Invitation


Last week I had the opportunity to go to open house for the LDS Gilbert Temple with a bunch of members of my family!  This was really special for me, I had never been to a temple open house before!  It meant a lot to me that members of my family expressed interest in seeing it too.  I don't expect people to be interested in my church, even casually or out of curiosity.  But it means SO MUCH when they take the time and care to ask their questions.  That was my favorite part of the whole thing, answering questions.

Which has led me to reflect...

Dear Everyone,

I want to make this short so people will read it because what I'm about to say is really really important to me.  I hope that any family or friends who ever have musings or questions or hear "facts" about the church know that they can use me as a fact checker!  There is A LOT of bad information out there about the LDS Church, lots of good information too but it hard to tell them apart sometimes.  Also every religion has it's points that are hard to understand without some background knowledge.

I know how it feels to not believe in another religion.  I know people might want some information about a belief or practice, but they DON'T want to be convinced, they don't want to be preached at.  I would be happy and honored to answer any questions in the best, truest, most non-threatening way that I can.  Questions, even questions that seem weird or elementary do not bother me at all.

Because

This is what does bother me, when people don't like, or even despise the LDS faith or its members because of things they think they know that are not true.  It gives me a sick feeling when people disdainfully say, "How can you believe in a church that treats women so badly?"  Or "how can you call yourself Christian if you don't believe the Bible?"  It feels like I'm being called a thief and judged for it when stealing is something I have never done.

I can understand why people have negative ideas about the church but I wish they would ask me.  Do you think your church treats women badly?  Or, do you read the Bible in your church?  I would be so happy to tell them what and why I think and believe what I do.  I don't want to argue, I don't necessarily want to convince anyone to believe or think the way that I do, I just want their feelings towards me and my religion to be based on accurate information.  If their feelings remain negative, that is fine with me!  I mind that infinitely less than negative feelings based on false information.

Here are some common sources of incorrect information about the LDS church.

Friends who are not LDS
Articles on the internet not published by the LDS church (even if they are or say they are a member)
TV shows
Articles published by other churches

This is an invitation for anyone (particularly my loved ones) who has questions about the LDS church that they can ask me any time and I would be happy to give them the most thoughtful true answer I can.

Love,
Sarah

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