Dear Mr. Jeffress, I do not, in fact, belong to a cult...

You may have heard about Pastor (although, I use that term loosely after his comments) Robert Jeffress calling the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (he said the 'Mormon' Church. It's not the Mormon Church, sir) a "cult". 

At first, I laughed. I'm used to hearing people question, criticize, and misunderstand my faith. But then I got to thinking...what gives this guy the right to go out on a national stage, where there are millions of people watching and listening to his every word, and call a religion a cult without a single legitimate reason?

People fear what they do not understand. The comments of this man are a sign that he does not understand our faith. And by him expounding on his fear by taking the national stage and calling a church beloved by millions a 'cult' he is creating more fear and more misunderstanding. 

When I think of a cult, I invision a charismatic leader that requires his (or her) followers to worship him (or her) alone. I invision vulnerable people being isolated and alienated from their families for the benefit of the cult's leader. I invision dangerous and disturbing acts done for the betterment of the 'group' all in the name of the leader of the cult. 

When I think of a cult, I do not see a Church that is centered around being more Christ-like. I do not see a Church that is so family focused. I do not see a Church that is dedicated to service of fellow man, no matter their faith. I do not see a Church like The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. 

He aslo made the comment that Mitt Romeny is not a Christian. According to the Merriam-Webster's dictionary, the term 'Christian' is defined as "a person who believes in the teachings of Jesus Christ." If you've read my blog for a while, you'll remember the series of posts I did detailing my conversion story (you can read all of the parts here). I was raised in a Christian home and have always desired a relationship with Christ and my Heavenly Father. I have also struggled so much through my life with my faith. It was not until I found my way to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints that I truly found my faith and was able to feel a true and deep connection with Heavenly Father, Christ, and the Holy Ghost. 

I understand that not everyone is going to agree with me or share my faith. I understand that there are people that have had negative experiences with the Church. I bet there are people that had negative experiences at the church that Mr. Jeffress preaches at as well. I think that the comments he made were hurtful, hateful, baseless, and completely unfounded. They were also inappropriate. To bring religion into the political arena is not acceptable. We have the first amendment for a reason after all. 

I do not expect everyone to agree with my religion or faith. I do expect common courtesy and respect, especially from someone is a position of power such as Mr. Jefress.

(image source) 

I can do hard things

Tonight T and I had the wonderful and amazing chance to hear Elizabeth Smart speak at my YSA stakes fireside. Two weeks ago, our bishop announced that she was coming to speak and I nearly gasped out loud because I was so excited. 

If you don't remember, Elizabeth Smart is the girl who was kidnapped at knifepoint by a man who broke into her house and stole her from her bed as she slept. She was held captive for 9 months and was repeatedly raped, tortured, starved, and more atrocities. 

The thing that I love about her is that after this horrific ordeal, her testimony remained strong and unshaken. No one would have blamed her if she no longer believed in God because of the horrible things she went though. She went on to serve a full-time mission for the LDS Church. She gave up 18 months of her life to serve the Lord. 

The first thing that struck me when she walked into the chapel and sat up on the stand was how poised she was. The chapel was over flowing with people, so much so that they opened up the culture hall behind and people were sitting on the stage. They even had to roll a tv into another room and video tape it because there were so many people. Sister Smart didn't bat an eye at the crowd. She was smiling, laughing, and talking to the family that was on the stand with her. 

One of her companions who had served with her in France and also lived in Utah introduced her. Sister Smart got up and began to speak. Her voice didn't waver once.

 She told the story of her captor and how he grew up. She told us about being stalked for 8 months, taken from her bed, and lived under constant threat of abuse and death for nine months. She reminded us that we are all children of God and that what was happening to her was not her fault. Even though her captor constantly used religion as a way to manipulate and justify his actions, she didn't loose faith. 

She spoke of the Atonement. How it healed her and allowed her to move on. She knew that there was someone that knew exactly how she felt. Christ went through what she went through. I gained a better appreciation and understanding hearing her talk about the wonderful blessings that come from the Atonement. 

After her talk, the audience was allowed to ask questions. Some were funny (How is dating? "Messy. Stressful. Normal" was her answer) Some were touching and testimony strengthening (Did your testimony suffer during or after your ordeal? "No." Simply 'no'.) My personal favorite was when she asked what she was afraid of after going through this ordeal, she answered that she was afraid of snakes and spiders. :)

I walked away with a greater appreciation of life. Anything that I am going through pales in comparison of what that little 14-year-old went though. Her faith never wavered and she went though things that are unimaginable. Even though religion was used to justify her captors motives, she knew it was wrong. She knew that God loved her and wouldn't command anyone, even a so called "man of god", to intentionally make someone do something they do not want to do. 

No matter what the affliction is, you can make it through. You CAN do hard things even if you don't think you can.  At the very end she shared her favorite scripture that got her through so much: 

"Be patient in afflictions, for thou shalt have many; but endure them, for, lo, I am with thee, even unto the end of thy days."

D&C 24:8

(via pinterest)

I needed a reminder of this tonight. 

trust

What an easy concept, right? ha. yeah. 

Wrong. 

I'm not talking about trust in people though. I'm talking about trust in myself. And in my Heavenly Father. You'd think that I would have gotten the hang of it by now, but I still struggle every single day. Being unemployed in a new state with rejection emails flying at you left and right does a thing to your trust, self esteem, and faith. To me, trust has always been linked to faith and if you've been reading this blog for a while, you know I've always struggled with my faith. 

Especially lately. Which is weird because I've felt more secure and happy than I have ever felt. But I can't seem to get that feeling transferred into my relationship with my Heavenly Father. 

