True Religion

This post is part of the General Conference Odyssey. This week covers the Sunday morning session of the April 2008 conference.

Listening to Elder Uchtdorf's talk reminded me of an experience I had as a missionary. We met an older gentleman who invited us into his lovely home. We learned that he was a Polish immigrant who had served in World War II as an agent for the US forces. He came to the US after the war, met and married his wife, etc. We taught him several lessons and he seemed interested and seemed to know it was true. I had a dream in which I saw this brother dressed in white in the temple. But he couldn't get past his promise to his mother that he would never leave the Catholic church, nor his promise to his wife that he would be a faithful Methodist. I prayed that those good ladies would visit him and tell him that it was okay to join the church, and please do so quick so they could get temple work done. That prayer went unanswered. I was transferred and never heard what happened to Brother Csikos. 

Elder Uchtdorf said, "True religion should not originate from what pleases men or the traditions of ancestors, but rather from what pleases God, our Eternal Father."

We invite everyone on this beautiful planet to taste of His doctrine and see if it is not sweet and good and precious. We ask those of sincere heart to learn of this doctrine and ask their Father in Heaven if it is not true. And by so doing, all can discover, embrace, and walk in the true faith of the Father, which faith will make them whole.

 Influencing family in the other direction, our living families, we can show them by our actions how important the Gospel and church activity is by putting obedience to God and His commandments and work first in our lives. Jesus Christ can give us an eternal family, but our family can never give us salvation and exaltation.

 

The First Generation

This post is part of the General Conference Odyssey. This week covers the Saturday morning session of the October 2006 conference.

Once when my companion and I invited a person we were teaching to be baptized the person said, "Oh, I can't join the church. I don't have any pioneer ancestors." To which I answered, "I don't either. My Grandpa Hansen joined in 1905 in Norway, and immigrated to Utah the next year. He crossed the plains on the train! And I'm so grateful that he did. Your grandchildren will be grateful to you and honor you for being the first in your family to join the Lord's church, just as I am so thankful for my Grandpa."

Elder Paul B. Pieper spoke of and to those who are the first in their family to join the church. "You add great strength to the Church when you use your testimony, talents, abilities, and energy to build the kingdom in your wards and branches. . . . You are an example to your family of a true disciple of Jesus Christ."

My husband is the first in his family to join the church. He has struggled at times to stay active and faithful. Elder Pieper's advice is helpful, "Do not be discouraged if you make a mistake. Repenting and continuing to press forward are perhaps the most important patterns to develop in the first generation. Be patient and move forward in obedience." That counsel is pertinent to all of us. Further, he says, "Be faithful, serve your fellowman, bless your family, and make proper choices."

The earliest member of the church that I can find in my family tree is a great-great grandmother named Charlotte Haynes who joined the church in 1865 in England. I'm eternally grateful for her, for my great-great grandfather James Campbell who joined in 1875 in Scotland, for great grandma Anne Marie Mathiasen, baptized in 1879 in Denmark, and Grandpa Conrad Hansen baptized 10 February 1905 in the Arctic Ocean off the coast of Norway. They were all the first generations of my ancestors, I am the fifth generation.