Sunday's Talk

I spoke in church yesterday, and so I decided since I put lots of time into working on it, I'd share it here as well for anyone curious about my religious beliefs.
Please, this shares some tender feelings, so if you feel inclined to mock it, just be mature and go somewhere else.

By the power of the Holy Ghost, we may know the truth of all things.

The Holy Ghost is one of the basic and essential parts to the restored Gospel. In the first article of faith, it states that he is the third member of the godhead, and in the fourth it tells us we are given the gift of the Holy Ghost by “the laying on of hands,” thus making it the first blessing after baptism to be given to us once we’ve joined the church. Knowing that, it shows how important the Holy Ghost is in our lives.

TRUE TO THE FAITH Read and discussed section about the Holy Ghost.

The Holy Ghost covers a few pages of description here. It discusses how the Holy Ghost can show us the Lord’s kingdom and all we need to know for our lives if we are humble and listen.

Something significant that comes from this is the difference between feeling the Holy Ghost and the Gift of the Holy Ghost which we receive at baptism. From this, we must “receive” the gift, and be willing to live our life in a manner where we can receive His guidance.

Before we can receive revelation, we have to understand how to get it. In the GOSPEL PRINCIPLES manual, it says:

RECOGNIZING THE INFLUENCE OF THE HOLY GHOST

So, we’ve received the Holy Ghost, and we’re living our lives worthily, and the best we can to receive revelation. This is where the fun starts.

There are many ways we can learn truths. In the scriptures and through prophets, we know there are different gifts of the Holy Ghost.

D&C 46:11-26

I love that there’s a wide range here, and it says some get given this gift, others are given another. The best part is we aren’t limited to one and we can develop the gifts with our faith.

In Acts 2, the apostles of Christ are given the Holy Ghost for the first time. Here, we see an example of the gift of tongues: vs4-8. 

This chapter goes on to see Peter prophesy for the first time with the power of the Holy Ghost and is a great chapter to read, but these verses show the gift of tongues. The gift isn’t people talking in jibberish, but each spoke in a real language that someone understood. This gift is something foreign language missionaries are given, so we can see God’s wonders in our time too.

There are plenty of other gifts too which were mentioned in D&C, and it’s up to us individually to know which we are blessed with through prayer and faith.

These gifts work hand in hand with the gift of the Holy Ghost. He’s the one bestowing them on us after all. Through all of this, we can receive revelation we need in our lives to know the truth of all things.

Now, we live in a world where there’s so much information, so many sides and opinions and views to everything out there, that things can get very confusing. We are blessed to have prophets and apostles to guide us, but sometimes it can feel like our feelings or views contradict with what’s being taught. This is where our Gift of the Holy Ghost kicks in. Our leaders tell us to pray and ask in faith if we have doubts, which is encouraging us to use this incredible gift of the restored gospel to enlighten our minds.

When I was a teenager, I was all about girl power. I played sports hard and rough, and I didn’t let anyone say I couldn’t do anything. Which is fine, but I reached a point where I wondered, why can’t I have the priesthood? I looked at the goofy young men around me and wondered why they could have it and not me when I was all kinds of awesome.

I remember talking to my parents about it several times. I knew it was the way God worked, and I wasn’t going to fall away because of it, but I wanted to know WHY. So, with my parents to guide me, I studied and prayed and soon learned I had my own divine rights as a woman. They weren’t any less important, they were just different. I soon learned that I had roles to fulfill in sustaining the priesthood holders, and being a future queen in the Kingdom of God. I don’t need to hold the priesthood as long as I honor it and help the brethren around me honor theirs. God instilled womanly virtues upon me instead of the priesthood. Nowadays, I really don’t want the priesthood, because I know what I have is just as important.

Not only can the Holy Ghost teach us principles through our faith, but he can guide us down the best path in our lives.

I’d feel safe saying many here today can look back and see how the Holy Ghost guided our paths to where we are today, through the bad and the good. I know I literally wouldn’t be here, in this country, if the Spirit didn’t say, well, now we’re going this way instead.

Now I’m going to tell you a story, because that’s what I do.

When I was twenty, I determined to serve a mission come my twenty-first birthday. I had my papers and money and had done the doctor's checks, but a niggling doubt had me hesitating. I'd wanted to serve a mission for years, so I didn't know why I was doubting. So one day, while waiting on the temple grounds, I prayed about it to know for sure what I needed to do. To my surprise, I was told not to serve a mission and to go to university.

So, I obeyed and enrolled, and once I'd paid of my student fees, I had some money left over. Around that time, I received an email from my host mother (from my time as an exchange student) telling me a bunch of the guys I'd been friends with were coming home from their missions. So I arranged to come visit during my winter/US summer break. It was that visit when Landon and I got engaged.

Our engagement was made in faith. We'd known each other for a while, but things happened pretty quickly, so I really had to pray about if it was the right thing to do. I've never felt so strongly that to marry him would be the best decision of my life. I haven't regretted it, and during the rough times, I've looked back on that feeling and remembered why I married him to help me get through, and I know I'm blessed to have him in my life and I've seen my own blessing grow by following the path the Holy Ghost led me down.