I've alway been a shy kid and new experiences stress me out and overwhelm me ridiculously easy. And the past four weeks have been nothing but new experiences. I especially struggle with social interaction. Social anxiety is what I've been told I have. It's really hard for me. Like this past Sunday. I'm in a new ward (kind of like a school in the wider scheme of things. Schools make up school districts and wards make up Stakes. Does that make sense? ha.) and I've been struggling. I woke up Sunday morning with an awful pit in my stomach. The thought of facing so many new people on my own was overwhelmingly scary and I sat on the couch for a long time willing myself to get ready for Church. I called my mom on the verge of tears, hoping she'd give me a pep talk like she always does. I was scared. Crying. Near panic attack mode really. 

But then my mom said something to the effect of 'honey get your act together and get on with your life'...No, I'm kidding. It went something like 'honey, you need to trust God. If you truly believe Him to be your Savior then you need to have a little faith in Him. He's brought you this far without incident, right? So trust him.' 

And I did. And I made it to Church, met so many new people and it wasn't even half bad! :) I'm really glad Heavenly Father has given me the amazing mother that I have. Its because of her that I trusted God that day and went to Church despite intense anxiety over meeting people. 

I'm starting to cry as I write this because without even knowing it, my mom strengthened my testimony on Sunday. Heck, I didn't even realize it until just this moment. 

"The Lord is my roc, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation and my high tower. I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised; so shall I be saved from mine enemies."

Psalm 18:2-3

What do you mean I don't leave for 2 weeks?!

First, let's get a few things out of the way. Once I tell you two facts about me, this entire post will make complete sense. First, I worry about pretty much everything. Worry isn't quite the word I'm looking for...stress...I stress over things. The second is that I get overwhelmed quickly when it comes to huge decisions/life changes/moving. Give me a panty bar to straighten or a fuming donor and I'm cool as a cucumber but when it comes to my personal life? I'm a slight mess sometimes. 

Now that you understand me, I can continue on with my story. I leave Michigan in 10 days (it's still really weird to think I'm moving so far away). I have to pack up my entire life, a dog, and a mom into my Escape and drive a whole lot of miles. Instant stress. The whole packing thing has got me worried. I attempted to begin packing my car today. I've already got pretty much everything in boxes from my Grand Rapids move, but I was still feeling way overwhelmed. 

I stopped. Then, Kelly and my mom came to my rescue (as always). My mom is a packing queen and she was bound and determined to get all of my stuff into my car. And wouldn't you know it, she did! I still have a bunch of stuff to fit, but we managed to fit all of the big stuff I wanted with me!!! 

 Thirty minutes later my car looked like this: 

Mom's magical packing skills

Charlie even got his own bedroom!

It just reminded me that I have to continue to have faith in myself, the people around me and in Heavenly Father. I was sure taught a lesson tonight: never underestimate the power of a mother. 

There's only a slight problem. I don't actually leave for another 10 days! My car is ready now and frankly, so am I! It's going to be hard driving around with these in my car, knowing that my adventure is so so so close. 

Oh, and to make today even better, we added a new family member to the household! Meet my nephew Frederick James Blueblood III: 

Finding My Faith - part 1

This is going to be the first of a few posts...a series, if you will, about how I came to know about The Restored Gospel, Heavenly Father, and his plan for our salvation here on this earth. I've wanted to get this written down for a while and I figured I'd start now so I won't forget again. 

I can remember driving down Woodward as a kid and thinking to myself 'wow, that's a really pretty building' as we drove past the Detroit, Michigan Temple. I had no clue what it was or how precious it would become to me. All I knew is that I got this sense of wonder and awe every time I drove to work with my mom and we passed the building. 

Flash forward to my senior year of high school. I'm in Mr. Chandler's 3rd hour (maybe it was 4th but I think it was 3rd) AP US History class. I was a shy kid and tended to keep to myself, so I didn't really have that many friends. By sheer luck and chance I ended up choosing a spot next to a girl named Amanda. She was quiet and reserved like me and we hit it off right away. I got to know Amanda and got to know what was happening in her life. In December, she met a guy. I still remember hearing her tell me the story of how they met at her uncle's Christmas party and how she had gotten into a fight with her mom or something and this boy offered to give her a ride home. He was a member of the Church and soon enough they were dating and he was taking her to Church. 

I graduated and we lost touch. I was 3 hours away and she was still in high school. I went through a lot of heavy stuff my freshman year and got pretty lost for a while. I made some bad decisions and was in a really dark place for a while. I didn't really have any hope at that moment and felt so far away from God that I often wondered if I would ever be able to find my way back into his presence. 

When she was 18, she was baptised and applied to BYU-I. I was shocked when I heard that she was going to school in Idaho. Over the next few months I watched (via Facebook creeping) as she grew and blossomed into this amazing, strong young woman. Somewhere deep inside, I knew it was The Church that was responsible for her happiness. 

Why am I telling Amanda's story in a story that is supposed to belong to me? Well, Amanda's story is linked to mine.  I watched a girl do something that I could never dream of doing at her age. I watched her meet her husband, fall in love, and get married. I regret not going to their reception in Michigan to this day. 

Flash forward again to 2 summers ago (2009) and I'm doing my homework late one night at school. I'd always been intrigued by the LDS Church and had been wandering over to lds.org for a few months before and was curious. I hadn't really done more than look at the front page, wonder a little, then stuff the wondering feeling into the back of my mind and continue about my day.

So, back to the night at hand. I was seriously avoiding doing my homework and was just staring at the lds.org homepage. I noticed a little sidebar that said 'chat with a missionary'. That really had me wondering. My mouse hovered over the button as I contemplated clicking it. Should I do it? What would it really be like? What would happen if I talked to them? Questions zoomed in and out of my head as I suddenly felt this intense urge to learn more.

I clicked it and that one little leap of faith ended up changing my life.