Follow-up

Sorry for the delay in posts, everybody (all three of you...). It's been a busy week.

Jess taught a great FHE lesson on Monday night from Preach My Gospel. She found a quote that we felt explained some of the things that I said in my last post in a much clearer way. It's from Elder Dallin H. Oaks, and it's on page 9.

"We do not preach and teach in order to 'bring people into the Church' or to increase the membership of the Church. We do not preach and teach just to persuade people to live better lives.... We invite all to come unto Christ by repentance and baptism and confirmation in order to open the doors of the celestial kingdom to the sons and daughters of God. No one else can do this."

So I guess my points are these--1. The Church is not important for the Church's sake, but rather because it is the only source of the fulness of the Gospel of Christ and the authority to perform the necessary ordinances. 2. Mormons aren't the only good people. We need to love everyone and work to understand them regardless of what religion they belong to.

Hopefully that's clearer than last time. I've had more time to think about the concepts and my ideas are becoming better formed. As I read in a book for my writing class, "writing is another form of thinking."