The power of the Holy Ghost is real, I can never doubt that, and I will always feel blessed to have that gift in my life. 

Where I Stand: Racism

Last week, a terrible thing happened. People were murdered while attending their church. They welcomed someone in, and that person turned on them. There is absolutely no denying this was a terrible thing, and like most, my heart goes out to the victims and their families, and the survivors who had to witness such a horrific scene.
But something bothered me about some of the outcry that followed. It's something I've seen floating around for a while, but it flared up in the aftermath of this event. The hashtag: #blacklivesmatter.
Now, it's not that I don't feel that black lives don't matter, because they do. But what about Hispanic lives? Asian lives? Middle Eastern, Mediterranean, Scandinavian, Polynesian and just about everyone else on the planet?
Another thing that bothered me was the blaming of "white males". Saying white males are all horrible, murdering bigots, that is racism. The hypocrisy really got under my skin.
Allow me to explain. I am far from racist. I wasn't raised that way. I'm married to a Native American, my sister married a Filipino. I grew up surrounded by Asians, Middle Easterners, and Polynesians in the melting pot of Western Sydney. I never understood racism because I learned at a young age that everyone is an individual. Their race simply dictated the color of their skin and often different delicious foods eaten at home. For me, cultural diversity was beautiful, fun, and something to learn from.
Sometime in high school, I heard a group of boys spouting off about "ignorant white idiots." It hurt my soul. I had friends from all walks of life that never saw me as one of the "white kids." I was just... me.
Now I wasn't ignorant to the problems in certain demographics and areas where different races lived in masses, but it seemed all the races had issues in some form or another, so I just looked to the heart of the people around me and ignored the stereotypes.
So, going back to the hashtag. By singling out one race, blacks, in a way we are sticking them up the back of the bus again. By using this hashtag, we are putting them in the corner and pointing while yelling "them, right there!" We are encouraging segregation in a more subtle form. We think we're helping, but really, we're not. We're placing signs around their necks and saying they need to be treated differently to everyone else. But isn't true equality looking beyond that? Looking to their hearts?
I know there are tons of talented, beautiful, kindhearted blacks out there. Blacks who work hard and don't let ignorant morons drag them down or single them out. Their lives matter not because of their skin, but because of who they are. This is the same for whites, greens, purple with pink polka dots, whoever else knuckles down and works their hearts out to make a difference. That was Martin Luther King's dream; that all mankind will be acknowledged for their merit, not the color of their skin. When we single out blacks, we spit on his martyrdom. We laugh at Rosa Park's bravery and conviction.
What we should be saying is: #everylifematters

Where I stand: Freedom

There are lots of opinions on everything nowadays. Sometimes I feel like one side dominates over the other, even to the point of silencing arguments. Fear runs rampant, and people are cared to voice their differing views in case they are ridiculed. Well, I say enough.
Right here, I'm going to voice what I have to say. I know people will disagree, but I hope those who agree but feel down trodden know they aren't alone.
To start with, I don't believe in being Liberal or Conservative. I don't believe in following one party or another. I believe by claiming one side or another, we cause division and contention. Both sides have good points and bad. All politicians are human, thus making them a combination of liars and honest. No one is perfect. Everyone does their best, some better than others, yes, but I believe in our society people are trying their best to follow what they believe to be right.
In the western world, we are blessed to have many freedoms. Freedoms often won through blood, sweat, and tears. How often do we pause to give thanks that we can voice our opinions freely because of the sacrifice of others? Or do we forget that we have this privilege due to wars and sacrifice? Shouldn't this then mean we should let others around us feel differently and also voice their views and feelings?
Freedom was not born in America, neither is it exclusive to America. Democracy was born in Ancient Greece, and developed throughout the centuries. In England, we see the rise of freedom through the Magna Carta, a charter which the Founding Fathers used to help the build the American Constitution. Thus, we see a trail showing freedom as we know it as a western society trait.
But what is freedom?
Freedom is the right, no, I should say, the privilege to choose our own path, our own destiny. I say it's a privilege rather than a right because rights are things that are essential for living. Things like clean food and water, shelter from the elements, and a safe place to rest. There are many countries out there where people do not have these rights, places like Burma, that are so often forgotten as we whine about our own lack of "rights". The point is, anything outside of these living conditions is a privilege bought and paid for in blood. This gives us the freedom to choose our careers, our social circles, our religions, our sexuality, who leads our nations, and just about everything in our day to day lives. Because of this freedom, we can say things in ignorance or through solid study and not be ridiculed for it... technically.
Let's remember freedom is for everyone, not just the people who agree with you. Freedom gives everyone the ability to say "I agree" or "I disagree" without it breeding fear, hate, and intolerance. Freedom is for everyone who will embrace it. Let's not stifle it by silencing our opposition.