Good vs. Evil

I had a very creepy experience the other night. I was reading the posts in a chatroom and noticed that someone started posting comments that were very anti-Mormon, talking about polygamy and how Mitt Romney is a 'closet polygamist' and all kinds of things that are not true. I typed in and asked if this person was LDS. He said NO (in capital letters). I began to chat w/ him and ask where he was getting his information. I thought maybe he was just misinformed and I could correct his misconceptions about the church. He said that he was originally from Missouri and he "knows all about the Mormons." I said that maybe he had received information from people who were really against the church. Then, he typed, "My ancestors were part of the group that drove the Mormons out of Missouri." I was taken aback. I asked, "And are you proud of that?" He said, "I'm just telling you how it is." I responded, "So you are proud that your ancestors persecuted innocent people who did nothing wrong and only wanted to exercise their Constitutional right to worship God as they pleased?" He replied, "You just don't understand how things were." That is when I left. It was obvious to me that this was not just some uninformed person who might respond to the truth; he was someone who went into that room to try to stir up trouble and start a fight.

I was taught in the MTC that you never argue with people about the church. The spirit of dissention takes over and the Holy Ghost leaves. You will never convince people of anything by arguing. That is why I left. But it still gave me the creeps and the more I thought about it, the yuckier I felt. As members of the church, we are proud of our heritage. We are proud of our Prophets, and proud of the early saints for the trials that they went through. I realized, after that experience, that there are people alive today who are proud of their ancestors for driving the Mormons away and murdering the Prophet and his brother. There are people who are proud of evil.

I taught Relief Society today. The lesson was on the trials and tribulations that the Prophet Joseph Smith went through in Liberty jail in Missouri and the horrible things that were happening to the Saints during those long months when their leader was encarcerated. Several things happened during the week that could have made me just call the Relief Society Presidency and say, "I'm sorry, I just can't be there on Sunday to teach." I woke up this morning feeling sick. I ate breakfast and took my medicine and I waited. I was very shaky. My blood sugar measurement was fine, so I wasn't sure what the problem was. I resolved to go to church anyway. I kept getting ready to go and my eyes started acting all weird. I could not see through my glasses, even after washing the with soap and water. But I knew I could not drive without my glasses. I didn't know what to do. I called the members of the Relief Society Presidency, but none of them had their cell phones on. (By this time, Sacrament Meeting had already started.) I kept getting ready and trying to figure out what to do about my eyes. I prayed about what I should do. Finally, the time came when I either had to leave so I could get there just in time for Relief Society or I had to do something else. I felt really strongly that I needed to give the lesson, if not for anybody else, then for myself. I felt like Satan was trying to keep me from doing it. I resolved to drive to church and do the best that I could. I said a prayer, asking for protection as I drove, and I left.

I got to church about 2 minutes before Sunday School let out. The Relief Society Preisdency was happy to see me. During the lesson, I was very shaky. I just wanted to sit down. I kept having to take my glasses off and put them back on. But I gave the lesson. I have no idea if it meant anything to anyone else, but it meant a lot to me to finish it. If the pioneers could walk across the United States to get to Utah, I can drive 15 minutes to go to church and do my job. I did not share my online experience during my lesson -- I had thought about it and decided I would share it if I felt moved to do so during the lesson, but I didn't. But, as I described the horrible conditions that the Prophet was subjected to in prision and the awful things the saints endured in Missouri, I thought of that guy and his ancestors. I am certain that, when those people ran the Mormons out of their state, they thought that would be the end of the church. But here we are, over 150 years later, and the church is going strong. As Joseph Smith said, "No un hallowed hand can stop the work from progressing......"