Mormon Trivia: My magical Mormon Underwear! All the FAQ's!

I'm back again with a behind the scenes view of a typical, faithful, active, striving-to-become-better member of the Mormon Church, properly called the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In today's blog post, I'll give you a bit of insight into why our underwear is so magical. I have been reading a lot of confusion about Mitt Romney's underwear. Why exactly are we discussing underwear in a presidential campaign? And if in fact we did have a President who had some sort of magic on his side, that could only help, for all the trouble the economy is in! Although, personally I would go with some type of device that can make people simply tell the truth and be honest. Of course, that might just mean the total collapse of Washington. Then again, maybe a donkey that poops gold coins would be more helpful to the economy. It is beyond me why people obsess about this magic Mormon underwear. First of all, for the record, they are called garments. When my husband's drawer is empty of underwear, he doesn't say, "Honey, did you wash my magic Mormon underwear?" He says: "Do we have any clean garments?"

Before I delve into some of the weirder criticisms I've heard, let me just say that I will be using some scriptures to make my point. I'm purposefully using scriptures from the Bible, to further illustrate that we DO believe in the Bible. And I want to point out that members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believe that this is truly Christ's church, restored as it was before, when He lived on earth. So if we are going to make such lofty claims, I think we better be able to back it up with scriptures.  I have no intention of converting anyone with this post, rather I'd like to just take away some of the confusion. Also, as I have gotten several requests for permission to share this, I would just like to say, IF you share it then make sure you credit it as an opinion piece of a member, not an official church statement. So first let me explain what a garment is. 

What is the magic Mormon underwear?

It's called a temple garment. Typically they are white, except for people in the armed forces who have the option of buying khaki or green (whatever that color is called). They come in different length and fabrics but most of them reach about to the knee for the pants, and the tops are just like a T-Shirt for guys, and for women they are like one of those shirts you wear under a tank top with cupped sleeves. They also have full length pants and shirts like in the good ol' Wild West, for winter time. I personally don't care for those. 

Why do you wear them?

The wearing of the garment is optional. Only members of the church who wish to devote their lives further to God and make higher commitments in the temple will wear them. By wearing them we remind ourselves daily of our modesty in dress standards, and of our commitment to God. This leads me to the first criticism, which I find actually very ironic. 

Why are Mormon's so secretive about their underwear?

First of all, are we really? Who talks about their underwear? Why single us out? Is anybody asking the Jews, the Muslims about their underwear, or the Catholics? Or the Atheists? Why should ours matter to anyone? So many religions and cultures wear something to remind them of their commitment to God. The Catholic priests have their white collars and black robes, the Buddhist priests have their orange ones, Muslim women wear the headscarf, and cover up most of their skin, Muslim men wear the turbans, Jewish orthodox women have wigs to cover their head...the list goes on and on. We look at a headscarf and think, oh OK, that's part of her religion. And the discussion is over before it started. Of all religious reminders our underwear is the LEAST in your face about our devotion. Our commitment is meant to be seen by God, not the world. And ironically when we do share the gospel through members or missionaries, we get accused of being pushy. But, if we would like to show our devotion in a way that no one is supposed to see on the outside, we are called secretive. So which one is it then?
And by the way, I'm in no way criticizing what other religions wear or what they do, to remind themselves of their commitment. I think it's great, whatever helps someone remember a higher power, do it, wear it, sing it, write it, paint it, and above all, live it. And if this means to you carrying a teeny cross around your neck, a moon pendant because you're pagan, or a tattoo to remember your ancestors...good for you. Whatever works for you. 

Missionaries don't teach you about the garments!

True. It is true that the missionaries who taught me didn't mention the wearing of temple garments. (Just in case you didn't know, I joined the church when I was 18 in Switzerland. My mother was an inactive member of the church, and my dad an anti-Mormon. Neither of them ever told me about the church). I have read that missionaries don't teach you about the garments, thus, duping innocent victims into a lifelong slavery to wearing these things. OK...let's put that in perspective. First of all, no one gets a signing bonus for bringing members into the church. It's not like we get a free toaster or anything, although we are promised that we will feel great joy. And garments are fairly cheap, so it's not like the church has a huge share in the cotton industry either. And since we don't have paid clergy, and you can't get a "high" position by signing up lots of members, it's not about power either. The missionaries (and members) share the gospel on their own dime. (I'll explain more about the internal workings of missionary life in a later post.) Missionaries follow strict rules, leave their families, put their academic careers and personal lives on hold for two years. And why? To trick people into wearing garments? No! Because they believe that the message they have to share could bring you a lot of happiness and peace of mind. And that's what it did for me. Elder Schoenfeld and Elder Sundquist could answer my questions about God, about the gospel, about all things I didn't understand. They were humble. They were kind. More important than anything they said, was the fact that they were living the gospel. I was 18 when I met them. They were the only 19-21 year old boys I knew who were not getting drunk, smoking pot, and using girls as disposable pleasure toys, AND at the height of the goth era, they were nicely dressed, with suits, ties, and short haircuts. They talked freely about their feelings and about religion. They were doing service. They spoke of wanting to get married for eternity when they got home and have a family. What they were doing and how they were living was so different from anything I had ever witnessed in a religion, that I was impressed. 

