Nothing Worth Doing is Easy

Three years ago today I was baptised into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. For those who don't know what church that is, I am a Mormon. It hasn't been an easy ride, nothing worth doing is, and I keep this part of me a secret from almost every one I know and I'm tired of it.

Me and the Elders who taught me, on the day of my baptism.

I'm scared of what people will think of me, I'm scared I'll lose my friends and I'm scared I'll be made fun of for being LDS because when I was first baptised, all these things happened. Lots of members are homophobic and theres a stigma behind being a member or a follower of Christ because people automatically think you're a terrible person even though true christians are full of love because Christ was and is full of love. 

Elder Uchtdorf said during the October 2017 Women's session of General Conference, when speaking of the 3 sisters, "why should you surrender your happiness to someone who doesn't care about your happiness," so why should I not shout my love of Christ and His restored church just because I'm scared of what might happen, I'm not happy and keeping this a secret is not making me happy. I haven't been to church in almost 3 months and I'm not motivated to go because I'm scared of what my roommates might think. 

So here I am, telling the world, I am a Mormon. I know it, I live it, I love. And I'm hoping sharing this will help me to become closer to Christ. And if people really do love me, they won't care that I'm a Mormon, and I hope they won't feel uncomfortable around me because I used to feel uncomfortable whenever someone said Christ's name.

But here's another secret, I'm also Jewish (which is why I used to feel uncomfortable about Christ). And a lot of people I know, especially my family, say I'm not allowed to be both. But who cares. I was born and raised Jewish, I had a Bat Mitzvah, I eat Kosher (for the most part) and I follow the high Holy Days (Chag Pesach Sameach). Judaism, which a lot of people choose to deny or ignore, is a race as well as a religion. My blood is 96% Jewish so it is within my right to call myself Jewish. Not only that, but Judaism is a culture, a culture which was nearly destroyed in 1945 so why are people nit-picky about who gets to be Jewish? "Oh you like Jesus, you can't be Jewish." *eye rolls for eternity because Jesus was Jewish and taught in the Temple as a boy* Being Jewish is very important to me so it makes me mad when someone says I cant be both. 

I know Heavenly Father is okay with me being both Jewish and Mormon and I shouldn't care what other people think. I know Heavenly Father loves me and I am His spirit daughter and that no matter how badly I mess up, or if I keep Him a secret, He will still love me. There is nothing big enough that I, or anyone else can do that will make Him stop loving us. I know that the Book of Mormon is true and that if we read it we will receive answers that we are looking for. I know the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the true church and that Russell M Nelson is the true President of the church. I pray that we can all find a way to find strength to share the gospel, however we can, and that I and we no longer need to hide our love of christ because we are afraid.