A New Creature

I've had a lot of discussions, read a lot of articles, studied church history, especially the more difficult parts. There are hard things like the Mountain Meadows Massacre, and polygamy. These are a post unto themselves, but I want to say that I know of them, I've studied them. There are many things of Joseph Smith you take on faith, it is an incredible story, much like the incredible story of a virgin giving birth to the son of God.

I know that there were changes made to the Book of Mormon, and different accounts of the first vision. These again, have been studied and prayed about.

But in the world of my own life, the changes I have been through, the witnesses I have received, these things fail to sway me from the rock that I stand on.

I am a new creature, I die daily as Paul, and have had great need for the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. My witness is my life, who I used to be and the pain I used to carry has been washed away. I have lived the life of the prodigal son, and to smaller degrees still live it. But as the prodigal son, I have come home to my father and he has changed me.

This change does not come by friendly feelings of attending a church. My change has come through prayer and tears, sacrifice, and the mercy, grace, and merits of Jesus Christ. I testify by my life that I found myself a new creature through the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. We are not perfect people, but that is why the Savior atoned for us all. The gospel is true, the principles are true, and my baptism worked and continues to work in my life.

I am a Mormon because I am a new creature.