Articles of Faith

Like many other denominations, Latter-day Saint Christians have a creed, or a set of basic beliefs. Over the next few blogs, I will be writing my thoughts on each one. Lets start with number one:
"We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost."
This, in my opinion, is first, because it is an essential gateway to the rest of the beliefs. "We believe in God.." Many people that I have met, that are members of other church's believe the LDS do not believe in the same God, however, it is! Our God is the same God! We know it to be true, that God, our eternal father, has a body. "Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the father and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father? " (John 14:9) The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man’s; the Son also; but the Holy Ghost has not a body of flesh and bones, but is a personage of Spirit Were it not so, the Holy Ghost could not dwell in us. (D&C 130:22) A key point for me, of which I have realized throughout my journey of conversion, is that everything that I believe to be true, as an LDS, is backed up but many verses in the Holy Bible. In Genesis, it reads: "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them." (Genesis 1:27)
Continuing on "and in His Son, Jesus Christ," this too is an important part of our religion, and often overlooked by non-members. Many people believe that LDS do not believe in Jesus Christ, if this were true, would we be named "The Church of Jesus Christ Latter-day Saints?" it would make no sense to have His name in our name if it weren't a belief! haha! I love that. There are specific verses in the Bible that state the the true church will bear His name. I often see names that say Christ, but never Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the Son of Heavenly Father, " In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you."Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end."(Luke 1:26-33) Jesus loves Heavenly Father and obeys him, just as we should. Christians are to be Christ-like, and by doing so, obey Heavenly Father. Moving on, "and in the Holy Ghost," "And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you" (John 14:16-17)


“I was probably about eight years of age, or younger, when I was taken by my father to a farm some distance away. While he worked I tried to busy myself with things that a young boy would. The day was hot and dusty and I played about until I was tired. Over the fence there was a broken-down shed that looked very interesting to me. In my mind I thought of this broken-down shed as a castle that I would like to explore, so I went to the fence and started to climb through to go over to that shed. There came a voice to me that said this very significant thing, ‘Harold, don’t go over there.’ I looked about to see who was speaking my name. My father was way up at the other end of the field. He could not see what I was doing. There was no speaker in sight. Then I realized that someone that I could not see was warning me not to go over there. What was over there, I shall never know, but I learned early that there are those beyond our sight that could talk to us” (in Conference Report, Mexico City Mexico Area Conference 1972, pp. 48–49) Harold B Lee, who became the 11th president of the church.

i testify that this church is true, and i love being in the truth. i believe all of these things, and i know that by obeying Heavenly Father, i will live a righteous life and someday return to Him in Heaven.

:)

General Questions.

At one point or another, we all question what we believe. two things can happen from that, 1.) you find the answers you wanted and are satisfied or 2.) you never find the answers and are yearning for more in depth truths. the three basic questions that missionaries are asked are
1. Where did i come from?
2. Why am i here?
3. Where will i be after this?

God is your Father in Heaven. Supporting verses: "After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name." Matthew 6:9 He fathers our spirits and we are all created in His image. We were given physical bodies and sent here on earth to test our worthiness of residing with Him in His kingdom. Our worthiness is tested at all times, in all different manners. Do you obey the 10 commandments? Do you keep the law of chastity? Do you serve others? "When Ye Are in the Serviceof Your Fellow Beings Ye Are Only in the Service of Your God" Mosiah 2:17 Do you give the first fruits of your labor to your Father in Heaven? We all stumble, we are all sinners, and despite that, every single one of us, down to last cell in our body, is fully loved by our Heavenly Father. How amazing is that? God is constantly (as in always) influencing us to do the right thing, and satan is tempting us. Who will you live with? You are promised an everlasting life, will you let that slip away? After your trials are over here, you will follow through the remainder of the plan of salvation.

premortal existence ---> veil ---> birth/earthlife/death ---> spiritworld (paradise or prison) ---> judgement & resurrection ---> *Celestial, *Terestrial, *Telestial or **outer darkness


*kingdoms of glory
** kingdom of the devil, not a kingdom of glory

"In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you." John 14:2

"...And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life..."