We are forbidden to tell people about garments

Not true. Having been a full time missionary myself, I can tell you that it is not true, that we are forbidden to tell people about garments. If someone asks, we will answer. But it's simply not the most important thing as missionaries. First if people are not religious they have to learn about God, then about faith, then about repentance, baptism, there are so many basics to cover.  And at least in my case, when my missionaries told me that God has a plan for me, that I can get married for eternity, that God speaks to a prophet today, and there is another book that confirms and even clarifies what the Bible says, His church is restored exactly as it was before all the apostles were killed, there are apostles today, my reaction was...that is so AWESOME, I'll do whatever to get that, not...soo, Elders, what are you wearing under those suits of yours? The bottom line is, if people are not ready to accept even the basics, they are not ready for more. And that is exactly what the garments represent. More commitment! 

Now as members, we are also not forbidden to talk about them per se. Yes, some things about them are not meant to be shared. But mostly it's simply that we don't make it a big deal. They are supposed to be sacred to us, not secret to you. When we receive them we promise to keep them sacred. The act of keeping something sacred is supposed to be a test for the person who entered the covenant. It's just an opportunity to demonstrate that we are willing to do whatever God asks of us, an opportunity for us to show that we love him by doing what He asked. We are asked to treat garments with respect and hold them sacred. And how do you treat something as sacred? By treasuring it, and sharing it only with someone who will care about it as much as you do. People don't have a right to know everything that is important to me, unless they've shown me that they care about me, and respect me. And even then, I'm still entitled to keep my thoughts private. We don't talk much about what garments represent. Why would we? It is meant to be important to US, not to you. Do you discuss your underwear at great length? OR your commitment to God for that matter?  

When you get married in the temple you have to always wear your garments, even during sex!

This ridiculous little gem I heard straight from my mormon-hating vocal coach, back in college. All I can say is, WOW. So, sex works pretty much the same for us as it does for everyone else. And not that I have taken a poll in our congregation or anything, but I would say most people like being naked during sex. And if you take a head count of children Mormons produce, I would say, that we've got the basics of intercourse and procreation worked out nicely.  
And no, we don't shower in our garments! We take them off for that too.

If you don't go through the temple and wear garments, you can't hold important, high callings in the church

True. But then again "high" doesn't mean important!!! That is against what Christ taught, and is something the "rest of the world" tries to impose on us. Explaining about callings in church Paul said in 1 Cor 12:

²¹ The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” ²² On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, ²³ and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, ²⁴ while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, ²⁵ so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. ²⁶ If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. ²⁷ Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.

In other words, every calling is important. If you are looking to make a career or earn money from going to church, I would redirect you to a mainstream Christian religion. However, this fact IS covered in the missionary lessons. 

When you go to the temple, you basically devote your life even more to the Lord. (It's not that you can't feel God's love unless you go to the temple. Anyone can feel his love no matter what religion they belong to.) In the temple you make promises similar to the ones you make at baptism. 
But then again, why would you WANT high callings  in the first place? The answer is, you wouldn't. You don't get paid, and you have to do a lot of extra work. If you aspire to high callings, chances are you won't get them. When Christ's disciples were arguing about position he said in Luke 22: 
⁶ But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves. ²⁷ For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves. 
If you want to have a high calling in church, you have to serve others. Again, no position in church is paid (except for some janitorial services). Our bishop for example has a full time job, and a family with four young kids. On top of his very demanding job and his family time he has a schedule that averages about 18-20 hours a week of unpaid service to the members (not including phone calls). Each Saturday and Sunday he spends anywhere from 5 to 7 hours at church. Prospective members are however taught about the fact that no church position is paid. You can't plan a career in this church. Callings are given based on revelation to the presiding governing bodies. And then the calling is put to vote in front of the congregation, so everyone has the chance to support who is called. If then for example someone is called to an office, and a member knows he is not living a commandment, then they can vote against them. Only after the matter has been investigated may someone serve in a calling. The vote has to be unanimous. All of this is covered in the missionary lessons.

Unless you are married you can't have a higher calling, such as bishop or stake president.

