What and Why?

Dear friends and family, future and present:

What's the point of this blog? In a nutshell, it's to share who I am in a neutral, safe environment, without any pressures on me or anyone else. I feel like, when sharing my beliefs, there can be this pressure on me to make myself understood, without sounding pushy, and there's the pressure on the other person listening to either agree with me, or risk offending me if they don't agree with me. I want to start by saying, I'm fine with anyone who agrees or disagrees. My purpose is to share of myself, to share of my love, and to share of my religion. As friendly and outgoing as I usually am, I have held back a lot in this area of my life; yet I have realized that those around me don't know me as well as they could, because they don't know and understand the one constant in my life that gives me purpose, hope, and happiness: Jesus Christ and His gospel. I want to share and offer clarity about myself, and thus about my church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints - in laymen's terms: I'm a Mormon.

To put it all out there, honestly and without guile, I have not spent very much of my life sharing my beliefs with my friends and family because of my fears of rejection. I of course have no real reason to feel that way. My life has been and continues to be filled with family and friends who love me and have always been a support to me. So what's my problem? Where does this fear come from?

I discovered the answer while responding to my brother-in-law, Jordan Gunther, who is currently serving an LDS mission in Chile. He asked me why people are so terrified to share their beliefs with others, especially with close friends and family. I responded, "Our beliefs are so much a part of who we are, that we're not so much scared they'll reject our message - we're scared they'll reject US. We're worried that we'll offend someone we're close to and ruin the relationship. However, I have decided that friends and family and acquaintances will not be offended when we lovingly share something with them that has so much meaning in our own lives."

So that is the purpose of this blog. Whether it is read by one or many, I hope to use this form of communication to share my beliefs with my family, friends, and any who are interested. I share it out of love. I share it so that those who know me, can know me just a little bit better, because this Gospel of Jesus Christ is inseparably part of who I am. To that end I would like to share my testimony, beliefs, and experiences in daily or weekly blogs.

Comments and questions are always welcome, and may even help me to write future posts! With that in mind, I only ask for positivity and curiosity. There are many forums and places out there where religion is an arena for animosity and negativity on both sides of the argument. This is a safe place for all, regardless of differing opinions or beliefs.

With all my love,
Sara