Trusting in Church Leaders

As I was reading in Alma 14 a few days ago, I had a thought come to me that I'd like to share. Sometimes it can be difficult to trust in church leadership. You may not agree with a bishop on the way things are run or don't think he is qualified enough. There are many reasons why it can be hard to trust in God's choice for the callings chosen in a ward, stake, or even in general callings. But, Heavenly Father puts people into those callings for a reason. It may be for those people to grow, and it may be for those around them to grow (or hopefully both!). When we raise our hand in church on Sunday to sustain someone, we are agreeing that we will support this person and trust in his/her leadership role in our ward.



Now on to Alma and my thought: Alma and Amulek had been preaching in Ammonihah like they had been inspired to do. It didn't seem like they were making a dent in the people there. After much effort and preaching, they were thrown into prison by many unbelievers. Additionally, those who actually had believed on Alma and Amulek's words, were being martyred for their faith. Alma and Amulek were forced to watch those they had taught be burned at the stake. They were taunted and goaded about their beliefs. As they stood there witnessing this horrorific death of men, women, and children, Amulek asked Alma if they could stretch forth their hands and exercise the power of God to save the people from the flames. But, Alma replied that the spirit kept him from doing that and he went on to explain why. Don't you think it was hard for Amulek to continue standing by his church leader as he watched those people calling out gut-wrenching, agonizing screams? I do. I think it definitely would have been hard to continue listening to Alma, even if he said he was doing it because of the spirit. But, Amulek listened nonetheless and he did so in faith knowing that Alma was a leader of Christ's church.



If Amulek could listen in such a troubling situation, don't you think that you and I can learn from his example? Sometimes we may not always understand why church leaders do certain things, but the beautiful thing is that we ALL have access to personal revelation. We can ask Heavenly Father to allow us His peace of mind, if it be His will. We can ask Heavenly Father to know that these leaders have been called of Him and take comfort knowing they are guided by our Father in Heaven.

(Of course, there may be exceptions to this, but in general, we should trust and sustain our church leaders in their callings.)

Attitudes of Gratitude

I was thinking today how grateful I am to be a part of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. No matter what happens during my week, every Sunday I look forward to attending church. I love Sundays! I love how I get time to be at peace with myself and my life. I get time to forget about the pressing demands of the world and to focus on my Savior. I have time on Sunday to reevaluate my life in order to improve for the coming week. Sunday is such a great day to fill my spiritual reservoir, to remind me of what life’s all about, and to just help me to chill out. Today, thankfully, was no different.

Lately, life has been a little stressful with preparing for an entirely new teaching position as well as getting ready for my little sister’s wedding this week. Needless to say, tensions have been high around my house! It was such a relief to be able to go to church with my family and just enjoy feeling of Heavenly Father’s spirit. I actually went to church twice: once with my family and then once with my boyfriend to our normal church congregation. I feel like I gained MUCH needed spiritual insight today. I had been praying in my heart all week about ways to overcome some current issues. I felt like I received answers to those prayers today at church. I am incredibly blessed to be able to attend our church and feel of God’s love and peace for me. Additionally, I know that attending church also helps Evan to search for ways to improve himself as well. All in all, I want to say that I know that our church is true. There are many Christian denominations that have SO much truth, wisdom, and love… they’re just missing a few key pieces. I’m thankful for the knowledge I have that Jesus Christ is my Savior and Redeemer. I’m thankful for a God that blesses me in ways I cannot foretell nor imagine. I know that it is through His Spirit that I am able to gain a testimony of these truths.