Absolutely true. And I think that's the way it should be. How can we have people counseling families, giving them spiritual and emotional advice when they have no families themselves, when they themselves are not willing to make further commitments and covenants? And if you must point fingers, than point straight to Christ, whose church this is, and at the guidance he gave his apostles. Check out what Paul writes to Titus about what kind of man should be called as a bishop:

 ⁶ If any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly. ⁷ For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not selfwilled, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre; ⁸ But a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate;

However, the same does not apply to women. Women can serve in the highest callings in Relief Society, Primary, and Young Women's organization without being married, although most of them, have gone through the temple. 

So what then is so magical about our underwear? 

Let's look at the meaning of the word magic. I'm going to assume it is used as defined in the Oxford dictionary "the power of apparently influencing events by using mysterious or supernatural forces."

Very well then. Does our garment have supernatural or mysterious power? I would say Yes, if we believe it does and No, if we don't believe in it. We are promised that it is a protection to us. Protection in what way? There is certainly the idea of physical protection, but let's put that in perspective. There are stories out there, which I like to call faith promoting rumors, as long as I don't know a person first hand who has experienced it. One such story for example is that a victim who survived a fire was burned only until the garment line. I have no proof of that. If it is true, that is awesome. However, having garments does not protect anyone from dying, when it is their time, or getting injured, or hurt, or getting cancer. That I do know for certain. My husband had cancer, and my 28 year old cousin Sabrina was wearing her garments when she got on her bike to go shopping. She swerved out of the way of a car, her bike fell, she hit her head, and that was it. It was her time to go. Also, the first line of protection against injury God gave everyone is a brain, and hopefully common sense. So if you are jumping out of an airplane with a poorly packed parachute and relying on the garment to protect you, you will be in for your last bad surprise. 

And as with everything the gospel and all the miracles Christ performed are based on the faith we have in Him. 

When Christ's apostles tried to rebuke a devil they couldn't, and wondered why it wasn't working for them. This was Christ's response: Matthew 17:20

 ²⁰ And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.

God won't do anything without us having faith. In the Book of Mormon, the prophet Mormon says about the people in our time: 

20 And the reason why [God] ceaseth to do ^amiracles among the children of men is because that they dwindle in unbelief, and depart from the right way, and know not the God in whom they should ^btrust.

The "magic and mystery" about our underwear is simply this: there is none other than faith, and that is a concept taught in almost every religion and Mormons have no exclusive rights on faith. Positive thinking, power of thought, superstition, whatever you want to call it, your thoughts and beliefs have power. The baseball player who believes his smelly socks will give him luck, the Buddhist who believes his prayers will help him to a higher realm, the Catholics who pray with their rosaries. If you believe, miracles can happen. 

What are the pros of wearing garments?
Danger, this might be too much information for some. For the most part I love having garments. First of all they are pretty cheap, compared to what lingerie costs. They are super comfortable. I am hypersensitive to touch, which also includes clothing tags and such. The garments help with that. Also, I like wearing them on warm summer days, because they absorb some of the sweat. And as I said, I'm quite busty, and need to wear a bra. The bra straps can really cut into the skin and hurt, especially in summer, so I like having a buffer between the straps and my skin, and in winter they give added warmth. Even more information you don't want to know about is that when you are wearing a skirt, and your thighs touch because you don't wear size 0-6, that can cause skin abrasion and be very painful. Any armed forces person having to do long marches can tell you the same thing. The garments prevent the injuries from the overheated skin. 
Another silly pro is that lingerie actually exposes your figure. That's one of the reasons French women are so slender. They love their lingerie, and nice lingerie tends to look better when it's not covered up by rolls of fat. The garments however tend to hide the imperfections, which at least in my case definitely works in my favor. If I were built like Jennifer Garner...,well I can and still do wear lingerie for those "special moments."

Do I sometimes wish I didn't have to wear them? Any other cons? 

Yes. When I go clothes shopping and am at the mercy of what's en Vogue, especially for performance gowns, and in summer sometimes, when I would like to wear a pretty summer dress. As an opera singer, modest but gorgeous performance gowns are somewhat of a pain to find, especially in plus size. Most of the time I get stuck looking through the mother of the bride section, which is so YAWN. But then again, more than wishing I didn't have to wear garments, I wish they would make more modest dresses to choose from. I don't have Michelle Obama arms, so even before I wore garments I would cover my arms. Another time where I kind of grunt at garments is when we pack for vacation. They just take up more space than typical underwear, and thus also require more laundry. But, really it's a minor deal. And sometimes I wish, they would make higher quality garments. 

When do you wear your garments?
Pretty much all the time, except when it's not practical like for doing sports, swimming, performing, or bedroom sport.
The performance thing is always a bit of a dilemma, because technically in a concert you can wear a modest gown and "hide" your garments underneath it. However, that might work well for guys or women who are not busty. For me it seems that short of wearing a nun collar (which unfortunately emphasizes a massive chest only further), no matter how I do it, the garments pop out on the side of the bra straps. So I've decided not to wear them when I perform, because with the strong stage light the white sometimes shines through darker fabric and looks utterly ridiculous. So my MO for performances where I get to choose my own apparel is usually to get a dress that conforms with my modest standards, and just wear regular underwear.


