Posted by:
Eldermalin
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Date: June 14, 2011 04:43AM
Just had a frustrating conversation with some friends.
I related how my mother had left the church a few years ago with her husband and currently forbids my little brother from having any interactions with the church beyond going to the Scout program and anything my father shoves down his throat when my brother is staying at his house.
My mother was a convert in her teens and stayed active for well over 30 years. During the divorce she even became uber believer and she made sure to remarry a worthy priesthood holder. However, a few years ago she left and took her husband with her. (Before they married he was a widowed High Councillor). She'd struggled with a Joseph Smith testimony all my life and over being socially snubbed at church along with resentment at not being part of the Mormon aristocracy. She finally left over being offended (several times) and how the Mormon church isn't a true Christian church. (I don't dare approach her about atheism and the many falsehoods of any Christian faith at this point.)
So my friends basically defended the church and thought little of my mother for taking offence. I admit my mother in many aspects of her life sets up expectations of others only to be disappointed and was partially responsible for some of the offences, but not all of them. There are many that are just inherent in the system.
But to my friends the gospel is true and the people in the church are imperfect and we just need to live with it. That's part of the sanctification process and the church is God's tool to give us those saving ordinances so that we can return and be like Him.
I know I probably have no chance of convincing these guys, but I just want to clarify my own thinking on the matter by getting your input on the subject.