Monday, April 20, 2015

“Q” is for Questions

Q“Behold, I would exhort ye that when ye shall read these things…that ye shall receive these things and ponder it in your hearts. And when you shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye 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.1’'

 I was in something of a quandary last night, because I had absolutely no idea what my Q blog would be about. This morning, it came to mind that a question had been asked in a comment for another article, and so I have decided to answer it today: “Why did I choose this particular Church?”oakland-mormon-temple2

The first thing I need to say is that I didn’t really choose this Church; it chose me. Most of my family had joined the Church when I was about 14 or 15, but I already belonged to another church and was very happy where I was, thank you. This situation continued for about six years, until a few months before my 21st birthday. I was in my third year of college and the Choir was on tour in Northern California. I had a number of very good friends who were LDS and when they asked me if I’d like to go to Oakland to see the temple there I thought sure, why not? A few other friends went along with us and we had a fun time.

After the tour, I asked the pastor of my Church what he thought about the Articles of Faith of the Mormon church (I had picked up a card that had them listed while visiting the temple). I found them thoroughly confusing, and I was hoping to find an excuse that would allow me to say “Thanks, but no thanks.” He did his best, but when we’d finished talking, I think he was as confused as I, if not more so. In fact, I decided that I would ask the missionaries what those things meant, because I found that many things coincided with what my church taught, while many other things seemed to be as believable as aliens from outer space.

The missionaries didn’t come to that first appointment, which ticked me off royally.

To be continued tomorrow. Look for “R” is for the Rest of the Story.

1Moroni 10:3,4

The photograph is of the Oakland Temple

 

© April 20, 2015. Mary Purpari. All Rights Reserved.