Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter issued the following statement today regarding the recent vandalism of Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints buildings in Chubbuck.
“Defiling or defacing houses of worship – of any faith or denomination – is an attack not just on religious beliefs or even our law, but also on our culture and our values. It disturbs the sanctuaries of our spiritual well-being. These are not merely the acts of misguided individuals. They speak to a more fundamental disregard for sacred places, social order and the freedoms that generations of Americans have sacrificed to protect.”
Over the past couple of weeks we have witnessed one of the most incredible acts of kindness and yet one the most disrespectful acts. I have seen vandalism before but this time around, I was angry. I could not let go of the anger I had for the cowards that defaced and vandalized my church, my stake center and another stake center in the area.
I am angry for a few reasons. 1. I am angry because vandalizing property especially a place of worship is just wrong. It is wrong in the fact that this coward is either a member of the church and is angry for something he brought on himself or he is just someone who has been offended by someone who happens to be a member of the church. He is not just taking it out on one person, he has to take it out on the whole church. If he is a member of the church and he is angry with us for something WE did. When people are angry with the church, most of the time it is because they did something that resulted in discipline which could be something as lightly as repenting yourself or it could go as far as being excommunicated from the church. YOU make your own decisions and YOU decide the path that you will take. It is not the churches fault if you make wrong decisions that put you in a bad place. If this coward is not a member of the church and they are doing this people they have been offended, shame on you. You are letting one person determine your entire perspective on the Mormon church. 2. I am also angry because this puts on the wrong message to those who are not members. It makes them ask the questions "What did they really do to make this happen" or "Why would someone go this far"?
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints has over 15,000,000 members of the church in the entire world. If you think about it, that's not THAT many compared to the 7 billion in the world. BUT, our religion is out there. We have over 80,000 missionaries, 141 temples, 4 universities/colleges and people know about us. They know that we judge and that is what we do. Anytime someone associates with a Mormon and are offended by something they say, all Mormons are bad because all we do is judge. What people don't understand is that everyone in the world whether they are Mormon, Luthern, Catholic, Atheist, etc. we all judge. Do we judge on purpose because we know you are not Mormon and that is what we want to do? No, I can guarantee anyone reading this cannot sit there and say they have never judged in their life. In fact, I judged the coward who defaced our church. I made assumptions as to why someone would be so angry to vandalize property. I judge because I am not perfect. No mormon is perfect. Our Prophet, Thomas S Monson, is not perfect. He may be close to the Lord but he too makes mistakes. We all make mistakes. It is unfortunate that people feel this way.
I grew up with the most amazing group of friends I could ever ask for. They were all such good examples to me and we had fun. We had fun when we were just being stupid. We had fun hanging out and doing nothing. Does the fact that we were mormon have an advantage? Maybe. But the thing about it is, not all of my friends are mormon. I would not have had it any other way either. These friends are GREAT people. They new how to have fun and they didn't let our religion play a role in our friendship. The thing that breaks my heart, we never forced or encouraged mormonism on these friends and once high school was over, I heard that they hated Mormons because they have been judged. How were you judged? Were you judged because you weren't a mormon or did someone judge you in another way? The common misconception is that we judge people because they aren't Mormon. I will be honest, there are Mormons who think they are perfect and do judge other because they are not perfect. Well Mormon or not, I too hate those who think they are perfect. I also think that Facebook and Instragram gets misinterpreted. People can post everything about their life and make it seem like they are just perfect and happy but deep down, it is not even close to that. They may have just posted a picture of their husband but the day before that, they were yelling at each other. Everything is just a misconception. We are read the wrong way and because of that, the Mormon religion and people are bad people.
It's just like the Provo "Mormon" doctor that was found guilty last week of murdering his wife a few years ago. The fact that he is a Mormon, the media of the case just escalated because we are supposed to be perfect. Well, I hate to tell you that there are bad people out there. It has nothing to do with their title or religion. It has everything to do with who they are as a person. You don't see newscasters putting Catholic at the beginning of a trial for someone killing their wife or because they are running for President. People judge us as Mormons because we are held to a higher standard.
One of our main focuses are about families. We are all about family and togetherness. Who doesn't want their family to be their main focus. Even if you have no interest in joining the church, do a little research of what we are about before you judge us. If you have been judged by someone who is a member of the church, don't assume the religion teaches us to be that way or that all mormons are that way because we aren't. Do we judge? Yes. Do we purposely judge nonmembers? No. If I have ever judge anyone in one way or another, I apologize from the bottom of my heart. It is never my intention to hurt someone or attack someone because of what they believe.
I will say this though, after having Reggie, I am grateful for eternal families. I love Jordan more than anything but now that I have Reggie, my whole perspective on life has changed. I want more than anything for Reggie to live a great life and for him to be happy. More than anything, I want to be with my family for eternity. I am grateful for the church and do have a testimony of it. I believe that Jesus Christ atoned for my sins. I also believe that our Heavenly Father loves every one of us no matter who we are and what we believe. As long as we can believe in Him and know that he wants nothing but happiness for us, nothing else matters. He wants us to return to him.
I love my friends and family and everyone I have had the chance to come in contact with...
That being said, I live in a great neighborhood. I wish so much I could have been apart of the light extravaganza last weekend but it has been awesome to see this go viral.
The Long family has four children. Their oldest is on a mission and their second oldest in in college. Their two younger boys are 15 and 10 I believe. They both have the disease called muscular dystrophy. This is a disease in which muscles damage easily and weaken which eventually confines one to a wheelchair. Those with this disease also have trouble breathing and swallowing as well. Konner, the 15-year-old, asked his dad if they could have Christmas lights this year. They had the lights do to it but before they could, the neighborhood banded together to deck their house out in Christmas lights. Watch the video below.
We had our primary program last week. Those children just have sweet little spirits and to listen to the shout the primary songs, just brought a warm feeling to my heart. The younger Long boy, Jaxson, was in my direct line of sight. I had an emotional Sunday. As I sat and watched him, he just had a smile on his face the entire program. I did not cry because I felt bad for him, I cried because no matter what life has thrown at him, he still has a smile on his face. I look up to the strength that those boys have or anyone for that matter that struggles with a disability.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAnH-l7HaEk
