Hey everyone!
I've been wanting to put up more posts so bad, but haven't had time to finish any of them. School's been pretty busy lately, and I still haven't found time, so I thought I might try something. I'm hoping to get some responses in order to increase my understanding of why people believe in what they do (particularly beliefs related to the Mormon church). I understand that not everyone wants their responses posted on a public blog, so feel free to shoot me an email and I'll keep your response completely confidential (kiraroberts@live.ca).
I hope this doesn't sound silly....but I really need some information to put some perspective on some things that have been really racking my brain lately.
These questions are specifically for members of the church, who have grown up in the church (since these people are the ones I can most closely relate to), however, this can extend to anyone who has believed in God their whole life. Heck, anyone can respond....just as long as it's related somehow.
As a true believing member, have you ever put yourself in the shoes of someone who has never heard the gospel or believed in God? Just for a minute, let's say you've never heard anything about The Book of Mormon, nothing about The Bible, maybe even nothing about God. What would it take to convince you that those things were true? What would it take to convince you that Joseph Smith was a prophet? I'm talking from a completely blank slate, here. Pretend you know nothing about Moroni's challenge....what if these were things you have heard for the very first time?
Would you be convinced? ...and why?
This is something I thought about a lot when preparing for a mission. I ended up not being able to find really good reasons why people should listen to what I had to say, which is why I ended up cancelling my plans to be a missionary for the LDS church. This was one of the first times I had ever REALLY questioned whether or not the Mormon Church was true. I could come up with many reasons why people should join the church....but I couldn't find any possible explanations (or evidence) to convince people that it was true. There was no way I could go on a mission and tell people to believe in those things without knowing them, myself.
However, I realize that people DO convert....but I need to hear what they have to say about this situation as well. What kinds of things went through your minds? I'm super curious...
Anyways, I apologize for those who aren't or ever have been Mormon or religious....It's probably a boring post for y'all. I'm not really here to entertain...just to vent my frustrations and set some things straight. Thanks for understanding :)
Peace and Love,
Kira
kiraroberts@live.ca
or for those of you who are my facebook friends, feel free to keep sending me facebook messages :)