Agency- the privilege and ability to choose & act for ourselves. many of us tend to get lost in our free will. sometimes we do something that we know is wrong, but we do it because we personally want to experience it. we want to do things that many others are doing, or we want to do things that others are not doing...be in the world, not of the world. there is a BIG difference! free agency can either bring us closer to, or further from our Heavenly Father. Without it, we would not be able to progress, or follow our Savior. If we are not progressing, or regressing, we are standing still. we are suppose to learn from our mistakes, and learn from the things that we do correctly. when we obey the commandments of our Lord, we are progressing, when we disobey them, we are, unfortunately regressing. agency is strengthened by our faith & obedience. if we continue to do right, it becomes less of a challenge, and more of a habit. if we stand firm in our faith, we can learn that when we do something right, or something good, we are worthy of being reunited with our Father in heaven. the commandments, laws and ordinances were not given to us to be set as rules or restrictions, they are the pathway to a life of righteousness.

agency is a noun, but use it as a verb, to act, to seek with faith that we may find, to ask for guidance from the Spirit in times of despair, to knock on the door that will open and shine spiritual light in our times of darkness.

"And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD."
Joshua 24:15

CHOOSE to pray
CHOOSE to attend church
CHOOSE to read the scriptures
CHOOSE to have an everlasting life.

an unexpected transition...

an unexpected transition into the truth. . . learning more, striving even more. going from a baptist to a member of the Church of Jesus Christ Latter-Day Saints. not everyone approves, and to that, i would like to say, not everyone has had the chance to learn about the gospel in its fullness. it wasn't easy. i didn't wake up and say "i'm gonna be a Mormon!" although i wish it was that simple, the complexity of my transition makes me love it that much more! i composed a list prior to my baptism and confirmation, of all the things i needed to stop doing, and all the things i need to start doing. stop: cursing, drinking tea and coffee, no more sleeveless shirts, no gossiping, the list goes on. and i needed to start: reading the Book of Mormon, praying for the truth, practice what i preach, attend an LDS church, the sincere act of repentance, this list goes on as well. i was told by a friend "ya know, its not easy being a member of the church" WELL SIR, nothing is easy unless you try!! and i tried, and am still trying. it isn't easy, but once you create a habit of saying "fiddlestyx" instead of another (4 letter) word, reading before bed, praying before bed and in the morning, you learn the importance of your actions. you learn that while you're creating those healthy habits, you're also deepening your relationship with your Heavenly Father. the first time i met with the Elders, i was overly ecstatic. every time they said something new, i replied " Well duh that makes sense..." and it did... the plan of salvation, which is one of my favorite things, was the first thing i learned about. i knew it even before they told me, because, for me, they were answering the questions i always had. my family doesn't approve of this, i haven't told them yet, but they've made a reasonable assumption that i am in fact, a member of a new church, the true church. if my family doesn't want to learn about it now, i know that because of the ordinances that take place in the temples, they too will have a chance to accept the gospel in its fullness. this provides me with a great sense of relief, knowing that they can be saved!! The gift of the Holy Ghost, another favorite of mine! I felt it before, when i was attending a baptist church, and it was an amazing feeling. However, when i sit in at sacrament and think to myself, or sift through the scriptures, i am reassured that this is the true church. the spirit is there, and i know that to all of those who honestly seek the truth, they too will feel the spirit. once you feel it, you can't deny it. its the best feeling in the world. the day of my baptism was so amazing. i get chills just thinking about how at peace and happy i felt. and the best part is, this feeling hasn't left my body since. joining another church wasn't easy, no one said it would be, but for me, the gift of eternal life with my Heavenly Father totally exceeds all that i put into it.

i leave you with this:

* "And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.

And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things." - Moroni 10:4
* the first thing i ever read in the B o M

engage your faith and commit your energy to draw closer to Jesus Christ.