That's it for tonight. If you have any questions about my religion, no matter how weird, any rumors you heard, feel free to ask me, and I promise to answer honestly, and as best as I can. My main motivation in writing this post is because I'm an information gatherer at heart, and I like my information to be straight from the source if possible. My disclaimer here is also that I do not represent official church statements, so again, if you share it make sure you state that this is just how I interpret what I read in the scriptures, and what I am being taught in church. I also want to provide a way for my friends who are not of my faith to feel comfortable asking and learning about my faith, without feeling they need to change anything about their beliefs. If you are interested in learning more about our core beliefs, and our values, the church has created a special website, to answer such inquiries. 


Links: 
Information about the church 
Facts and Statistics
The Welfare Program
Genealogy

Can Mormons have more than one wife? And do they?

Here is another little Mormon Trivia for the day. I realize that there are way more important doctrinal issues to clarify than this one, but since this is one of the major misconceptions about Mormons, and crazy Warren Jeffs is in the news again, I thought it a good opportunity to set the record straight. (FYI: For the many of you who have googled "having more than one wife" the short answer to the post question is: No. Mormons can't be married to more than one person at a time, so if you were looking for a religion that would give you an excuse to marry another woman, I redirect you to Islam, and you'll have to move to the middle East where it is legal to do so.)
The following is not an official church sanctioned message. This is simply how I as a faithful member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints deal with the issue of polygamy in our church history, and why I do not leave the church just because at one point it did practice polygamy.

So first some facts:

• Yes, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints did practice polygamy at one point in their history. 
• Not everyone was required to marry more than one wife. It was given through revelation and commandment and usually only to leaders. 
• The church discontinued the practice on 26 September 1890. 
• There are in fact some questions about the practice of polygamy in the early church that I have not found the answer to, answered, because there simply isn't enough available or reliable material. However, I accept that I simply don't understand everything in this life. 
• The law (called the law of chastity) by which the members of the church live and are judged today is to not have sex before marriage and be completely faithful during marriage. If someone commits adultery but confesses and repents, typically they get disfellowshipped for a while (which means they are not allowed to take the sacrament, or hold any service positions in the church), or they get excommunicated (which means their names are taken off the records of the church). Depending on the severity of the sin, he/she is either disfellowshipped or excommunicated. However, the idea in this action is not to shun the person and treat him/her as an outcast, but to help them repent, and change their ways. Everyone who wants support will get support. (So for you looking to join the "Mormon Church" so you can have more than one wife, you're looking to the wrong religion.)

First of all the idea of sharing my husband is completely repulsive to me in my current understanding. I do however accept that in this life I do not have a perfect understanding, and so for now I would rather not worry about it. I also had issues with the patriarchs in the Bible having more than one wife, without ever seeming to explain why that was OK. Whenever I have a question such as this "Why would God allow polygamy?" I always look in the scriptures to find my answers, and then I pray about it. I recognize my answers from God in this way: I feel peaceful and clear in my mind, not confused.

There is a chapter in the Book of Mormon written by Jacob, a prophet. In this chapter he chastises the members of the church because of pride. And then he goes on to chastise them for their whoredoms. So this is what he says:
 24 Behold, David and ^aSolomon truly had many ^bwives and concubines, which thing was ^cabominable before me, saith the Lord.

 25 Wherefore, thus saith the Lord, I have led this people forth out of the land of Jerusalem, by the power of mine arm, that I might raise up unto me a ^arighteous branch from the fruit of the loins of Joseph.
 26 Wherefore, I the Lord God will not suffer that this people shall do like unto them of old.
 27 Wherefore, my brethren, hear me, and hearken to the word of the Lord: For there shall not any ^aman among you have save it be^bone ^cwife; and concubines he shall have none;

OK, so here we have it. As I believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God, I can see clearly here that the commandment of God is to have only one wife. So, the question then is of course, well why did they have more than one wife in the history of the church and in the bible? Isn't that a contradiction?

A little later in the same chapter, God explains the one exception. 

30 For if I will, saith the Lord of Hosts, raise up ^aseed unto me, I will command my people; otherwise they shall hearken unto these things.

For those who are unfamiliar with scriptural language "raise up seed" means to have children, usually for the purpose of growing a population. So that tells me that polygamy is a means to an end, an exception to the law to fulfill God's purpose. 

So the question to me is, what were the circumstances back in 1800's that led God to command the leaders of the church back then to have more than one wife?
The "Mormons" were persecuted in the US almost like the Jews in Europe. There was nothing short of full blown genocide in the works with the extermination order in Missouri.

