Paige and I went to youth conference with our Stake in June. We spent a day doing yard work and painting in an older neighborhood in SLC. The next two days we spent at Heber Valley Camp doing ropes courses, canoeing, going to classes, and hiking. The first four rows of kids in this photo belong to our ward.
I love being a youth leader.
This is #14 (and the last) in a series of posts in which I share some of the things I have experienced because I am a Mormon. In each of these posts, I will give you a basic background and share a small experience. I hope that through the sharing of these small things you can have a glimpse into my experience as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I will also try to explain principles and doctrines of my faith that bring me so much happiness.
When I first set out on this project, I listed many experiences, but chose only a few to write online. I have only written experiences that I would feel comfortable sharing in Sunday school. I have many sacred experiences that would be trivialized by sharing them on the internet with inadequate words and without my voice and person to help convey my message. I have not been able to come up with a post that adequately expresses what I feel about the Savior. The experiences that have led me to know him best are deeply personal.
I hope that you have not found my posts about Mormonism “cocky” or “self-righteous.” It’s been a difficult project, more difficult than you know. What I have shared has been a big deal…for me.
There are hundreds of experiences that have confirmed to me that my religion is true, but my experiences won’t sustain faith in another person. So in this last post I will just tell you the things that help me to maintain my position that this Church is true.
I read the book (present tense): I read the Book of Mormon. I read the Bible. I personally love the Bible best. Thousands of times I have felt that these are the words of God.
I live it. In true experimental fashion, I live what my religion teaches and see if I’m happy. The more closely I align my life to the teachings of Jesus Christ, the happier I am. ALWAYS.
I pray and I receive answers in the Lord’s time. I can tell you that the mode and timing to the answers to my prayers are always meaningful and memorable.
That’s it. I read, I live, I pray. Then I wait upon the Lord, who is so, so generous.
This is #13 in a series of posts in which I share some of the things I have experienced because I am a Mormon. In each of these posts, I will give you a basic background and share a small experience. I hope that through the sharing of these small things you can have a glimpse into my experience as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I will also try to explain principles and doctrines of my faith that bring me so much happiness.
I was probably four years old sitting in the old chapel with peachy colored pews without cushions. The windows were full of light and I looked around, studying the things a child studies during church, such as the shape of the light fixtures, the tall ceiling, and the curtains on the windows. I know we always attended church, but childhood memories of church meetings are few; this one became very important.
The white-haired chorister, a widow named Lera Whittle, sister of Ezra Taft Benson, stood up with her baton to lead the hymn, Put Your Shoulder to the Wheel. The congregation stood up to sing. Sister Whittle’s baton moved with the music and her emphatic face and hand movements inspired the congregation to sing out. The novelty of discovering the power of music made my little chest swell as I joined in with fervor, “Put your shoulder to the wheel, push along; Do your duty with a heart full of song, We all have work; let no one shirk; Put your shoulder to the wheel!” I was in raptures by the end of that song.
This was the beginning of my love of the hymns of the Church, which have comforted, inspired, and helped me through the years.
When I think of a difficult time in my life, I can usually associate a hymn that helped me through it.
One of my favorite things is to hear my little Mark singing the hymns at church. I’ll put my arm around him and lean in. The purity and sweetness usually brings tears to my eyes. I’ve decided that heaven has got to sound like that.
Yea, methought I saw…God sitting upon his throne, surrounded with numberless concourses of angels, in the attitude of singing and praising their God; yea, and my soul did long to be there. (Alma 36:22)
If you have a few minutes, here’s one of my favorites: Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing
This is #12 in a series of posts in which I share some of the things I have experienced because I am a Mormon. In each of these posts, I will give you a basic background and share a small experience. I hope that through the sharing of these small things you can have a glimpse into my experience as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I will also try to explain principles and doctrines of my faith that bring me so much happiness.
One of the young men in our ward was in the hospital. A seizure had brought him to the sudden reality of a brain tumor. Within hours, his life and his family’s lives had changed completely.
Many rushed to the hospital that first evening to visit. Someone told me that there were 36 visitors that first night.
I prayed to know what to do. I felt inspired to wait a day before visiting, gather notes from the mother’s friends, and pick up some personal care items from the store. A the checkout stand I saw a display of prepaid phone cards. It was an unexpected choice, but I felt inspired to buy one.
I sat with the mother at the hospital during her son’s first surgery. The hospital room was quiet. The crowd had left many gifts of food and well wishes the night before. As we sat and waited, I showed her the notes we had collected for her, along with the gifts. The notes meant a great deal to her; but she was restless and feeling like she needed to do more than sit around and wait for news.
The phone card turned out to be the thing she needed most at that moment. With it, she could make long distance calls from the hospital to Houston where they would seek further cancer treatment. (This was in the day before cell phones were in everyone’s pockets.) She expressed real gratitude for this card which would allow her to DO something, rather than just sit, feeling useless at the hospital.
The gift of the Holy Ghost is powerful. After baptism, we are given the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands. The companionship of the Holy Ghost is so helpful in our decisions and our capacity to serve. Alone, I probably wouldn’t have waited to visit and I would have just come and given a hug; with the Spirit, I felt inspired not only to Wait, but to purchase something I didn’t set out to buy.
