My Semi Awakening

Mar 3,2013

           The reason I have decided to start blogging is to promote the anti-anti-mormon point of view, which I feel doesn't get heard enough. The vast majority of search results in Google pertaining to Mormonism involve haters, protagonists, and naysayers. I have begun to feel as though there might be something to the concerns many of these people have. That's not to say I agree with what is said, or that I will ever. I have begun to understand that there are many many people who feel the same anti-mormon feelings and that those feelings can no longer be ignored and labeled as evil or irrelevant, even by active church members.My purpose with this blog is to awaken active members, non active members, anti mormons, and non members to a realization of the validity of everyone's points of view, and to possibly resolve feelings of hatred or anger toward each other through mature discussion of peoples feelings.
         

Who am I and why am I doing this?

          My name is Kevin Martin. I am a Canadian, living in Alberta. I was born and raised active in the LDS church. I am in my late 20's and am a carpenter. If my writing skills do not live up to the standards of a PHD graduate you will have to forgive me.
          Temporally, I have chosen the path of carpentry in my life because I love it, and have devoted my life to learning carpentry rather than writing and other things. Spiritually, I have given much time in my life to learning of the things which bring me closer to God, and head me down the path that will result in me being happiest. Do you see how I didn't have to mention the church in that statement? I will elaborate later on why that is.
        I am married to the most wonderful of women. We were sealed in the holy temple very close to 6 years ago in the Cardston, Alberta temple. We now have 2 perfect children, and one baking in the oven :) Those people are the absolute joy of my life.
        I come from a home in which my parents divorced, my dad remarried a women with 5 kids, and my mother lives with the woman she left my dad for. So for all the people out there who feel as though an active mormon guy cannot possible have valuable insight into some hard topics, such as gay/lesbian, broken homes, drug abuse, physical abuse, alcoholism, and many other things, you will be suprised to find I actually may have more insight than expected.
        My purpose is to give personal insight into problems that people are facing regarding spirituality, the church, God, and other things from the point of view of an active, believing mormon. The reason I decided to do it in blog form is to eliminate unproductive arguing and attacking that happen in forums and chat rooms. I seek solely to offer my opinions. 
    

 How I got to this point?

 At this point in my life I am active in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and believe in the doctrines. As of late I have come to see that there are many people who have serious doctrinal, historical, and ethical problems with the church. In my own heart I have wondered about many of these problems too. Many of them are legitimate problems. My personal choice has been to let them go, forgive the people who are creating the problems and focus on what has brought me happiness and peace in my life. Why should I change all of the good things in my life because of something that is in no way relative to the way I live my life. If its working, why fix it?
         That statement is not meant to say that everything that works for me, works for everyone.
         As of late I have had and heard a few conversations with people that have some serious differences with the church and have consequently left it. One of those people was Ed Decker, maker of the movie "The God Makers". Ed had posted on his website his personal testimony of why he left the mormon church and as I read it I wondered how the things he experienced not only caused him to leave the church, but to try to harm it. From what Ed explained on his website, he was a convert who through all of his efforts could never gain the relationship with the Savior that he wished to through merely following the teachings of the church. He explains that he decided to leave the church and join another and that is when he feels he really found God. I still couldn't figure out why that made him devote much of his post mormon life to trying to destroy the church through the sharing and defacing of our sacred ordinances and personal prosolyting.
         Later I heard a radio broadcast where he stated that because we believe that Christ was physically conceived by God the Father that we believe in a different Christ. One begat by satan, apparently cause demons like to seduce women. That absolutely boggled my mind, that someone who has lived and experienced the church and its members could possibly come to the conclusion, and tell others, that we believe in a Christ begat by Satan. In a way it mildly offended me because my life rises and falls on Jesus Christ, the literal son of God. So, in hopes of clarification I emailed Ed.
        The point that I most wanted to get across to him is that I do not worship a Christ that was begat by Satan. Aside from that I asked him why he has decided to persecute the church rather than just leave us to our own, free devices. Ed replied and was very kind to me. I appreciate the fact that he clarified that he does not hate us. He did however, continue to persist that I do not worship "the right" Jesus Christ.  That conversation was my first catalyst.
        Earlier today I listened to the podcast called "Mormon Stories" by John Dehlin. The episode that I listened to was titled, Inside the Mind of an Anti-Mormon, in which he had a very enlightening conversation with a very nice young man who had very legitimate reasons for which he left the church. As I listened I contemplated what he was saying and asked myself if anything he was saying actually unvalidated the church. The answer to that question is NO. Nothing he said, though persuasive and possibly true, was of sufficient value to prove the church invalid. Now I will tell you why. Remember that I am not trying to make anyone feel like their points are not valid. I am promoting the active mormon point of view because I believe it fully.
      

Why the Church is still true

           One of the main arguments of one of the anti mormons I interacted with, is that if Christ was leading this church then many of the things that have happened in the past, such as things in the personal lives of historical saints or prophets should not have happened. Agreed. Hahaha, ya I believe that. But that in no way makes the church untrue. There is only one thing that brings truth to this church, whether or not the people in it are sinners. It is that Jesus Christ is the founder and proprietor of it. Which I know to be absolutely the case, through the gift and power of the Holy Ghost, who cannot lie.
          Many people, even the entire world can think that the temple ordinances are not correct, yet if Christ is the proprietor then they are true.
          What I am saying is that there is only 1.... GET THAT!!! 1 single way that a person can know of a surety that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is truly Christs church on Earth. ASK HIM YOURSELF. There is no point looking at ungodly human's actions in determining if something is true. That is very time consuming and counter productive. Get your heart in a truly humble and penitent state, willing to accept the truth for what it is, and then ASK GOD.
          Christ, is the only being that graced this planet that did not sin and he has asked and asked again for us to just ask him for the things we need to know. Now many people may say that God told them the church is not true. Well, there isn't much that I can say to that. Only, that he told me it is true.