They were driven from place to place starting in Palmyra New York. Wherever they went mobs would gather, rape their women and children, tar and feather, torture, and kill their men, and burn their families alive. In addition to that the treacherous treck into unknown territory fleeing from religious persecution claimed the lives of thousands through starvation, freezing, and illness. Many of the men joined the Mormon Battalion which was a volunteer unit of the US military to assist the government in the Mexican American war, despite the fact that up to that point the government hadn't helped the Mormons in the least and put no stop to the religious persecution. Women and children were left husband and fatherless, with no right to earn money or possess anything as was the law of the time they lived in. In order to grow His church, and ensure the many widows were taken care of at the same time, I believe God commanded the leaders to marry more than one wife. It is my personal belief that for the most part that was neither easy for the leaders, their first wives, nor for those who were given to them as wives. I do believe however that the most important thing God gave everyone is free agency. And just like we have the choice to keep his commandments now or disregard them, they had the choice back then as well to follow that specific commandment. Once the church was established in the West and had grown sufficiently strong, God revoked his commandment and had the church return back to the original order of things. Obviously not everyone was happy about it and continued to practice polygamy. 

So, that is how I have come to terms with this part of our history. There are many gaps and holes in the history, and I have to accept that the members and leaders then were imperfect humans, just as they are now. The church was in its infancy and mistakes were made. I don't understand it all, and I really do raise my eyebrows at some things, but at the same time, I can't deny that Book of Mormon really is the word of God. I have experienced so much that I can hold on to the truths that feel right and good.

So back to those "Mormons" who live in the desert, claiming to be Mormons and practice polygamy, and who is Warren Jeffs? Warren Jeffs is the self-proclaimed prophet of the Fundamentalists that call themselves Mormons. Like with any religion there are people who misinterpret what is being said, and they take it too far. So when God through his prophet did away with plural marriage law, not everyone believed this was truly from God. They rejected president Wilford Woodruf, called him a fallen prophet, and broke away from the Church of Jesus Christ of latter Day Saints, and created their own church, calling themselves FLDS (Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints) using some ideas they had gotten and distorting them, like claiming unless a man married three women he could not make it into Heaven. It's really religion gone bad, just like The Spanish Inquisition, The Crusades, or The Jihad. These are all fundamentalists who take a religious pretext to serve their own purposes. Christ warned us that in the 'last days' false prophets would arise, claiming to have the truth in Matthew 7.

 15 ¶Beware of ^afalse prophets, which come to you in ^bsheep’s clothing, but ^cinwardly they are ravening ^dwolves... 18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.... 20 Wherefore by their ^afruits ye shall know them.  

What this scripture means is: if they are good, they will do good. If they are evil, they will do evil, and you can know what kind they are by looking at their works. I can tell you this much though: the loving God I know and believe in would never ask people to kill themselves and innocent people to accomplish his purposes (remember those commandments: Thou shalt not kill, love thy neighbor as thyself, do good to those who spitefully use you?), or to burn people who were trying to understand his written words in the bible, or to cast out your own children, especially the sons, and leave them on the highway, so there are enough young girls for a man to marry. The kind of God I know and believe in loves all of his children, even the ones who are rebellious, even the ones who don't believe in him. He loves us all so much that He was willing to give the life of his only begotten Son so we could ALL return back to him. As a parent if I could have one or both of my sons with me in Heaven, I would want both. And the children who are rebellious, you don't love them less, you want even more for them to get their life in order. So I hope that after reading this, that none of my friends of other faiths remain confused on this subject. 

To read the whole chapter of Jacob 2 see here: http://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/jacob/2?lang=eng

Merry Christmas! Even if you're not Christian!

I vowed not to get stressed out this Christmas, and yet here I am two nights before Christmas and I am stressed out about all the things I haven't gotten to do yet, because my kids are at each other's throats and so worked up about getting presents soon, that they are just a wee bit hyper...I mean more than the usual ADHD craziness that goes on around here. The Dutch have it figured out pretty nicely actually. For Christmas here there are no presents. They do the whole getting presents from Santa Clause on December 5th. Except they call him Sinterklaas, and instead of living at the North Pole, relying on airborne reindeer hitched up to a magic sleigh for transportation and a magical bag of toys that some wormhole connects to a large stash of toys back at the pole, Sinterklaas rides a white stallion. He lives in the balmy climate of Spain, and takes a steamboat up to the Netherlands, which is commandeered by his slave boys, called black Petes (they all have the same name), who also carry the presents and stuff them in the shoes the kids leave out over night in front of their door. That way the Dutch get all the gift giving out of the way early in December and are free to celebrate Christmas as the birth of Christ.

