Question
Dear Gramps,
I’m so happy that you have a link like this; it’s exactly what I need! I’m in high school and am the class seminary president. About a month ago there was this boy that came into our class just looking for a no show, extended lunch hour class. Well he is still coming to class and we have become friends and he has confided in me that he wants to believe in Christ and in the teachings of the Church, but he says that if the things of the Church were true, why did his step-dad beat him? Why did his parents get a divorce? Why does he question the teachings of the Church? I want to answer his questions and help him, but I just don’t know how. If you can help me by giving me scriptures, quotes, anything, EVERYTHING I would appreciate it! Thank you.
Emily
Answer
Dear Emily,
The purpose of the Mormon Church, as President Hinckley has stated, is to make bad men good and good men better. There was only one perfect man–the Lord, Jesus Christ. If all men were perfect we wouldn’t need a church. So the Church exists to help people who beat their kids to develop love, understanding, and tolerance so that instead of beating kids for their misdeeds they would praise them for their good qualities.
The Mormon Church exists to help husbands and wives forgive one another their shortcomings, to sacrifice personal interest in favor of the interests of their companions and to honor the commitments and covenants they made with each other and with the Lord when they were married, so that instead of giving up on their relationship and seeking its termination they would forget their petty personal interests in providing for the happiness of each other.
The Mormon Church exists to provide answers to the probing questions of life and to help us repent of our wrong doings, develop faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thus to merit the influence of the Holy Spirit that will lead us to firm and true testimonies of the divinity of the Savior, of the truthfulness of the principles of the gospel and of the restoration of the Kingdom of God on the earth which is embodied within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. If your friend could understand those principles all his questions would be answered.
Gramps
