The celebration of Easter is so special, I love to reminisce of life and especially life eternal. The Best gift I have been and ever will be given is eternal life, and too often I forget how lucky I have been to be taught about eternal life. Lately I have had some Jehovah's Witnesses that I have been trying to kindly get rid of but to no avail they show up every Friday morning and they are relentless. (I need some good tips for getting rid of them, so far, nothing has worked) Last Friday they caught me so I let them share their message with me, and I am glad I did! They told me that they believe that we are all going to "HELL." Let me explain, they say that in the bible when they talk of "hell" it is the grave. And when we die (our bodies) that they are buried and that is the end until the Resurrection. I was really thrown back at that and mad. My whole life I had just thought that it was common knowledge that we have a body and inside a spirit. ( I have been raised in Utah, can't you tell) But I honestly started to question my thought process for a bit. What they told me was quite convincing and they backed it up with impressive scriptures. So in tears that night I came to Shawn and said, do you truly believe that we have a spirit inside us. Of course he had great answers and eased my mind, I love his faith. But I was just in fear that if for some reason they were right and I lost someone that I loved dearly that they would just be resting there in their grave, rotting..... No spirit leaving there body and living on, drawing near to us and continuing their work as spirits. I hated the thought! Death has always haunted me, I worry everyday that something is going to happen to Jack. And I think that is why I was so appalled at the theory they had of death, it just seemed so final. I'm not one of those people that can say, " I know the church is true" I don't know, but I sure hope it is. I have invested a lot of time and faith into it. I loved the talk that Pres. Monson gave about the resurrection, it was beautiful. It really eased my mind. I guess what I have come to realize is that what I have been taught about death and eternal life is beautiful and peaceful, and I am going to trust and have faith that is is right, because I believe that God is in charge and I trust him, and that puts me at peace.
On top of all of that we had a great weekend with family, I love them. I am so glad that we get together so often, and make holidays so special.
6 comments:
Take that picture of me off asap..that is horrible!!!! Love you!
OK.. I am past the ugly picture now.. AWESOME post. I hope they don't visit me..I'd be in tears for days!
The beautiful thing about the gospel is that it isn't about fear, but faith. I've pondered these same things a lot lately, having several family members die and have things like cancer lately. I know that Heavenly Father wouldn't want us to fear death and the Book of Mormon is such a great blessing because it gives us more knowledge about where our spirits go after we die. My favorite is 3 Nephi. I've had Jehovah's Witnesses come to the door too and I politely tell them I am not interested. I don't even take the pamphlet. I believe they have some truths but because I have a testimony that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has the fullness of the Gospel and the priesthood authority, that gives me comfort for the things I don't yet understand.
You're so sweet, Hayley. Faith is a gift - and so is hope. They support each other and lend to the other's power. I think that hope is the first step to knowing - because when we hope, we act, and action brings blessings that lead to knowledge. I hope your heart continues to feel that peace, and that you always find joy in living what you hope to be true.
You have such a beautiful family!!!
Hayley your too nice that is why they come back you've got to tell them to go away, you can do it nicely. You have to remeber why we go to the temple and do temple work for all those who are on the other side waiting for us to help them with there work. The gospel is so amazing.
Hello- you absolutely don't know me at all (I've have been pressing "next blog" on my own blog page)! I hope I am not invading your boundaries by leaving a comment. My fiance is a former Jehovah's Witness and I want to encourage you not to let your faith be rattled by your visitors! The scriptures are distorted and taken out of context and the version of the Bible they use was mistranslated by a group of men without theological training, or an understanding of Greek, Hebrew, or Latin. Don't be afraid- trust in Christ! Next time they come around, tell them they are no longer welcome and instruct them to leave you alone- you don't have to listen to them for another second.
Again, I hope I am not crossing the line by leaving a random comment like this, but this is too important to keep quiet.
-Kate
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