So here I am, writing a post instead of wrapping presents, baking special cookies that I know I should probably not be baking anyway, to do a bit of stress relief and clear my mind of the thoughts that have been churning in it ever since I walked my youngest son to his class and saw the Christmas tree and the four advent candles out.
As you may or may not know the Netherlands is a fairly secular country. However, my youngest son goes to a protestant school. They pray every morning. They learn stories from the bible. We are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of latter Day Saints. I agree with a lot the Protestants do, but think that there is more they could know about. However, I am grateful that M can learn bible stories in school. I'm thrilled that the teachers and the whole school gets into the Christmas spirit by making cards and cookies for a Christmas sale, the proceeds of which went to a local charity. The kids help decorate the tree, they learn songs about the birth of Christ, the angels and shepherds, they give each other presents and cards, and the teachers show them how to properly shake someone's hand, and wish them merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I was further impressed by the Christmas programs they put on in their respective churches. I first attended M's and then this morning E's. Both were well attended by the parents, and everyone was enjoying their kids sing about Jesus, reenact the nativity, and randomly enough, doing choreographed dances to Jingle Bell Rock while wearing a Santa hat.
Yes, I said everyone was enjoying and participating, including the Muslims. About a third of M's school friends are Muslim and for E's school I think there are perhaps a quarter. In fact the population demographic predicts that by 2020 there will be more Muslims in the Netherlands than Dutch. Yet here they are celebrating Christmas along with their children in a Christian church. I couldn't help but think of America and what has happened to our Christian country. We have let the Scrooges take over! 

Every 24th of December, whenever it was possible I watch A Christmas Carol. If you are familiar with this timeless classic you might notice that Dickens' story isn't about religion really. Sure, he closes with "God bless us everyone"! That includes every congregation, regardless of which God you believe in (or don't). Scrooge (the main character) was unhappy, selfish, and only concerned about profit and wealth. The Christmas spirits open his eyes to what he has been missing. He sees that early in his childhood he was left to study, instead of spending Christmas with his parents. He became bitter and angry. He was so concerned about what others thought of him and gaining recognition and status that he ended up thinking only about himself. The Spirits of Christmas teach him about the joy of giving to others, happiness in embracing merriment, and kindness to those in need. They teach him to open up the curtain he's been hiding behind and embrace the cheer around him. And he does and not only is he happier for it, but so is everyone else.

I feel like America has been subjected to mass-Scrooge-ing. Why do people in the US choose to be so offended by different beliefs and traditions? How come the Dutch can all gather together and have a great time celebrating a Christian tradition (technically a pagan tradition, and lets face it, in America at times a consumer tradition). Happy Kwanzaa, happy Hanukkah, happy Santa Clause day? Who cares. A party is a party. It doesn't matter whether you believe in it or not. In fact, I think that under close examination you'll find that a lot of Christians don't believe in Christ being literally the Son of God, and some celebrate Santa Clause more than Christ, and a lot of Jews keep their tradition because they are, well...Tradition (humm tune to Fiddler on the Roof opening song). Christmas is a tradition of coming together and thinking more of others. Charles Dickens got that when he wrote A Christmas Carol. If I'm invited to a Muslim Holiday, I will happily join and learn about their holiday. In fact, if I ever move to a Muslim country, I will respect and enjoy their holidays with them, and continue our own Thanksgiving and Christmas in my house. This doesn't threaten my belief. I stand firm in my faith. I have several Jewish friends from High school. I was thrilled to go to a Synagogue with my friend once, and I would still love to experience a genuine passover. So I invite you all who do celebrate Christmas: don't be afraid of offending people by saying merry Christmas. The US is a Christian country and it's their choice to take offense. We don't need to let them take over congress, hold protest marches, get people fired because of their non-belief. Don't back down because of Scrooges. Remember, in the end he changed and became the best merry-maker of all. And to you who feel the need to shoot down or glare at anyone who wishes you merry Christmas, feel the need to sue a school, county, or harass someone for not thinking as you do, I invite you to stop looking for offense where only kindness was meant. After all, people are wishing you merriness. They could instead be saying "have a lonely and miserable day off." Just because you don't want to be merry doesn't mean everyone else has to stop having parties. Take offense or take part, that's your choice! A party is a party! And if you want to be a party pooper and go around saying Bah Humbug to everything you don't believe in, I invite you to watch A Christmas Carol this year. My favorite is the Muppet Christmas Carol. Tomorrow morning I will get to watch it with the kids. And with that I leave you, to go wrap presents and practice for our caroling tomorrow night and wish you all a very merry Christmas.

Preparing for Life's Spiritual Storms

This is a 15 minute talk/sermon I was asked to give in Church today. Some of you requested copies of it, so here it is.