This is #11 in a series of posts in which I share some of the things I have experienced because I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In each of these posts, I will give you a basic background and share a small experience. I hope that through the sharing of these small things you can have a glimpse into my experience as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ. I will also try to explain principles and doctrines of my faith that bring me so much happiness.
I was at a viewing for a young soldier. It was the first time I had ever seen this young man, but it shouldn’t have been.
Four or five years before his death, this young man was on the list of kids who were seminary age, but I had never contacted him to invite him to my class. His family had not been to church for years, and I didn’t reach out to him.
When the young man was killed in the war, the family called a friend from the Church, and many members ran to the family to help in their own way.
My feelings were poignant, and the words that formed in my mind that evening at the viewing were full of regret. I deeply regretted that I had not known him. It was a terrible to face a missed opportunity for friendship in such a way.
It took courage to introduce myself to his mother, surrounded by women of another religion at the viewing. “I’m Angie Ross and I’m your Relief Society President,” was all that I can remember saying.
With a flash of recognition at the title, but not my face, she looked at me and paused. The moment was quickly gone, but she knew that she was not forgotten by the Church in which she was still a member, but no longer attended.
My individual failings aside, I knew that she had never been forgotten by the members of the Church. Her visiting teachers, two women assigned to visit her monthly were faithful. These sisters had continued to maintain a friendship with her for many years. These women were marvelous.
We made a quilt for this grieving mother with squares made by individual members. Some squares were made by her visiting teachers; some were made by her friends; one was made by a child, and one was made by a set of missionaries about the age of her son. However, the majority of the quilt was made by women she had never met, who had covenanted at baptism to mourn with those that mourn and comfort those that stand in need of comfort.
The Church is made of individuals full of faults and personal failings. Individually, we are inadequate in our efforts, but together, we can help compensate where there are failings. I had failed to reach out to the son, but others had maintained a friendship with his mother, and she was able to feel the strength of the Church when her son was killed. As members of the Church, we have a network of people in place to support each family. The organization of the members watching out for one another is one testament to me that this is Christ’s Church on the earth today.
For we are glad, when we are weak, and ye are strong: and this also we wish, even your perfection. 2 Corinthians 13:9
This is #10 in a series of posts in which I share some of the things I have experienced because I am a Mormon. In each of these posts, I will give you a basic background and share a small experience. I hope that through the sharing of these small things you can have a glimpse into my experience as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I will also try to explain principles and doctrines of my faith that bring me so much happiness.
She taught Relief Society lessons on Sundays with wisdom and candor. She was funny. She was real and without pretense. The lesson I remember best is when she taught us from Matthew 25. We read,
And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. (Matthew 25:33-36, KJV)
“Do you realize what this means?” she said. “Have you BEEN to a prison? Have you seen how ‘yucky’ a sick room can be? We need to be in THOSE PLACES.”
Perhaps I remember her words because one afternoon in May (and it happened to be her birthday), this Relief Society teacher walked into my hospital room to visit me. She was my only visitor during that hospital stay and I will never forget that pure Christian act.
“And the King shall answer and say unto them, verily, I say unto you, inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. (Matthew 25:40)
Mine is a religion of action and personal development. Understanding that we are lacking, we depend on the Savior for salvation, daily support, and direction. This does not diminish the role our actions play in expanding our capacity to experience heaven someday. We believe that as followers of Jesus Christ, we spend our time visiting, lending, comforting, and helping, not as items to check off a list, but as a means of expanding Christ’s influence in the world and in our hearts.
This is #9 in a series of posts in which I share some of the things I have experienced because I am a Mormon. In each of these posts, I will give you a basic background and share a small experience. I hope that through the sharing of these small things you can have a glimpse into my experience as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I will also try to explain principles and doctrines of my faith that bring me so much happiness.
Background: The people of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints love temples. They are sacred places where we make covenants with God, participate in sacred ordinances, and we are taught. To enter a temple, a person must be worthy and prepared for the important work that goes on there. Ordinances such as eternal marriages are performed in temples for the living and the dead.
Jesus Christ taught that baptism is essential to enter into the kingdom of God, yet many people have not had the opportunity to be baptized in their lives. Because God is merciful and just, baptisms may be performed for the dead. In the temple, living proxies are baptized for the dead (1 Corinthians 15:29), one name at a time. This sacred work takes place in our temples with the proper priesthood keys and authority. In no way do these proxy baptisms “force” a person to accept “Mormon” doctrine. It is a gift that the dead may choose to accept or not accept.
Church members are encouraged to seek out the names of their deceased ancestors and be baptized and receive the other temple ordinances for them.
To learn more about temples, you may go here.
Alli was born in Turku, Finland and came to America in 1921 and settled in the Bay Area. She worked as a washer woman, which was an extremely arduous task. Heavy loads, scalding water, and strong chemicals all probably contributed to her ill health, and it is likely that she had tuberculosis when she entered the United States. She had lovely dark hair and gray eyes. She was married to a man named Axel, an immigrant from Sweden, and they had a daughter named Ruth. Alli’s health declined and she eventually entered a sanitarium. Her daughter Ruth has perhaps one memory of her mother, and that is waving to her through the window at this sanitarium. Alli died when Ruth was only two years old.
