Eternally Safe Choices–Undertanding Agency
Filed under: Becoming More Christlike, Discovering Yourself, Finding joy within the gospel, For the Strength of the Youth, Living the Gospel, Making Decisions, Peer Pressure, Teens & Seminary
The teen years are filled with temptation. The media, peers, even teachers and other adults can try to convince a young person that sin is okay, natural, normal, and fun. For a teenager with high standards and an eye for eternity, it can be a challenge to stay on the right path, when so many people are determined to take her off that path.
Fortunately, God and His servants have outlined effective ways for teens—and adults—to stay safe.
Staying safe is a matter of choices, and to make wise choices, we have to understand the concept of agency. This article will focus on agency, and future articles in this series will walk through the process of using that understanding to make eternally safe choices. Read more
Teens: Find the Spirit in Quiet Moments
Filed under: Life Lessons, Living the Gospel, Peer Pressure
It was a defining moment in our recent Sunday School class. We had been talking about the need and value of repentance, of the happiness it can bring to those who come back to the light and love of Christ, of the need to let go of the things of this world, when a woman raised her hand.
“I have a sister who turned away from the gospel years ago,” she began. “She lives her life in a way she was not taught growing up, and makes choices that go against many of Christ’s teachings.”
I began to wonder precisely where this conversation was going, and could feel the intensity of this woman’s need to be given a firm answer.
“She has more money than I could ever dream of. She’s traveled all over, she has had opportunities opened up for her left and right. I can’t see that she’s not happy.”
This woman paused for a moment, gathering herself. “My husband and I barely get by. We sometimes wonder where money will come from to pay the bills. I hardly see him for all the hours he works, and so much of the time I’m miserable.”
Before I go to the answer our teacher gave, I want you to take a moment to think of your own life. Which of these two women do you relate to more? Do you spend much of your time doing everything, obtaining objects, living life to it’s fullest?
Or do you find yourself spending much of your time watching others have everything, others who do not live up to your same standards, while you stand miserably to the side barely scraping by?
Is there really a way to have less in this life and still be happy?
Our teacher helped bring a very special point home.
“The things of this world are in your face,” she said. “They’re too loud, they’re too bright and shiny, they’re too showy, they’re simply too much.”
Why is this concept important? Because of the second part of the answer.
“Things that bring us true and everlasting happiness, otherwise known as things of the Spirit, those are found in the quiet times of our lives.”
We are taught the voice of the Lord, or the influence of the Holy Spirit, comes to us as a whisper. When we’ve put much of our focus on the things of the world we’ve innundated ourselves with television, with video games, with flashy clothes and jewelry. We’re more concerned with having the best car rather than finding peace.
If you feel unsatisfied in life, if you’ve been growing bitter over not having everything your friends have, search for the quiet moments in your life. Listen for the quiet whisperings of the Holy Spirit. As you do this, you will find peace instead of jealousy, love instead of misery.
Teens: Is Being a Little Off Course Okay?
Filed under: For the Strength of the Youth, Life Lessons, Living the Gospel, Peer Pressure
“It can’t hurt.”
“Try it just this once.”
“It’s not like taking one drink/puff/shot/etc. will make you addicted.”
Heard these phrases before? Odds are you have, or will, at some time of your life. Yet caving into any of the phrases, these pressure-filled persuaders, can cause us to become vastly off course.
My husband, a bishop in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (nicknamed the Mormon Church), was directed to put together a talk (sermon) to give to the ward (local congregation) on many different subjects. All of these subjects came back to one main theme:
Are we doing all that is necessary to keep us in alignment with God’s eternal plan?
In our search for stories and other things to help keep the flow of the talk, my husband came across a perfect example of what happens when we find ourselves even a little off course. This was related through another talk given by a modern day apostle by the name of Dieter F. Uchtdorf.
“In 1979 a large passenger jet with 257 people on board left New Zealand for a sightseeing flight to Antarctica and back. Unknown to the pilots, however, someone had modified the flight coordinates by a mere two degrees. This error placed the aircraft 28 miles (45 km) to the east of where the pilots assumed they were. As they approached Antarctica, the pilots descended to a lower altitude to give the passengers a better look at the landscape. Although both were experienced pilots, neither had made this particular flight before, and they had no way of knowing that the incorrect coordinates had placed them directly in the path of Mount Erebus, an active volcano that rises from the frozen landscape to a height of more than 12,000 feet (3,700 m).
As the pilots flew onward, the white of the snow and ice covering the volcano blended with the white of the clouds above, making it appear as though they were flying over flat ground. By the time the instruments sounded the warning that the ground was rising fast toward them, it was too late. The airplane crashed into the side of the volcano, killing everyone on board.
It was a terrible tragedy brought on by a minor error—a matter of only a few degrees” (Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “A Matter of a Few Degrees,” Ensign, May 2008, 57–60).
Again he relates what getting just a bit off course can truly mean.
“Even small errors over time can make a dramatic difference in our lives.
