Missionary Muscle

As a Latter-Day Saint member living in Salt Lake City, it is easy to forget that it is essentially human to want to know truth.  “Can I tell you about my religion?”  “What religion is that?”  “Mormonism.”  “Forget it.”  Although this is not the universal case and this prejudice disparate from feelings of the rest of the world, this “worst case scenario” shall be used.  “Can I tell you about truth?”  “What kind of truth is that?”  “It is the kind of truth that will make you understand your purpose in life, it will show you what is really reality by clarifying the worldly and the artificial against eternally divine experiences that can happen every moment from looking at the stars at night to hearing the coo of a new born.  It will help you with any anxieties with aging and worries over what one has done with one’s life as time in a temporal condition of this finite mortality in truth does not exist beyond this limited sphere; the eternities not infinite time but the absence of time.  And life should never be measured by quantity but quality and should never be compared to another as we all have our trials and each of God’s children will make of their life one of happiness be they a pauper in Bangladesh or they a miserably wretched Wall Street tycoon who has never really lived but merely played the game of money, which is the ultimate artificiality of this world not to be confused with the preciousness of tried and true charity, the pure love of Christ, where no man stands alone or above but where all are on equal ground and only one judge has the knowledge to have seen all through His atoning sacrifice giving Him every right to judge and what better advocate could possibly be wanted other than the source of all reality which is his love even Jesus Christ?” 

One might ask a further question, “Would you like to know the source of such truths and where an abundance of more, the kind that will serve you personally, can be found?”  “Oh, yes, please,” comes the answer, “tell me where I can find the source of such enlightenment for myself.”  “You may find it in the true Gospel of Jesus Christ.”  “Um… OK… where might the true Gospel of Christ be found?”  “You might find it at any given moment as you read the Book of Mormon, another testament of Jesus Christ who came also to the Americas which, unlike the Bible, is recorded from direct inspired revelation and not revised countless times through many languages, but can be trusted verbatim as truth.  You might find it by listening to missionaries who will tell you about the origins of the Church of Jesus Christ, which, unlike any other faith, was founded on perfect truth; revelation given to the young prophet Joseph Smith and they will tell you how the Church in absolute truth, was established with authority in perfect accord with the Gospel of Jesus Christ as it existed in his day, and not anything prefabricated; and is the living, embodied manifestation of this same God’s true church on the earth today.  You might learn truth as you come to church and learn lessons and develop your own testimony of the Book of Mormon, of the Atonement of Jesus Christ which is the central principle to all things, the power of faith, the worth of service, and the central role of family as you learn the divine truth, your own purpose here on earth, The Plan of Salvation, as you progress in this earthly sphere of learning truths and growing, together with an eternal companion, making your way back to God, from whence you came, but not as an innocent lamb as you left him, but now as a mighty pillar of faith, understanding and learning, ready to begin your journey into the eternities and your own progeny with worlds without number. 

This journey will begin for you in the temple as you make special covenants, wonderful covenants of righteousness that are the source for living peacefully, harmoniously and happily in this life, covenants that you knew and decided that you would make before you came to earth.  These covenants are the path of joy and the journey, as you keep a safe haven of goodness within you for the Spirit to dwell, your journey will be one of truth, a life the very best lived, the very most meaningful and quality existence most in harmony with God.  In this path of truth don't waste a moment on worldly artifice but forever climb higher on your personal progression never to fall as you are firmly grounded on that which is real.  Your path to the eternities begins here where you will be sealed in marriage to a spouse whom is not yours, “till death do you part,” but for “time and all eternity.”  And together you begin along the path of truth with the Spirit guiding you as you make your way contemplatively and prayerfully paying attention to spiritual promptings and your spiritual wellsprings will forever be full of truth, as such established once learned in experience, will forever be a part of your spiritual being.

You in truth can be the spiritual being who can stand erect before the Savior at the day of all reckoning, that can be the greatest of your existence and say in honest and very real humility as you are before all things, humble, as you could not be truly charitable otherwise, ‘Thank you, thank you for the gift of charity you gave me for without it life would have been an empty affair.  Your suffering was not lost on me but I made the utmost of your love in my life in every respect, most especially to share your light with others that I care about and all my fellow humanity whom I shared your light with, sharing your love so all around me might share in the joy of the reality you made possible through your atoning sacrifice making all things possible without which my existence would never have happened and I feel now, the light of yours that lifts my soul to the a colossal peak, creates a love I could never have believed possible but now in your presence, my Savior, everything in the universe is in truth perfect through the glory of you whom I find in worshipping brings me to a precipice even higher.  How great thou art, how great thou art.’  Is this the kind of thing you would like to say to the Savior when you meet him, as you will meet him, nothing can be more certain, do you wish to, with humility, hold your head up, or ramble on lists of excuses?” 

“No excuses.  How can I visit with the missionaries without another moment’s delay?  I have lingered too long in blindness and do not want to meet my Savior in blindness but with the faith, understanding and learning of a stalwart Mormon, to practice true charity in my life, to follow the path of righteousness and learn more about the Plan of Salvation and my purpose, and do those things that will bring me back to God.  The love you speak of, I feel this right now, this is very real, this is not artificial, and this Spirit in my heart, this Spirit is telling me something, and it is boldly testifying to all the things you say, that this is the very path to that moment of perfect universal truth that begins now as I accept and embrace the fullness of truth found in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”