Three Separate Entities

It is always interesting to me to hear what people think Mormons believe. I've heard theories about worshiping salamanders (which, btw, I can explain where this belief comes from. Its actually pretty interesting) to theories that we worship the prophet Joseph Smith. None of this is true.

I think I am going to devout some of my next posts to different Articles of Faith. Joseph Smith actually wrote them, so it is interesting that the very first thing he wanted people to know is the following:

We believe in God the Eternal Father, and in His Son Jesus Christ and in the Holy Ghost.

So what can I take from this one sentence? A few things. "We believe" indicates that any LDS member should believe whatever is stated following the phrase. In interviews to get baptized, our bishops will ask "Do you believe that God is our Eternal Father? Do you believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the Savior and Redeemer of the world?" This is the first thing that is asked and is therefore the most basic of our religion; God is our Father and His Son is our Savior. Sounds like most any Christian belief.

However, what makes our faith in God and Christ different from those of other faiths, is just that: God and Christ are two different beings. This is sometimes hard to grasp, as traditional Christianity teaches that they are one spirit. I believe that accounts found throughout the New Testament, including scriptures in John 5 and John 17, show that the two are two different beings.

For example, in John 5: 17-47, Christ continually testifies of His Father. He says in verse 30,

"I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgement is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me."

He says that judgement is just because it is not a manifestation of His own will, but is a manifestation of His Father's. They have two separate wills and are two separate beings.

I also believe, that just as Christ testified of He and the Father being two different beings, that Joseph Smith saw both God and Christ and that they were two different beings. Smith says in his History,

"It no sooner appeared than I found myself delivered from the enemy which held me bound. When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other- This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!" (v.17)

From this sacred moment, Iunderstand that there are two different beings and that I worship God, my Father, and rely on Christ for redemption.

My Obsession with King Lamoni...and All Righteous Kings For that Matter

Not to be redundant or anything, but I am kind of obsessed with King Lamoni and all righteous kings for that matter. For example, one of the things I admire most about George Washington is that he refused to be king. I think it would be safe to say that he probably would not have abused his power, but he understood man's nature enough that he sought to figure out a way where man would be in check of his ambition rather than being completely subject to giving in to his ambitions. That said, George Washington was one awesome guy, though we know that it was in God's plan to have a free nation.

As I was reading Alma 18 in the Book of Mormon the other night, I came across a few verses that really stuck out to me and taught me attributes of a good king and more importantly, the hope we can have when Christ establishes His kingdom here during the millennium. Verse one reads, "And it came to pass that king Lamoni caused that his servants should stand forth and testify to all the things which they had seen concerning the matter." The next verse is their testimony and his acceptance of what they said.

As I read this, I realized how remarkable it was that a king during a time where so many people were so wicked, was good enough to listen to the "lowest of people." And it was not just for show, as he truly trusted their testimonies and was humble enough to really "learn" what they had to say (verse 2).

There is obviously a trusting relationship between the king and his servants. They know that they can speak and not be condemned and he knows that he can trust them. I find this to be hopeful as we live in a time where people are persecuted on so many different levels by people who profess to be their leaders. But there is not this open communication or respect on either of the parties parts; common people are subject to their leaders just because they have to.

This is what makes me so excited about the gospel and about how Christ will reign as king in the millennium. We can have a real relationship with Christ and Heavenly Father as we pray and listen to the guidance we receive. We can be honest and repent and only fear when we are not doing those things. We also can become servants of our Heavenly Father and live a life so that when we meet our Savior, he will learn and believe our testimonies of the things that we did and felt and thought.

One more point I would like to make is how in verse thirteen, the servants end up calling the prophet Ammon their great king. Although we are not to call our prophet and leaders kings, we should revere them and trust what they say. We should have an attitude of learning from them and experimenting on their words so that we are as prepared as possible for when we meet our true king, Jesus Christ.

