Question
Hi Gramps,
Just a quick question– I’ve been a member of the Mormon Church for nearly two years now. Before I came into the church I’d been in trouble all my life kind of. No one in our family was religious. It’s been hard converting; I’ve managed to baptize my three daughters and two friends, but I still feel as though I don’t fit in to the Church. Will that change for me? My patriarchal blessing kind of amazed me. I did not think I could be capable of reaching those heights, but I still feel different from all the rest….any help gramps?
Andrew
Answer
Dear Andrew,
One of the things that keep us thinking that we don’t fit in, is the perception that all the other members are better than we are. So let’s see if we can help change your perspective a bit. Who do you think that the most clean and righteous people in the Church are? They are the ones who have just been baptized, whose sins have all been forgiven them. They are as clean and free from sin as a new-born child. In truth, all the other members should to those who are just baptized as if they were not worthy of them. So as we go through life in the Mormon Church and succumb to one temptation or another, we have need to immediately and completely repent, and get on with our lives, staying as close to the Lord as we can. There is no reason for you to feel like an outsider. Your real allegiance is to the Lord, Jesus Christ. If you can feel accepted by him, nothing else really matters. However, other members of the Church can be a support and a help in your preserving your righteousness. Why don’t you continue to develop friendships within the Church, and act as a powerful example to those who you have baptized that likely wonder if they fit in to your affiliation with the Lord’s kingdom?
Believe beyond any doubt that you will be capable of doing what the Lord has revealed to you in your patriarchal blessing, and work toward achieving the blessings and instructions that are laid out for you in that piece of personal scripture.
Gramps