Let me share with you how I taught the same principle to young pilots.
Suppose you were to take off from an airport at the equator, intending to circumnavigate the globe, but your course was off by just one degree. By the time you returned to the same longitude, how far off course would you be? A few miles? A hundred miles? The answer might surprise you. An error of only one degree would put you almost 500 miles (800 km) off course, or one hour of flight for a jet.
No one wants his life to end in tragedy. But all too often, like the pilots and passengers of the sightseeing flight, we set out on what we hope will be an exciting journey only to realize too late that an error of a few degrees has set us on a course for spiritual disaster” (Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “A Matter of a Few Degrees,” Ensign, May 2008, 57–60).
We could probably take a little sniff, or puff, or drink, and we’d be done with it. It would not have hurt us in a moment. There is, however, another ending to the story, one those who try to pressure us into doing something wrong tend to gloss over. You could take one drink, and feel the need to drink for the rest of your life. You could take one puff, and spend your days using close to a thousand dollars a year or more to keep up the habit. You could take one sniff, and find yourself one day desperately entrenched in a life of crime just to support the very thing that has taken over your existence.
Essentially, you could find yourself vastly off course, with little or no hope of finding your way back.
When others begin chirping in your ear to just give it a try, think about whether or not you really want to take that chance. More often than not you’ll be giving away basic freedoms. Your life will be dominated by the very things those ‘friends’ promised wouldn’t hurt you.
When speaking to my youth girls about standing strong in the face of having to make a choice, we talked about things you can say. This is a vital step in protecting yourself, in staying on course. It’s only when you’ve prepared yourselves ahead of time that you can truly help yourself to say no, and stick to it. Things like, “Can you promise me I won’t become addicted? Can you promise me this won’t hurt me if I try it just once?” You might be surprised to find it’ll stop the person just long enough for you to make an escape.
When we make the right choices, when we stand by those things that God would have us do, we will not find ourselves vastly off course. If we cave in just a little, it’s possible (not to mention easier) to make a course correction early on through repentance. Once we recognize the need to make conscious decisions to stay on God’s path, we will remain in alignment with Him.
Declare You’re a Mormon
Sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ isn’t always an easy thing to do, especially when you’re sharing it with Christians who don’t believe ‘Mormons’ are Christian.
Living in Utah my entire life has kept me relatively sheltered, and I’ve been so very grateful for it. I’m sorry to say it did not prepare me for my first negative, ignorant response to sharing a bit of our Church’s history.
Earlier in the year I discovered a wonderful site geared towards Christian writing. It had been around for a while, and is quite famous for putting together writing anthologies. Each week a ‘subject’ contest would challenge those opting to participate. The stories, essays, or poems could not go above 750 words (especially challenging to a long-winded writer like myself). The subjects could range from ‘Children’ and ‘Anger’ to ‘Worship’, and we only had a week to write.
After several months I’d made it up to the Advanced level, and had taken what I was to write about very seriously. I’d even pray about what message Heavenly Father wanted me to portray.
One particular week the subject was ‘Bold.’ I prayed and prayed, and nothing came. The weekend passed me by, I continued to ask, and still nothing. I would start writing something only to leave the project partially done, as it didn’t feel right. Monday night inspiration finally came, and my immediate response was to tuck it away where it wouldn’t bother anyone.
You see, so far as I knew I was the only member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints doing these challenges. This story, the one I wanted to tuck away, would declare precisely who I was and what I believed. As much as I am not ashamed of my beliefs, I am greatly affected by the harsh words of others.
So I kept on praying. Monday passed on into Tuesday. Still the story refused to remain hidden. Tuesday passed on into Wednesday and time was running out. The more I prayed the harder this particular story was to ignore (anyone who has a ‘story’ to tell knows exactly what I mean). At last I gave in, did a bit of studying, and wrote my story.
Everything submitted in these challenges is free for others to comment on. My very first comment confirmed my greatest fears. I believe the woman’s first sentence was, “Let’s not forget that Mormons are not Christian.” It got worse from there.
Though no one else commented on what she said, I felt as though my heart had been ripped out of my chest and trampled on. I was confused. Others had posted stories on Jewish ancestors, Muslim accounts, or various religions who didn’t even believe in Christ. Only then did I realize this site, based on Christian views and beliefs, had no tolerance for Mormons.
Through this experience I found one other member of the LDS Church, and discovered her introduction to the intolerance of our religion was far worse than mine. She encouraged me to pray about staying on, which I have done. The two of us know we can work as missionaries in our own way – through our writing. In fact she’s had several people ask about our church because of her works.
For those like me, who are growing up surrounded by fellow members, I offer you my own challenge. Don’t be afraid to share the gospel. Many people you come in contact with will not believe you. Many will despise you. Yet as any missionary will tell you, it will all be worth it if we can plant a desire in even one soul to find out a little more about the LDS Church. Beyond this, I can promise you the Lord will bless you for having the courage to put yourself out there.
….For those who would like to know what story I told, tune in to my next post.