Tale of the Hard Truth

Hello Family! How are you doing? The pictures of baby Liam is so cute! And all the kids look so big!! I cant believe that they are all so grown up now! Well this week has been ok not much has happened. I made y'all a video to make up for the lack of excitement :) I hope that it uploads fast. Because that is really all that I have for you. But I do have another  experience that happened this week. So here is my one and only story.

Story 1 and only the Tale of the Hard Truth

This past week we stopped by a Less actives house. She has not been to church in a few years and her reason is this. She has family members who are struggling with homosexuality. And she says that until the church would change and accept her family she would not return. She cried and asked how the true church of God could shun and hurt those around them. Why would god give this situation to her family if it was not alright. She fells that people with challenges such as this should be accepted in the church and allowed the same privileges that all other members have. Because God made them this way. As you know I am not one to shy away from the truth. So as kindly and plainly as I could I told her that this church will never change. Because this is the church of God, and is run by him not man. She tried to argue that God is perfect, but that the men who run the church are flawed by pride and hate. She says that the scriptures are mistranslated/ mis interpreted. I again tried to tell her that the men who lead and guide the church are not perfect but they do the will of God. And the scriptures are the word of God, and as far as they are translated correctly they are true. I bore my testimony that I know that this church is true and that it is not mans church but Gods. Yet still she tried to tie my words and my testimony. Telling me that I could not know that and asked how I could give 18 months of my life to a church that treats people so badly. She continued to say that I could not know that this was the true church because she has asked and not been given her answer. This is were I get very upset with people. How dare they tell me what I know. How Dare they tell me that I can not know that this church is true. This has been one of the hardest tests of my mission, to be kind yet firm. So I again told her the things that I know . That this Church is TRUE! Thomas S Monson is a PROPHET today. The Book of Mormon is TRUE. This is God church NOT mans. Marriage is between a MAN and a WOMAN ONLY. And there are laws given to all men by God that CAN NOT and WILL NOT be changed. As President Monson said this last conference  

“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.

 Mark concludes the account with the Savior’s statement: “There is none other commandment greater than these.”

 We cannot truly love God if we do not love our fellow travelers on this mortal journey. Likewise, we cannot fully love our fellowmen if we do not love God, the Father‍ of us all."

We need to love the sinner but hate the sin. If we can not then we can not truly love and know God. Elder Holland adds this,

"And what of those who just want to look at sin or touch it from a distance? Jesus said with a flash, if your eye offends you, pluck it out. If your hand offends you, cut it off.12 “I came not to [bring] peace, but a sword,”13 He warned those who thought He spoke only soothing platitudes. No wonder that, sermon after sermon, the local communities “pray[ed] him to depart out of their coasts.”14 No wonder, miracle after miracle, His power was attributed not to God but to the devil.15 It is obvious that the bumper sticker question “What would Jesus do?” will not always bring a popular response."

Jesus clearly understood what many in our modern culture seem to forget: that there is a crucial difference between the commandment to forgive sin (which He had an infinite capacity to do) and the warning against condoning it (which He never ever did even once)."

This is so true! The comment "What would Jesus do?" Has often been posed to me as a missionary. And the truth is it is not always what people think. We still need to love those around us despite what they do. No one is perfect so we need to treat all of Gods children with love. Judge not lest ye be judged. I know that this church is true and that it is run by men of God. The church is not perfect but the Gospel that it teaches is the true word of the Lord. This is the hard truth that the world is struggling to ignore. But we know the truth and we need to share it with the world.  

I love y'all so much and I pray that we can all be kind to those around us. I cant wait to hear from you soon.    

Love Sister Chatwin