Mormon Direction

I have heard many claim entrenchment in their beliefs about their church, their faith, their particular religion, claiming it is God’s. By these firm beliefs, they claim to have a testimony. Many people hear their testimony and hear they firmly believe what they claim. People have heard these firm beliefs from one Christian denomination to the next. Then, when approached by missionaries from this LDS Church, they hear another claim of firm belief. In response, they then stand in doubt because they cannot discern which is true.

To filter through these firm beliefs and to discern what is God’s truth and what is merely a personal belief, we must first consider that a “firmness” in belief is an expression found in many facets of life. It is not specific to religion, it exists everywhere. The phrase “I firmly believe” is a common phrase used by people to proclaim their stance with something or in regards to something.

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In the recent General Conference, Vicki F. Matsumori gave a talk about recognizing when the Spirit, or Holy Ghost speaks to us. The examples and descriptions she gave of how the Spirit “whispers” are exact and true. One of the descriptions given was from the words of President Henry B. Eyring, where he said, in effect, “Almost always I have also felt a sensation of light.” ¹. The description that immediately followed was the experience by an eight-year-old boy, “It felt like sunshine”.²

All of the descriptions I recognize, having experienced the Holy Spirit many times. The latter two descriptions given by Ms. Matsumori as the experience of “light”, like “sunshine”. The mind is enlightened, gaining clarity of understanding and perception, being able to understand and perceive the scope and breadth of the subject, topic, matter or issue at hand. All doubt is erased and sureness of thought is accomplished. So long as one moves within that frame of sureness, once moved by the Holy Ghost, peace and success is assured. To some, this may also describe the experience of “being in the spirit” or “feeling enlightened”. The experience that seems to be like a bright light that has shined brightly within the mind and heart. Hand in hand with this is the feeling of peace or how peace exists in it. Such is quite distinct and in contrast to having a “sudden idea”.

Vicki Matsumori was correct when she said that it can be hard to discern these “sunshine” moments. The inability to recognize these moments is because of the lack of experience and knowledge of the Holy Ghost or worst, from a disbelief that these experiences and feelings are from the Holy Spirit.

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 One day you are doing something that you know is not right, but you have a strong desire to do it. As you do this thing, you “feel” in the chest area a lowering of sorts, a diminishing as if things are being lowered within you. This is compared to the “good” feeling you had in general, when having kept the commandments and you were obedient. It is that good feeling that is lowered and heads downward. Despite what you feel, you continue with the thing you desired and soon, the higher feeling of goodness no longer resides in you. Depending on how long you continue, you feel more worldly or “darkened” and a kind of “lost” feeling begins to take place within you. 

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There are many other Christians who speak against the use of feelings in regards to faith and the discernment of truth. Some Christians use the Bible to deny the idea that impressions from the Holy Ghost are felt based on the idea that we cannot trust feelings. Others denounce the idea of feelings because it has no basis in fact or logic, claiming that feelings about Mormonism is far too subjective.

Bible passages used by others to discredit the use of feelings are, Proverbs 3:5 ; 14:12 ; 28:26 and James 2:24, to name a few. It appears that religious beliefs about feelings fall into two basic camps. The ones who deny feelings to promote facts and logic and the other camp that declares feelings as a means to determine if they are saved. Either way, when reading the beliefs of these two camps, I see that there is no real understanding of the scriptures and what God teaches about feelings.

Many of the members of this Church are converts and some of these converts came from both camps, the “fact” camp and the “feeling” camp. It is reasonable to believe that either convert would likely experience some degree of struggle with their past beliefs in the face of the doctrines and teachings of this Church. With the ties to their past still affecting them, it can be difficult to make the transition. The “fact” believers would have to learn the spiritual truth (facts) about feelings and the believers from the feeling camp would need to learn and develop a better perspective of “feelings” in reference to spiritual truth and the gospel.

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To have the ability to sense or feel sin is an important skill in maintaining faith and a single mind to the Lord. The ability to feel sin has nothing to do with seeking sin, it has to do with the ability to discern sin when all logic seems to fail or fall short.

To feel sin is to detect sin or sinful things by their nature and presence. To be able to feel and perceive jointly.

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One of the challenges of being a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is whether a particular doctrine or practice is believable or acceptable. I have read and heard so many claims by ex-Mormons of how they were fooled or blinded to some of the doctrines or activities of the Church.

Some of the common complaints surround tithing, lack of answers to prayers, Adam-God Theory, Blacks previously refused the priesthood, men oriented church, and so on. When I looked at these claims or complaints and the stories behind them I see that they are just personal, which means that their issues are specific to them. For some things the Church has done, such as restrict Black men from the priesthood, are true, but making personal issue out of these things certainly does not gain the ear of the Lord neither does it gain any help or witness from the Holy Ghost. Why is this? It is because making personal issue is the act of contention which is the spirit of contention and such is not of God.

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There has been quite a debate about LDS ceremonial garments, routinely called “Mormon undergarments”. The use and purpose of these garments have been attacked, degraded, condemned and maligned by those who are “anti-Mormon” and even anti-Semitic style criticism.  The affect has been, to some degree, a thorn in the side of many latter-day Saints who struggle enough with their faith. It is the purpose of these attacks to degrade, malign and cause confusion, inserting doubt and even resentment into the minds and hearts of devout Saints.

Being human and mortal is tough all by itself, but when the natural weaknesses of mortality are bent and used by the selfish evil doers, it makes life all that much harder. With such a trait and characteristic of these “anti’s” one wonders why they are not seen for the malicious and destructive nature they are, but unfortunately many good people are badly affected by the misguided.
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Wonder what must be done to develop a relationship with God, even his Son and Saviour Jesus Christ? Having trouble with this development such that you may feel or believe that it is not possible or is an impossible task because everything about it seems insurmountable? Another troubling question some may ask is “How can mere mortals, especially those who believe themselves to be completely inadequate to succeed in this task?”

Hopeless? …as it may seem to be.

Have I painted the right picture of how many have felt or believed, maybe even experienced? I hope so, because that is the first step toward a successful relationship with the Father in heaven.
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