losing themselves in the ideology of the world and forgetting their God.

When I got up this morning my mind was troubled by what I saw in my social media feed, so I prayed. I prayed to understand what was going on and what I should do. I felt that I needed to do something and so I choose to bear my testimony of my beliefs. This may not be the most well written list and certainly not the most eloquent but here it is. This is what I believe:

I believe that the prophet, his counselors, the quorum of the twelve, and the rest of the general authorities are called of God and that they speak God's words. I sustain them unashamedly and will follow them wherever they go.

I believe that I do not need to be just like a man to have worth and influence on the world or the lives of those I love. trying to say that men and women are exactly the same, and treating themas such, is a disservice to both genders and will not fill the needs of either. I know that the way that women of my church are being portrayed in my church as weak, oppressed, and powerless but I do not feel this way. I feel that my leaders care about how I feel and value my service. I don't need to be a leader in the church to help build it up.

I believe that sometimes no matter how badly you want something, God will sometimes say no. When we get a 'no' we should take courage and respect God's answer.

Finally, I believe that men are fallible but that God is not so He is who I will follow. The leaders of my church are following Him so with them is where I stand.

Things are about to change and it is very possible that things are going to get harder. If they do Just remember the words of Joseph Smith,
"The Standard of Truth has been erected; no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done."

Also D&C 122: 7-8 if it gets very bad, remember what the God told Joseph Smith.

 7 And if thou shouldst be cast into the pit, or into the hands of murderers, and the sentence of death passed upon thee; if thou be cast into the deep; if the billowing surge conspire against thee; if fierce winds become thine enemy; if the heavens gather blackness, and all the elements combine to hedge up the way; and above all, if the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good.

 8 The Son of Man hath descended below them all. Art thou greater than he?

I plan on doing my very best to show my small part of the world that LDS people are kind and compassionate and that the women of the church are powerful as they are. Now is a time to live as we have never lived before. We need to be more diligent in doing the things we should be doing because the closer we are to God the stronger the help we have.

If this blog has done nothing but convince those who read it that I am a narrow minded moron, so be it. I am proud of who I am and I stand up in the name of God and testify that He lives! I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and that will never change. I am not subservient and I will not be silent.