Please, accept this invitation.

Now, more than ever, we need the peace and assurances that Christ brings. Please, do not turn away from this invitation.  I know you need it.  I know, because I need it.

I know you have fears and anxieties, whether financial, political, physical, mental, or emotional.  I have many of these myself.  Perhaps not the same ones you have, but I want you to know that I've dealt with my share.

I know you have regrets and guilts.  Whether you've broken promises or lost relationships.  I've been there.  I'm guilty.  I have regrets for things I've done.

I know you have self-doubts and self-deceptions.  On one hand you feel like you can't accomplish or become what you need to.  On the other hand you tell yourself white lies (or full lies) to deceive yourself into believing you have done no wrong.  Please, know that you have innate worth, and that you can accomplish what you need to.  You can also disabuse yourself of the convenient lies you tell yourself.  I know you can, because I am doing so too.

I'm not saying that I am some great paragon of truth, or guide through life.  In fact, I am, myself, a lost sheep.  But I am also a Child of God, an Heir of God; as are you. (Romans 8:16-17)  I know that God will help His Children in what they need; and that if He will help a wretch such as I, He will reach out in love to all His Children, including YOU.

You are precious.  You are worth knowing who you are and how much love and peace is available to you.

So, please, here is my invitation.  Please take this as a serious, heartfelt offer.  I love you and want you to have the peace, love, and hope that I have found.

"[I] invite all men everywhere to read the Book of Mormon, to ponder in their hearts the message it contains, and then to ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ if the book is true." (The Book of Mormon, Introduction)

This invitation also applies to the Bible (see James 1:5) and to any words that talk, rejoice, preach, prophesy, or write of Christ. (2 Nephi 25:26)  It's not so much about the Book of Mormon, or the Bible, or other holy writ; it's about the message they contain.  It's about Christ's love, peace, and assurance.  It's about His Atonement for you, that you and I don't have to suffer forever for our wrongs towards others (or towards ourselves), that we can be cleansed and become more like Him each day.  More loving, more peaceful, more hopeful, less deceitful, and with less desire to do wrong and to waste away our days.

My invitation comes with a promise:

"Those who pursue this course and ask in faith will gain a testimony of its truth and divinity by the power of the Holy Ghost.

"Those who gain this divine witness from the Holy Spirit will also come to know by the same power that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world, that Joseph Smith is His revelator and prophet in these last days, and that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the Lord's kingdon once again established on the earth, preparatory to the Second Coming of the Messiah."  (The Book of Mormon, Introduction)

I testify that the Spirit does speak to men, that God does again reveal His will through living Prophets for the benefit of you and me, His Children. (see The Living Christ)  I have felt the power of Christ's Atonement in my life and plead with you to seek for that same power yourself.  There is no other source of lasting peace, no other way to be filled with true hope.

Please, look to Christ and live. (Alma 37:47)

What Marriage (and Life) is REALLY About

I recently ran across Seth Adam Smith's post Marriage Isn't For You. Thinking that this was another of those worldly denouncements of all that is good in life I almost didn't read it. Well, I'm glad I did. Especially when I read a response article on another website. This other post sits on the edge of what I had feared the first to be. The author takes Seth's realization to an extreme and basically calls it detrimental to marriage.

So, what am I getting at with this post?

First, ideals are worth living for whether they are obtainable in this life or not. And I believe that the best ideals are more realistic and more obtainable than society gives them credit for being. Our society is losing the vision of living for ideals and the grace of allowing others to do the same.

Second, marriage is a thing of faith and work. No, you will not have all the answers before you get married, even if you wait until you're 99. And, no, you will not magically understand everything about marriage and families once you are married. You've got to move forward despite this lack of knowledge. It'll take work, hard work, but it'll be worth it.

Lastly, living for ideals in your marriage is not stupid or blind or any of those things that the world will tell you. Why can't family life be happy? Why can't couples never argue? Why can't each spouse place the other's concerns at the forefront of their lives? Why shouldn't spouses sacrifice to be at home more? Really, what is wrong with any of this? Just because it is hard, doesn't make it impossible. Just because too many families in the world are marred by sadness, abuse, contention, or selfishness, doesn't mean that the family you raise has to be. Happiness is a choice. All people can choose happiness or misery: life or captivity.


I cannot believe in any other way of living. If I don't have hopes, dreams, and ideals, then why would I work every day to be a better man than I was the day before? Why bother? Without vision, life isn't worth living.

So find a vision, however dim, of what you want your life to be like. Then never, never, give up on that vision. You may make mistakes along the way. It might be three steps forward and two steps back. You might be on top of the world one day and in the dumps the next. WHATEVER happens, always turn back towards your goal and try again. Because in the end you either make the effort or you don't. It's your choice.

Choose happiness.