Today I read Doctrine and Covenants section 123, a section that is basically the Lord telling the brethren how to go about redressing the wrongs that have been perpetrated on the Saints. It's very interesting to me that the Lord wants the Saints to follow the proper channels and try and achieve justice largely without His help. I mean, He could soften the hearts of the government leaders or do any number of things that would ensure the Saints were left alone, but that is not the Lord's plan.
The phrase that has always stood out to me in this section is that there are many people who are kept from the truth only because they know not where to find it. I have met people in my life that have been members of the church for years, decades even. And when they tell me their stories, I am sometimes shocked at the type of person they were before they found the Gospel.
It is almost always a mistake to judge on outward appearances. I have seen men and women dressed like business professionals that behave like children and I have seen men with tattoos everywhere in biker leathers compassionately assisting others in need. Likewise it is a mistake to judge others based on their outward appearance in proportion to their likelihood in accepting the Gospel.
The Lord sees the heart and He knows who has been prepared to accept the Gospel and who has not. We must rely on the Lord to help us know who is prepared and what we can be doing to spread the gospel most effectively. This is why the missionaries ask us to pray over who we know that is ready to accept the gospel and how we can best approach them. We may think to ourselves that so and so may make a great member of the church, and that is true that they might. But they may not want anything to do with the gospel of Jesus Christ. There are people in this world that enjoy sin and do not want to give it up. I still can't for the life of me understand the draw to drink alcohol, but the people at least in this country, enjoy it with a passion that astounds me.
Perhaps the best way to know who you know that is prepared for the Gospel is by living a good Latter-day Saint lifestyle. People notice the difference between a Latter-day Saint who is living the Gospel and the rest of the people in this world. As a Latter-day Saint we are pretty much always on stage. Once a person knows who you are, they will typically judge the entire church off of what you do. It is not fair, but it is a fact. As we live our lives, they will think that all other Latter-day Saints are the same way. And I would daresay that a good chunk of people who join the church as adults knew other Latter-day Saints and it was a big draw for them that we acted differently. It is a breath of fresh air to meet people who actually live according to the dictates of their professed religion. I know when I come across someone of a different church I love it when they actually follow the commandments and the rules of their church. It is sadly too rare a thing.
When we become serious about spreading the Gospel, the Lord will help us know what we can do to further His work. He will work with us to help us spread His truth and it is so rewarding. At the very least though, we can live our religion and let it be known that we are LDS. We don't need to shove it down other people's throats, but we do need to make sure that we wear it on our sleeves and not hide who we are. It is very rewarding to be an instrument in God's hands. It's pretty fun too! Until tomorrow.
The Lord, Vader? That was a false prophet. You, wake up, understand who and what you are. Stop following and start listening to your heart, learn to have faith by only doing, not by regurgitating a poorly edited story that kings and priests have enslaved the common man with for millenia... I pray you make your way, because you are looking.
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