imported_Ariel

Well, I didn't grow up a Latter-day Saint, so I had my first boyfriend at thirteen. The thing is, it was rather pointless. Waiting until you are sixteen is the right idea. I'll be eighteen in July. There's really only one guy I want to date, and we have agreed not to date. He doesn't think he's ready for a serious relationship, and I suppose he's right. I'm not really mature enough for one.

Well, I just want to update y'all, since it's been a while. I took a while to ease my family into everything nice and slow... But after a while of going to church and finding everything out through the Archibalds (the family "Edward," is from), I started feeling left out and like I was putting God on hold. My testimony grew stronger each day, and it was becoming harder to hide from it. Spring Break was last week, and I had the missionaries talk with me and my family to get them used to the teachings of the LDS church. My mother and Stepdad, after a couple of lessons, grew more receptive, and by the end of all of the lessons, they were actually open and happy for me joining the church. I've eased all of my friends into the idea, too, and so they're not freaking out about it anymore. My sister and her boyfriend even agreed to listen to the missionaries. I was baptized on Saturday, and confirmed a member on Sunday(Easter)! I am SO glad to finally be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

LOL. Yeah, I did get lost in 2nd Nephi because of the Isaiah stuff. I had to go back and read it and still didn't get it. Perhaps I'll take a look at this.

Sooo, I talked to "Edward" about the missionary thing. He's going to help set it up for me, and he even said he'd come with the missionary so I wouldn't feel as... intimidated, hehe. I'm SO excited! It's crazy, I've never experienced this kind of... perpetual joy before. My family and friends are noticing how much happier I've been lately. That should make them more open to it. :)

Here in Alabama, most people are either Methodist or Baptist. I've also never met a member of a United Methodist church who didn't believe in the resurrection. For them, if they don't have the resurrection to believe in, what else is left for them? Evangelists have to believe in the resurrection or they have absolutely no steam for their beliefs. It would be very depressing to think that He wasn't resurrected, wouldn't you agree? What would be the point of them even going to a Christian church if the Christian belief wasn't even there? Without the resurrection, how would someone believe he was the Christ? And without believing He was the Christ, how would they believe they had salvation? And without believing that they could be saved....... Now what a terrible thought THAT is. I mean, we ARE talking about a church who believes that without knowing Christ is your Lord and Savior, you'll suffer hellfire for all eternity.

I wasn't saying that I believe it's right to judge how Christian someone is. I don't know whether or not a person lives the Gospel or not, so how can I tell an individual they're not a Christian? All I was saying is that there is more to it than claiming it. Just because someone says they are, doesn't mean they are. I don't personally know who is and who isn't, but I do know that it's very common for families to make their teenagers go to church and call themselves Christians, when in reality, the teenager might not care about it at all. And it's also quite easy for a person to put "Christian" on their Myspace or Facebook, and then in their interests you see more about sex, drugs and alcohol than you see about Jesus Christ or the Gospel. I believe that a true Christian will follow Christ's teachings no matter what. If a person loves Christ, why wouldn't they want to do what's right? But it's not like I pick out people and think about who is Christian and who isn't. I just know what I believe a Christian is.

Probably a lot of them in all of them. Claiming a religion doesn't make anyone a Christian person or a righteous person. So anyway, I guess what I'm getting at is: I'm not a member of the LDS church(working on that though haha. I'm going to become a member soon), but I believe that LDS members are just as Christian as anyone in my church... as long as they live the gospel. I also believe that anyone in my church is just as much a Christian as anyone in the LDS church.... as long as they live by the gospel. The problem is, members of my church don't know the full gospel, and so less of them actually know the extent of the love of their Father. And so a less percentage of them truly live the gospel.

Yeah, that's why I was trying to clarify that there is more to Christianity than simply professing that you believe it. There is indeed a whole lot more to it.I'm sure there are people who aren't true Christians in every denomination of Christianity.

Oh yeah, definitely that too.

Which is why "claiming" Christianity doesn't really make a person a Christian. A true Christian, because of what they believe in, knows the love of their Father and of Jesus Christ, and therefore would love him back, and strive to be more like him.

That is exactly what I'm saying.Anyone can claim and pretend to be anything. But unless they believe it in their heart, and live it through their actions, it is just an act.

Lol, obviously he does, or he wouldn't try to lead people away from believing in Christ. But he doesn't follow Christ, and something you have to do in addition to believing those things to be called a Christian.

A Christian isn't only who believes in Christ and follows his teachings. Anyone can believe that Jesus existed and that he was the perfect example to live by... but just because you believe those things doesn't mean that you are a Christian.A Christian is someone who believes that Christ was resurrected from the dead, that he was the Son of God, that he was the sacrifice that through him(Christ), you might be blameless in God's eyes. If you don't believe in the resurrection, then you're not a "Christ"ian. Because Christ means the same thing as the Messiah, and Messiah means "Savior." If you believe those things, then you're a Christian, whether you're a LDS or any other type of Christian.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=cfRmAUUnuK0&feature=related SO beautiful!!

Don't worry, I do know now that you're Christians :). I didn't know that before because I didn't know anything about it, but once I started asking questions and reading about it, I learned that y'all are just as much Christians as any other church--perhaps even more genuine and devout than other churches too. "Edward"'s whole thing with the dating non-Mormons thing is that dating is all about finding the person you want to marry, and he wants to marry for time and all eternity and not until death do us part. That's why he doesn't want to be with anyone who isn't a LDS like him. Hopefully that is what will happen for me too. I'm sure there is even a chance that my family could see the truth and join with me years from now. That would be amazing. :) I'll just pray for that day to come.