Growing up in Switzerland I didn't watch the news much. There is however one news report that I remember vividly. It was the images of utter desolation in Southern Florida, after hurricane Andrew hit Miami. Switzerland is safely landlocked and cushioned between mountains. I couldn't imagine why someone would possibly be crazy enough to want to live in flat place, that was below ocean level, and known to have such severe storms. At the time, I believe I hadn't heard the saying "Never say Never."

Years past without me thinking of hurricanes until I left my mountains in 1999 to serve a mission in the North of France. On December 26, an extra-tropical Cyclone called Lothar hit right over our area. Thousands of trees were damaged, and many homes remained without power for six weeks. Yet, with the fatigue only a missionary knows, I slept right through it and remained safe. 
A few years later I ended up living as a newly wed in downtown Baltimore, when in 2003 one of the deadliest storms ever to hit the Midatlantic East coast, Hurricane Isabel, flooded Baltimore and left thousands without power. Again, we were lucky, and were spared.
Just six months later, I followed my love to Tampa, Florida where Aaron's family lives. The year was 2004. According to Wikipedia the 2004 Atlantic hurricane season...[had]...one of the highest Accumulated Cyclone Energy totals ever observed. The season was notable as one of the deadliest and most costly Atlantic hurricane seasons on record. This was the only time in recorded history that four hurricanes made landfall on Florida (Charley, Frances, Ivan, Jeanne, and TS Bonnie). Aaron helped clean up a community that was worst hit by the hurricane and told me the destruction was truly devastating. I wouldn't be surprised if at the time there was a girl in Switzerland watching the news, thinking what kind of crazy person moves willingly to a below sea-level country in a hurricane prone area. Miraculously we were spared every single time.  The most interesting thing I can tell you about hurricanes in Florida is that even though Floridians know that they could hit, many of them never seem prepared, and go into a panic. They made a mad dash to the stores to buy water, and gas up their cars every time another one was announced. 

There are several lessons we can take from these experiences.

First: clearly, severe weather follows me everywhere, and we are probably due an extra tropical cyclone in the Netherlands soon.
Second: no matter what hits, as long as God sees fit, it won't matter what comes at me because He will protect me.
Third: the one thing everyone knows they need when bad weather hits is water.

Now before I bore you all silly by talking about the weather for 15 minutes, let me get to spiritual storms. What are spiritual storms and how can we prepare for them?

While we were engaged, Aaron and I took a marriage prep class at BYU. Our teacher handed out a list of about 30 different spiritual storms that could hit during a life time, and cause serious damage to a family. He explained that statistically speaking everyone lives through about five of these during a life time.
You will recognize many of these storms from the general conference talks. They include grave transgressions, natural disasters, health issues, financial troubles and so on. Here is just an excerpt:

• any type of addiction such as porn, gambling, drugs, alcohol, food, shopping
• verbal or physical abuse
• spouse falling away from the gospel
• committing crime
• adultery
• chronic illnesses like diabetes, Alzheimer, depression, cancer, mental illnesses
• death in the family,
• infertility, miscarriage, having a handicapped child 
• job loss
• losing your home
• poor communication
• having an in-law move in with you (not kidding, it was on the list)
• moving to a different country
• natural disasters
• change of career

The list goes on and on. In the last 5 years we had not one of these happen to us but 12 of them.   
And yet here I am, a little worse for wear, but still here I am. As I reflect on what we have been through and what helped us through these storms, I can see that the reason I'm still here, is because I had the one thing everyone needs to survive, and the first thing the unprepared buy up, when they hear of an impending storm: I had WATER. Spiritual Water.

In the famous scripture of Christ at a well, teaching a Samarian woman he says: 


...whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. John 4:14


I think I survived these trials because I had drunk deeply from that well. That scripture was actually always a bit of a mystery to me, until I read in 1 Ne 11: 25, where Nephi explains what this water is that we can partake of.


And it came to pass that I beheld that the ^arod of iron, which my father had seen, was the ^bword of God, which ^cled to the fountain of ^dliving waters, or to the ^etree of life; which waters are a representation of the love of God; and I also beheld that the tree of life was a representation of the love of God. 1 Ne 11: 15

The water represents the love of God, and the way we get to God's love is by learning about him through his scriptures. If we have a firm knowledge of the love that GOD has for us, we can weather any storm. Having gone through what I did, I more fully understand that the years I spent getting to know GOD as a young single adult, as a missionary, as a faithful single adult, and later as a newly wed, prepared me for what was to come.
I admit that while the storms were raging I didn't have much energy to go search the scriptures. In fact, sometimes I was just plain angry at God for allowing me to suffer through such things. I thought it unfair.  However, when the waves of emotion threatened to drown me, I clung to two testimonies I had gained during my years. I knew: God is faithful, and he will not give me anything I can't bear.

