How about a little background? Just so you know where I'm coming from. I’m the main author of this blog—hopefully you’ll get to read some things from other people. I’m the youngest of 4 children. I grew up moving around the country. So it's hard to say I'm from any one particular place. I'm currently married to a great guy and have 2 awesome children and another one making her debut in a couple months. I was born into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In fact, I am a 6th generation Latter-day Saint. My father's ancestors joined the Church in Denmark in the 1800s and made the long journey across the ocean to settle in Salt Lake City, Utah. They undoubtedly had a strong conviction that God exists and that this Church is true considering they left everything that was familiar to them! Can you imagine leaving family and the comfort of your own country and home to come strange country with a strange language?
I believe God exists because I've "done my homework" so to speak. It has taken time. Over the course of my life, I’ve had enough experiences that have given me an unshakable confidence that God is indeed real.
Not to say I haven't had times of doubt. I think many of us who believe have had times like that. When I was a teenager, I was pretty hung up about not having any real HARD evidence of God. I couldn't see him and I couldn't hear an audible voice. And sometimes I got thinking about death and the unknown afterwards. It scared me. How could people have such faith that we did go on after we died? And outer space. It probably sounds funny, but for some reason, the fact that the universe was almost infinite, with galaxies, innumerable solar systems, of which our solar system is only a teeny tiny speck made my head spin. I couldn’t wrap my head around that and I had some doubts that there could be a Supreme Creator for all of that. I remember trying to explain this to my oldest sister one late night and she said, “So…just because you can’t understand it, you can’t believe it?” I didn’t know what to say. I had to sit on that for awhile.
So what’s this “homework” I’m talking about?
The Book of Mormon teaches how to know if something is true. The scripture is found in the last chapter of the Book of Mormon. Moroni 10:4-5:
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.
I love that the scripture says we can know the truth of all things. Not just some things. Not just church things. All things. The scripture told me that in order to find out truth, I needed to have a sincere heart and real intent. In other words, Marisa had to really care to get the answer. Mere curiosity isn’t going to cut it here. And I had to care more about getting The Truth more than an answer that would suit me (the kind of answer I’d like to get). The “real intent” part means that I needed to ask with the intent to act upon the answer. Be ready to do something about it.
So the scripture also says that the truth will be made known “by the power of the Holy Ghost.” What does that mean?
I can’t answer any better than this scripture. The speaker is Jesus Christ:
“Yea, behold, I will tell you in your mind and in your heart, by the Holy Ghost, which shall come upon you and which shall dwell in your heart.” (Doctrine & Covenants 8:2)
I once went to a youth conference when I was 16. We did a whole variety of stuff there. We went to all kinds of classes, had dances, fancy dinners, and played games. Some of the classes I went to focused on spiritual things. One of them focused on the Book of Mormon. For those of you not familiar with it, it is a book of scripture comparable to the Bible. Latter-day Saints believe in both the Bible and the Book of Mormon. They are both the words of God. After going to this class, I decided to formally pray about whether or not it was true. (I had never formally prayed and asked about it.) I got down on my knees after my roommate was asleep. I honestly wanted to know for sure that the Book of Mormon was for real. That God really was there. As I prayed silently, a feeling of peace and joy overwhelmed me. I even started to weep because the feeling was so strong, so good, and so right. The feeling that came was absolutely undeniable. I knew in my mind that what I had been taught all along about God felt right and it also made sense to me. And I also knew that the truth of the Book of Mormon had always felt good to me. I felt good when I read it. It felt good when people talked about it. I had seen my family members talk about how they were trying to do the things the book teaches—and they were doing them. And I saw the good that it was doing in their lives. I remember my brother's senior year of high school when he decided to read the Book of Mormon cover to cover. After he read it, even to my immature 13 year-old eyes, I could truly see a real change in him. It was pretty remarkable. We had always had trouble getting along. And then when he read the Book of Mormon, he was different. Better-different. He started showing me love and we stopped fighting (or he stopped fighting with me). He had a peace about him that wasn't there before. Yes, the evidence was all around. God really is out there. I had a witness in both my “heart and mind”—as the scripture says—that all of it is real. And that was The Truth.
Here's another person's story:
Future posts coming soon (in no particular order):
What Latter-day Saints Believe About Who God Is
What Latter-day Saints believe about the purpose of life?
Why do Latter-day Saints believe it's necessary to go to church every Sunday?
Why do Mormons abstain from alcohol, tea, and tobacco?
What about the bold claim that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the only true church?
Why does the LDS Church seem to expect so much of its members?
Why do Latter-day Saints believe it's necessary to go to church every Sunday?
Why do Mormons abstain from alcohol, tea, and tobacco?
What about the bold claim that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the only true church?
Why does the LDS Church seem to expect so much of its members?
Why do Latter-day Saints call each other "brother" and "sister"?
What is the Purpose of LDS Temples? What do you do at the Temple?
Who exactly is Joseph Smith?
Why do Latter-day Saints say the Church has been "restored?"
Where did the Book of Mormon come from?
I noticed Mormons don't swear. What's up with that?
Why do Latter-day Saints believe everyone needs God?
Why do Latter-day Saints believe everyone needs God?
What is it like to attend an LDS Church on Sunday?
Why is the family so important to the Church?
Prophets & Apostles on the earth today: Continuing Revelation
Why don't Latter-day Saints believe in infant baptism?
What do Mormons believe about Jesus' suffering and Atonement?
Mormons talk a lot about "The Holy Ghost." What is that and why is it so important?
Why don't Latter-day Saints believe in infant baptism?
What do Mormons believe about Jesus' suffering and Atonement?
Mormons talk a lot about "The Holy Ghost." What is that and why is it so important?
Do you have any questions you'd like me to help answer or questions about this post? Leave me a comment, don't be shy!
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