An Unexpected Epiphany

It is no surprise that in many ways the life I live is very different from those of my age group. For one, I am living a religion that many cannot understand and where we have practices that are right but arguably different from the world norm. One of these practices is when we have a testimony meeting one Sunday a week where people in the congregation can come to the pulpit and share their beliefs. Sure, that definitely runs the risk of uncomfortable things being said (and believe me, I have done my fair share of staring down at the ground and singing to myself wishing for people to just sit down), but it is cool that everyone has a chance to speak and testify of what they know.

Last week, I learned something simple that spoke to me in a profound way. First, you must understand that I am a communications disorder major, meaning that I want to be a speech language pathologist and that I have a strange love for grammar. So as I was sitting in this testimony meeting, a girl said, "And I know that God is always there for me."

'Doesn't she mean to say that He is here for her?', I asked myself. But then it got me thinking. She was right. She could have said here or there and it would still be grammatically correct. I then realized that the 'there' she had used was not what my classmates had learned as the "existential there" and therefore God was more of a real being than just some existing idea.

Now I will give you a brief explanation as to what this 'existential there' is, as it is key to understanding the point I will make. Existential there means is more of a filler than an actual place. If you can substitute the word 'here,' which is always a place, then it is not existential. For example, the sentence, "There is no more candy," would have an existential there because it is not a location and it would not be grammatically correct with the word 'here.' But the sentence, "The candy is over there," would not be existential because it is a location.

So away from the grammar lesson, and back to my epiphany. When I realized that God was not an existential there, I realized that he must be somewhere at an actual location, and not just some obscure idea that he only exists. He lives and is active in our lives and is real as if I she had said, "And I know that my best friend is always here for me." Yes, He exists, but He is more than that. He participates in my life, gives me meaning for my life and treats me as a daughter because I am His daughter. I think I have always known this, but being able to realize it in a small moment in such a powerful way is something that I really value.

We are Poor Little Lambs and We Have Lost Our Way

Sometimes I attend church expecting to not learn anything. Of course this is not the ideal attitude, but then again, sometimes, in my human weakness, I do not live up to the ideal. However, last week, a man in my ward addressed a very typical and common topic but in a very simple yet profound way. It is my hope that this posting will touch you as it did me.

Sheep are stupid. They are one of three species that will literally eat themselves. And I am not talking cannibalism; I am saying that a single sheep will eat itself. Being stupid animals, they will often follow the stupidest sheep there is.

There once was a sheep named Dolly who had giant buck teeth that went upwards, instead of the expected downwards. Dolly also was ridiculously cross eyed. She had nothing intelligent to offer, and so of course most of the sheep just followed her and they followed her blindly. On this same farm on which the sheep lived, was a baby sheep that was able to learn directly from the shepherd instead of Dolly. This baby sheep learned how to follow the way that the shepherd expected and the two formed an actual relationship. For example, if the shepherd was guiding the baby sheep and the sheep felt like it wasn’t receiving enough attention, it would softly push its head into the shepherd’s leg to indicate that it needed more attention.

Here is the bad news: we are each like the stupid sheep. As much as we wish we weren’t, thinking that we have been raised to be a smart sheep, we really belong in the stupid category. I do not mean to dismiss that our experiences in our lives have been for naught, but I am suggesting that even though we may believe and experience great things, we are still prone to fall into human weakness and stop following the actual shepherd. However, just because we are stupid does not mean that we are hopeless. When we choose to follow our Shepherd, Jesus Christ, we become more like that sheep that relied on its shepherd, and less like the sheep that followed Dolly. We learn that when we follow his path, we will not simply fall out of our weakness, but we come to rely on him to guide us through our weakness. The sheep that followed the shepherd was still a sheep and was prone to the stupid behavior, but it learned through experiences to rely on its shepherd. I also know that I am just human; I mess up, and hurt myself and others. Yet I can learn to avoid that and come closer to God when I rely on His Savior to guide my life and when I choose to humble myself and follow what my Shepherd has in store.