Elder Eyring said this concerning spiritual storms:

The Prophet Joseph Smith gave us the Lord’s description of the test we face...  We have these words to tell us about the purpose of the Creation: “We will go down, for there is space there, and we will take of these materials, and we will make an earth whereon these may dwell; And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them.” ¹

So, the great test of life is to see whether we will hearken to and obey God’s commands in the midst of the storms of life. It is not to endure storms, but to choose the right while they rage. And the tragedy of life is to fail in that test and so fail to qualify to return in glory to our heavenly home. Henry B. Eyring

We will need to have developed and nurtured faith in Jesus Christ long before Satan hits us, as he will, with doubts and appeals to our carnal desires and with lying voices saying that good is bad and that there is no sin. Those spiritual storms are already raging. We can expect that they will worsen until the Savior returns.

However much faith to obey God we now have, we will need to strengthen it continually and keep it refreshed constantly. We can do that by deciding now to be more quick to obey and more determined to endure. Learning to start early and to be steady are the keys to spiritual preparation. Procrastination and inconsistency are its mortal enemies. (Elder Eyring, General Conference October 2005 "Spiritual Preparedness: Start Early and Be Steady")  

From Elder Eyring's words I take that a spiritual storm is simply when something happens to us that tests our commitment to God and his commandments.

So let me suggest a simple formula to remember to keep our water stocked at all time.

W: Worship. Come to church, no matter how you feel about yourself, about God, and about life. This one act will keep you steady, because it puts you in a place where you are likely to feel the Spirit.
A:  Attitude. Elder Holland once said: there is no misfortune in life so great, that complaining won't make it worse. Your attitude can make your trial seem short, or unbearably long, or in fact, with the right attitude you might see that what you’re going through might not even be a trial, but an opportunity to grow. And sometimes, a sucky attitude is what causes your spiritual storms.
T: Testimony. What is a testimony? In short it is something you know for sure to be true. If you want a testimony to grow stronger, pray and read your scriptures with the burning intent to get to know GOD, versus just so He can't say you weren't keeping that commandment. 
E: Endurance. In the words of one of my favorite movie characters of all time, Dory: just keep swimming, just keep swimming
R: Repent. You may have done nothing wrong, but if the point of a test is to test our humility, then it won't hurt to humble ourselves and ask for forgiveness. If you have done something wrong, then all the more reason to repent. Many spiritual storms are caused or made worse by carrying around unnecessary burdens of guilt.
S: Serve in your callings. If you want to understand the love that Christ and God have for you, act as Christ did. When you act as his servant, and feel the love He has for others, you will come to believe the love He has for you. And serving others helps you think less of your own problems.

In a sense we are all like those crazy people who chose to live in a below sea level country, prone to severe storms. We came to earth, willingly, knowing full well what we were getting ourselves into. So why did we come? Because we followed the person we loved, our big brother Jesus Christ, and because in the grand scheme of things, we knew that just like in Florida, hurricanes last only a few days, while 9-10 months out of the year the weather is warm, sunny, and absolutely fabulous.

Osama's Death

I have been reading some of the posts  on facebook and articles in reaction to Osama bin Laden's death. I have to admit that I'm a bit appalled at the celebration that is going on. Was he wicked? Very much so. Should we celebrate his death? Well, I don't think that does him or us any good. Of course we are more than justified to breathe a collective sigh of relief that he is no longer in a position to plan more innocent killings. If you think however that this is the end of it, it is not.
In fact these celebrations reminded me very much of a scripture:

Now, they [the more righteous people] were sorry to take up arms against the Lamanites [the ones who are blood thirsty], because they did not delight in the shedding of blood; yea, and this was not all—they were sorry to be the means of sending so many of their brethren out of this world into an eternal world, unprepared to meet their God.  (Alma 48:23)

This scripture is from the Book of Mormon, which is basically an account of a family that lived in the Americas long before it was ever colonized (in other words the ancestors of the Mayans and Inkas, etc.). Their family divided themselves up into Nephites, who believed in God and tried to keep his commandments, and Lamanites, who were constantly seeking to destroy the Nephites, because they felt wronged by them. This scriptures refers to a massive war in which the Lamanites were seeking to infiltrate and overtake the Nephite cities. At this point in time they didn't succeed, but eventually the Nephites became so prideful and unrighteous, thinking themselves better than everyone else, that they did in fact get completely destroyed.

I see a parallel to what is going on today. Don't get me wrong. I'm glad that Osama is no longer running around planning killings, and I'm not saying anything against the fact that he was killed. I'm not opposed to taking actions to defend and protect life. But evil hasn't stopped because of it. There is a difference between defending to protect, and gloating revenge. When we gloat, and celebrate we are allowing some of that same evil, the complete disregard for the sanctity of human life, into our own hearts. There will always be evil as long as we rejoice over taking someone's life, as long as we think we are better than others. And it doesn't matter who is doing the celebrating and gloating. A life is a life.