Why Do You Believe?


nildeea
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Hello, I am compiling a list of why people believe in the church for a school project. If you would be so kind as to give your reasons it would really help me out!

I do not expect you to share any sacred experiences, but please try to give an answer that is as specific as you feel comfortable with. I'm very interested in the roots of belief so if your answer is faith (for example) ask yourself "where does my faith come from?" That sort of thing.

Thanks a bunch! ^_^

edit: sorry this might fit better in the general discussion board. If a moderator wants to move it, please do!

Edited by nildeea
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  • 4 weeks later...

hello I arrive a little late so sorry.Since that the death came into my house, i prayed at the time I believe in god .. I had religious education, later, except a baptism (others) but my view has changed. I see the life differently.

Edited by personne
reformulation
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Why I believe:

Back in University, I was travelling back from Ottawa in February. That's reading week for those people who don't know Canada - A week off from school. It had rained the night before, really hard, and the roads were flooded.

A few hours outside of Ottawa, we were on a major 8 lane highway called the 401. Myself and three other guys were crammed in to this tiny Turcell. We were in the lane closest to the concrete highway divide when we hit a deceptively deep puddle that made us hydroplane out of control.

We were going about 65-70 MPH/110 KMH. We spun out of control. If we'd gone left, we'd be dead as we'd have slammed in to the concrete divide and, because it was the last day of Reading Week, the highway was busy and we'd have had a 30+ car pile up. Instead, we crossed four lanes of traffic and spun completely backwards, hitting the ditch on the side. It flipped us completely over, smashed out the windows and totalled the car.

If it had been spring, we'd be dead as the snow softened our impact.

We missed a billboard by about 3 feet and would be dead if we'd hit it.

I hung upside down, held in by the seatbelt and asked if everyone was okay. They were.

I remember when we crawled out, Dave looked at his ruined car and saw the bottom. Tears welled up in his eyes and he said 'My car's rusty'. We were in shock. I remember finding that funny that he cared.

At that point, I knew I wanted to research religion. I studied Buddhism, Brahmanism, Catholicism, Judaism. Nothing seemed to click until I read 'Surprised by Joy' by C.S. Lewis. It inspired me to read the bible from front to back. I did. I realized I was Christian, but I had so many questions that couldn't be answered by traditional Protestantism or Catholicism.

Two years, I felt like I was trapped in a maelstrom of spirituality where I was tossed left and right. It wasn't until someone at work had the courage to talk to me about religion.

I hesitantly invited the missionaries over, determined to ask the hardest questions I could. They answered them.

I went to church and the talks were all on things I had wondered about for years.

I read the book of Mormon in two weeks the first time. I couldn't put it down. I was baptized May 17th of 2002.

I've never doubted since.

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Guest mormonmusic

For me it was spiritual experiences when I prayed. As a teenager, a minister had taught me to pray and when I did so, I felt like someone was with me. This convinced me to believe in God and to pray regularly. As I prayed more regularly, I had times when I felt this outpouring of the Holy Ghost that filled my body with warmth and energy. But at this point, all I believed in was God. Not Christ.

When I met the missionaries in university, they promised that I would know the truth by the power of the Holy Ghost. Since I'd already had a lot of experiences with the Holy Ghost, I knew exactly what they were talking about, and sought the same powerful Holy Ghost feelings as confirmation.

Eventually, I had the same deep spiritual feelings that had overcome me as a teenager, and it was enough to convince me to be baptized. No amount of logic or argumentation about what the Bible or latter-day scriptures says can convince me of the truth of anything. It's the confirmation of the Holy Ghost which convinces you of the truthfulness of the gospel. It was with the missionaries that I grew to believe in Christ as well, as they were able to explain why He was important in the overall plan of salvation.

As a member of the Church, life has been very difficult at different periods in my life. From trying to get on a mission, trying to get married, trying to have children, being a priesthood leader. Each one of these experiences has brought significant challenges and some extremely heart-wrenching and negative experiences. As one priesthood leader told me "you've had a lot of experiences that would've prompted most people to just leave the Church". But the confirmation I had that this is the right place to be has kept me active.

Plus, there have been a lot of spiritual experiences like the ones I described above that have dotted my spiritual journey. And so, I keep plodding along, trying to figure out how to be effective in this world of opposition and happiness.

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Ultimately it is a response to spiritual experiences flowing out of following Moroni's challenge in Moroni Chapter 10 of the Book of Mormon. Additionally I choose to believe those experiences were spiritual and not, as one anti-Christ put it, " the effect of a frenzied mind; and this derangement of your minds comes because of the traditions of your fathers"

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I grew up in the Church and gained a kind of 'gut' feeling that the Church was true. When I did the things I was told to do (pray, believe, go to church, keep my thoughts 'pure') then that sense or feeling intensified. As I did these things, over and over I experienced an interaction with God. Mentally and physically.

Such experiences were open to interpretation, and I interpreted them in the best way I knew, which necessarily included a religious world-view. In doing so, I increased my confidence by the evidence of my life's experience. Then as I learned at University the critical thought process, the scientific method, etc. I also learned the practical benefits and limitation of both ways of thinking and living.

There is a stark dichotomy between faith and secular world-views. Both have been absolutely beneficial in my life.

HiJolly

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