I opened my mouth

Only 17 months left on a mission!!!!! I’m not counting down I promise, I’m just realizing that I don’t have very much time left so I better start working…not that I wasn’t before…oh this is a bad start but I’m too rushed to do any revising.

Antonio and Monica:
Amazing couple. We’re pretty sure Antonio wants to be baptized, but Monica is hesitant for which I can’t blame her. They have a good relationship so we know that he won’t do anything without his wife. She’s afraid of organized religion and doesn’t want to conform to just one religion. She wants to keep an open mind and accept all religions for the truth they posses. She started out by saying she didn’t believe that our religion was the only one with authority and that if men were foreordained in the pre-existence to be preachers then they shouldn’t have to have authority given to them on earth. A spiritual commitment should be all that is required instead of physical one (i.e., baptism, laying on off the hands). She was asking why this authority thing was so important. After she got done talking I smiled and said, “Good question” And then I turned to Sis. Davenport to answer it. Haha! But was I going to do--I didn’t know the answer. Why is the laying on of hands so important? Why do you have to receive authority on earth? At least I didn’t know the answer when she first asked it. But the weirdest thing happened. As Sis. Davenport was speaking and reading scriptures the answer popped into my head. Maybe not the only answer, but an answer that satisfied my own personal query. Sis. Davenport finished reading the scripture in the New Testament that talked about how priests had to be called of God as was Aaron and then she talked about anointing. And then she looked at me.
I told her first that I had had major issues with conformity because history has shown us that it’s dangerous and it also impedes on individuality and expression. But then I told her that I realized I was using the wrong word. Organized religion is not as much conforming to rules and authority as it is unifying with the fold of God. Conformity for the sake of unity and not for the sake of control and dominion. Okay, but that wasn’t the answer that popped into my mind. I had to reconcile that question myself along time ago.
So then I turned to the question about authority. I made the disclaimer that I was going into Sis. Johnson doctrine so not to take everything I said as gospel…don’t worry. I told her that we came to Earth for the purpose of getting physical bodies. Part of our purpose on Earth is to learn how tap into our spiritual sense while working within a physical body. Physical manifestations of our spiritual commitments seem appropriate because it involves our soul not just our spirit. Authority is passed spiritually, but it makes sense that the physical body would also be involved to signify what is taking place spiritually. Does that make any sense? It made a lot of sense to me and Monica. Anyways, the point of that story is that I had no idea how to answer her question and then all of the sudden I did. I answered it in a way that she could understand. Was that me? No. I can take no credit other than the fact that I opened my mouth.

I love you all!


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