Day of rest. Went to church. The lesson in Sunday school was on agency, or in other words, ability to choose. It had an interesting analogy. On a beach there can be a sign that warns us about the dangers of a whirlpool. It may seem restrictive, but in truth it just tells us how to be more free. There are many things we can do, but once we ignore the sigh and find ourselves in the whirlpool all of sudden our choices are very limited. So are the commandments of God. They restrict us temporarily, and only if we choose to obey them, but as the time goes on our freedom expands. Failure to keep them makes it look like freedom for a short while, but then we find ourselves in bondage. The lesson in the Elder's quorum was on keeping the Sabbath day holy. We had a good discussion. The talks in the Sacrament meeting were on Christ as our Savior. I read an article by Elder Oaks that mentioned that only 14% of Americans got anywhere close to correctly identifying the fundamental belief of the LDS church that Christianity was restored in its true form after long years of apostasy. This to go along with only half being able to name even one of the four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John). But in any case, I figured I should add my contribution to correcting this lack of understanding of our faith, and will write some about it. We believe that when Christ was on the earth He established His church, which taught correct principles. The writings of those prophets and apostles are found in the New Testament, and contained the pure doctrine of Christ in their original form. Over the years those teachings were diluted with philosophies of men. Even the Bible suffered a measure of corruption. This led to the rise of many churches which taught and continue to teach a measure of the truth mixed with some misunderstandings. This was not going to last forever, and eventually the time came for the truth to be restored. God called a prophet in our day just like He did in the times of Noah, Moses, Samuel, and Isaiah. This prophet was Joseph Smith. The true teachings of Christ were restored, along with the Priesthood authority to perform ordinances such as baptism. These teachings and authority are found in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
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