THE SWEETNESS OF CHURCH

A post from the facebook of one of our Young Adults in the Canaries.  The baby is praying that the week will pass quickly for the anticipated Friday Family Home Evening.

I have always wanted my blog to contain a smattering of my interests, including my love for the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Today I sat in church with an overwhelming sense of the sweetness of the families gathered to share a spiritual experience.  There was a High Council speaker and he was having a difficult time delivering his message, yet I felt peace and love there.  I said to myself, "This is good, this is right."  Even in the weakness of this mans abilities I felt the spirit."   I thought of a favorite quote from Rabbi Harold Kushner.   He said:
 

“In congregational worship, regularly scheduled services on a Saturday or Sunday morning, I have come to believe that the congregating is more important than the words we speak.  Something miraculous happens when people come together seeking the presence of God.  The miracle is that we so often find it.  Somehow the whole becomes more than the sum of its parts.  A spirit is created in our midst which none of us brought there.  In fact, each of us came there looking for it because we did not have it when we were alone.  But in our coming together, we create the mood and the moment in which God is present.”  (Who Needs God, p. 149)

Recently I had a conversation with the wife of a Dr. I am seeing, who was helping out that day.  I told her about our mission.  She is not LDS but was very impressed with the idea that we are going to help a group of young adults, in a far flung area of the world, be together, have a community.  We have already connected with some of these young people on facebook.  They have impressed us with the things they say and post on their facebook page.  (Bless Mike, who is proficient at reading Spanish) They are not ashamed of their testimonies.  They link to church talks, songs, scriptures and quotes that inspire them.  The bulk for their facebook friends are not LDS.  They are showing the joy and direction the gospel gives them for a good, clean life of hope and love. 

I have a file of favorite gospel articles from various sources.  This is a great essay with a challenge to atheism .  Athiests  Here is a quote from it:  

Dr. Nicholi, author of "The Question of God," conducted a research project at Harvard University in which he interviewed undergraduates who had experienced what they called a "religious conversion."  The author interviewed the students themselves and the people who knew them before and after their conversions.  The results, which were published in the "American Journal of Psychiatry," showed that each subject described a "marked improvement in ego functioning.a radical change in life style with an abrupt halt in the use of drugs, alcohol, and cigarettes; improved impulse control, with adoption of a strict sexual code demanding chastity or marriage with fidelity; improved academic performance; enhanced self-image and greater access to inner feelings; an increased capacity for establishing 'close, satisfying relationships'; improved communication with parents.a lessening of 'existential despair;' and a decrease in preoccupation with.apprehension over death." (see "The Question of God, p. 80)

My favorite scripture find this year is in Enos: " ...and the words which I often heard my father speak concerning eternal life, and the joy of the saints, sunk deep into my heart."  (v.3)

Yes,  My favorite thoughts are usually of the "joy of the saints," those who have taught me, loved me and influenced me for good in the sojourn of my life.  And I look forward to many more experiences with saints in new places.