Alli was my great-grandmother and Ruth is my grandmother.
It was with these stories of Alli’s short life that I carried her name to the temple in Mesa, Arizona, in December 2008 with Paige to begin her temple ordinance work. Paige was baptized for Alli and several other deceased grandmothers. As I heard each name and watched Paige being baptized for them, tears streamed down my face. My heart turned to my grandmothers and I believe that I felt their love.
I was the proxy for Alli’s other temple work, and as I listened to the promises and blessings given, my heart and mind seemed to exclaim, “No blessing will be denied her!”
I believe that Heavenly Father makes up for every loss, every heartache, and every need. It is through the vicarious sacrifice of the Savior for all of us and through vicarious service in the temples that He accomplishes this.
The Lord compensates the faithful for every loss. That which is taken away from those who love the Lord will be added unto them in His own way…
Not even death can take from us the eternal blessings promised by a loving Heavenly Father. (Elder Joseph B Worthlin, “Come What May and Love It,” Ensign, November 2008)
To me, temples symbolize Heavenly Father’s love for all of his children. I am thankful that I can go there and feel His peace and joy in serving others.
Paige loves going to Especially For Youth at BYU. Here are some photos of her group.
It’s almost been a week and she’s still wearing the wrist band. Times must have been very good.
We discovered that her EFY director was my favorite seminary teacher from high school. Hooray for Ben Knowlton!
This is #8 in a series of posts in which I share some of the things I have experienced because I am a Mormon. In each of these posts, I will give you a basic background and share a small experience. I hope that through the sharing of these small things you can have a glimpse into my experience as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I will also try to explain the principles and doctrines of my faith that bring me so much happiness.
I didn’t sleep at all the night that I was called to be a Relief Society President. I was 27. I was 6 months pregnant. I had braces on my teeth. All of my imperfections and insecurities emerged from their dark corners. I knew that I had offended people even just that week.
I knew that my abilities didn’t match the things I was being asked to do. (To see a description of what a Relief Society President does, go here.) At last, my mind settled on an image that I drew in my journal. It was a stick figure Angie with different labels: mother, daughter, college graduate, imperfect friend, etc, but each label was dwarfed by the sign she held in her hand: Daughter of God. I decided to trust that THIS qualification, more than any other label, would make it possible to be a good servant.
One day as I was helping a lonely woman, she shared her favorite scripture with me, Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” She told me to look at the word, “which” and notice that it refers to “do[ing] all things”. Of course Christ helps us to do the difficult things, but it’s doing the difficult things, and not being paralyzed with fear or insecurities which strengthens us.
This is #7 in a series of posts in which I share some of the things I have experienced because I am a Mormon. In each of these posts, I will give you a basic background and share a small experience. I hope that through the sharing of these small things you can have a glimpse into my experience as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I will also try to explain principles and doctrines of my faith that bring me so much happiness.
Living in Texas and Arizona, we were surrounded by friends and neighbors of different faiths. That was a good thing. I loved them, regardless of their religion.
There were some difficult times over the years, though, as I learned that our religion was not respected or tolerated by some. The details and players are not important, but I have found anti-Mormon literature addressed to me on my doorstep and we were excluded from some activities because of our faith. As I served as a volunteer, someone said to me and my associates at a community event, “These people won’t want anything to do with you once they find out you’re Mormons.”
My initial reaction to these things was to curl up and hide for a few days. The answer was never to fight back. What would that accomplish? As I allowed myself to look deeper, I learned that some of these people truly cared about my salvation. They weren’t all motivated by intolerance or hatred. One person in particular said that she thought I was wonderful and she wanted me to know how misguided I was. She acted out of concern, even though her methods were unwittingly hurtful.
I believe that ignorance and intolerance will continue as long as people of different faiths refuse to associate with one another and show respect despite doctrinal differences. I also believe that the truest test of a religion comes by experiencing it, not by debate or blindly trusting rumors and sensational stories.
Healing and understanding have come over time as I have come to understand that my role is not to quarrel with people, but to show that we are striving to be disciples of Christ.
I find healing as I continue to be friendly to all. My progress in healing is hindered when I indulge in feelings of resentment. I love my Church because there is no place for religious intolerance. It’s a lovely statement that there is no manual or instruction about the evils of other faiths in Mormon meetings. The campaign for our religion is a positive one. Just look at those missionaries we send out to the world!
Mormons love truth, and that means that the truths of other faiths are not automatically written off as evil. We’re taught to be good neighbors and friends. When dealing with religious intolerance, the answer for any disciple of Christ is to turn the other cheek. I am thankful for a patient, kind, and loving religion; it truly is the Church of Jesus Christ on the earth today.
Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they that mourn : for they shall be comforted .
Blessed are the meek : for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness : for they shall be filled.
Blessed are the merciful : for they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart : for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers : for they shall be called the children of God.
Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness ’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
Rejoice , and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
-Matthew 5:3-12