I know these things to be True...

So our amazing set of Elders were over tonight and they brought with them one of the funniest guys from my amazing group from the Geezer class. They are working very hard to get us ready for the Leap of Faith we will be making in just a week or so and we both find their presence comforting as well as enlightening. Entertaining too, but that is another story entirely. After reading a wonderful passage tonight with all five of us taking turns, (Alma Chapter 29 if anyone wishes to see what we read) we talked about the Living Prophet and how the Mormon Church differs so much from all other forms of Christianity.

To me, the most Amazing and Comforting thing about the Mormon Faith is that we do indeed have a Living Prophet who hears the words of God and passes them down to all of the Members of the Church. Other faiths and other Sects all had Prophets in their distant past, but none in modern times. As a matter of fact one of the things I find most confusing about the ones who condemn Mormonism is that they are perfectly okay with prophets and leaders that lived and died thousands of years ago, but have a problem that we have a Prophet who is alive and well today. Somehow it is okay in their minds that people spoke to God long ago, but it is silly that someone can speak to him today.

One of the first questions Elder Sahagin asked me and my wife was “Did we have any problems believing that the Living Prophet spoke with God and Heard His words.” (Slightly paraphrased but that was the general idea.) I could honestly answer that I had no problem believing these things. After all if it could happen in Biblical times, why not today?

This has been a long and sometimes confusing journey for me. I am by nature a Cynic and a Doubter. I have wrestled with the subject of God and Faith for a very long time. I am still wrestling with it and I suppose a part of me will wrestle with it for the rest of my life. That is my nature. However so many things have happened in a very short period of time that seem to point out that we are indeed on the right path now. (Seriously, the list of Miracles both big and small would fill another blog all on their own.) These things show me what our new friends and family tell me are true.

Sometimes, I wonder if people who have never experienced it can understand the incredible sense of being alone and the sometimes overpowering fear you feel when you have no faith to anchor you. You lie to yourself and say that you are doing fine. You fool yourself into believing that you don't need anything else. You don't even understand what you are lacking until someone reaches out to you and helps you stand upright again. We have had so many people helping us and the sincere feelings of love and support that come from them is mind blowing. People that were complete strangers to us when we started this journey have opened their hearts and homes to us.

So after experiencing all of this and the miracles we have seen, I have absolutely no trouble believing that the Book of Mormon is true and that the Living Prophet uses God's wisdom and love to guide us. I still have a long journey ahead of me, but with all of the love and help we have been given, I think I am going to make it.

Amen