I am now in one of those suffering stages. The Paz Martinez family dropped us the day of the interview of the daughter for her baptism because some other missionaries showed up at their house and preached to the brother things he wanted to hear: that getting baptized again is a sin, the Mormons are from the devil, it is not a commandment to get married and you don't have to do so because in Gods eyes you are married,etc.
Also, I cannot walk well right now because I have an intestinal issue that I am taking medication for. Well, I can walk, it just isn`t comfortable. Everything went wrong the same day this week, and until now it hasn`t gotten better. Sure hope it does.
I have also learned that you have to be incredibly blunt with most people or they do not understand, which stinks because I feel like a jerk a lot, but it is stuff they need to hear and understand. It is the best way to help them grow.
I cannot believe how normal lieing is; we get lied to all of the time. It makes me feel sick. Right now I just feel exasperated. All the good intentions in the world cannot lead to salvation because you have to actually follow Christ in your daily life to be like him not just do him lip service once. Apparently that is a foreign concept. You`d think people would understand. Back to work then...
My answer to an atheist:
Faith
is a gift I have yet to receive.... hmmm. Well, first: Is it something he
would like to have? Does he want to have faith or to be an atheist? If
you want to be an atheist, you do not want to recieve faith, and we
reject all gifts we do not want. (people are mean like that) If, however
small the desire you would like to know there is a god, well I have
good news! You can know! Religion is based on a couple of principles.
1)
The written word. In this case the bible and the Book of Mormon. If
those books were written because someone with more power told the
writers to write them, well great. This is also the case for textbooks,
whatever type of written document for the accumulation of knowledge. And
so we arrive at
2)There is a God. Faith is
believing in absolutely whatever thing. That some event or individual or
group of persons more powerful than we as humans understand is the
cause for the reason we are here. Atheism does not make sense. Believing
in the big bang theory: faith in science and the power of the human
mind. That there is an order to all things. Action-reaction. Believing
in god(s): faith that a being (or beings) with infinite power caused you
(an infintesimaly small individual in the scheme of things) to be
created for a purpose wether that be a)salvation (god is our father,
wants us to go to heaven) b)continuation (gods created us, and we are
here to amuse them and maybe if they want to they will put us in a good
place when we die (greeks-romans) c) negation (we are here to progress
to a point of nothingness and ultimate peace for this, otherwise known
as reincarnation) or any other number of things (i will not include here
because I do not know everything, sorry).
3)There are messengers.
People, specially chosen for some type of characteristic (not important,
be it brains, brawn, humility, etc.) Transmit knowledge to others.
Prophets give us knowledge of what god wants us to know. Proffesors give
us knowledge of math, whatever subject in school you may find. They
have a special relationship with what they preach. They learn about it,
and they are more qualified than you are to explain what it is. Please
prove to me that 2+2=4 without using any equations or gestures,
whatsoever type of helps you can find. Go on. I am waiting. The person
who figured that out had to have studied a ton, had to have a reason
behind why he came to this conclusion. Ok, great. Maybe, on the off
chance you can prove that, please imagine that I have never tasted salt,
and describe to me how it tastes. Can you do that? Well, these points
lead up to
4) There are many things that are
unprovable. Or unexplainable. With our limited knowledge we are unable
to explain things very simple to others if they have not knowledge of
these things. We need a base, a comparison. And there are some things we
just take on faith. Wind for instance. Does it exist? Are you sure?
Why?I cannot see it, therefore it does not exist right? No. Faith is to
believe in things which are true, which are not seen. Like the wind,
there is a force that helps us to know things that are true.
5)The
holy ghost. Religiously speaking of course. For science it would be
reason. A force that tells us what is possible, how we can prove it. It
provides reassurance of the answers we have already found. We have to
have faith that there is a reason. If we do not have reason, well life
has no purpose huh? So, broadly, and probably very offensively speaking,
whatever person who professes to be an atheist is lieing to themselves.
If this person really didn`t believe in something more than him, He
would not waste his time inviting others to argue with him about
theology. He would come to a decision. If there is no purpose to this
life, well why live?
6)hope. Religion provides hope. Without a
hope, there really is absolutely no reason to do anything. Might as
well just sit and wait to die. If you do not believe in something, this
life is all you have, and nothing you ever do will fill the void of
emptiness you carry with you. To accept that there is a god is to accept
happiness. The hope of a better tomorrow. That someday, somehow,
everything will be better. And it is free. Pray about it. I don`t care
if you still say you do not believe in a god. Tell him that, because if
you didn`t believe in him you wouldn`t waste your time talking about him
and belittling those who do, there would be no point. Pray to him and
ask him to tell you he is there. Ask him to send his spirit to comfort
you. Go to church. Try to want to know. Other than that, there really
isn`t much to be said. Good Luck. I hope at some point you can accept
this wonderful truth. He is waiting for you to do so. Know that even if
you do not love him, he loves you.
Saludos, Amor, y Todo que puedo ofrecer a tí,
Salutations, Love, and All that I have to offer you,
Elder Scott
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