Being Bold

A few years back I became good friends with my next door neighbor at our small, rundown apartment building. She was a complete opposite from me in that she suffered from severe health conditions, she was very active in her Baptist religion, and that she always surrounded herself with any stray cat that was lucky enough to find her. She shared her beliefs with anyone who would listen, and would stay so current on the political trends that threatened the family unit, or any type of religious freedoms.

Even though the years carried us farther and farther apart in distance, I felt we actually were becoming closer and closer in our faith and belief. She was still Baptist and I, LDS, but our ideals were a lot more similar than I realized. In fact, the biggest difference between us was our approach. I was quiet and worked hard to be patient and understanding of all beliefs. My friend loved people for who they were, but when it came down to her approach to religion, she was bold.

A few months ago, my friend lost her battle to her ongoing medical conditions. Her passing really got me thinking about these approaches. I said a quiet prayer and promised her and my Father in heaven that I would be bold in my faith, bold in my testimony and bold in sharing it.

Fulfilling this promise has been particularly trying with the topic of same-sex marriage. Both my husband and I have close family members who are homosexual, whom we love and adore with our whole hearts. And in some cases where we have met them, we also love and adore their life-partners! We also want to see them happy and to have peace in their hearts- something that can be so difficult for those in their situation.

However, although I love each of them dearly and with everything I have, I cannot deny what I know to be true. Marriage is about families. Families create children. That is God’s plan for His children and for this Earth. Gay marriage does not promote children, or in-turn, families for the purpose that they were created. Gay marriage is contrary to The Plan.

So here I find myself, caught in the middle of gay family members whom I love and want to be happy, and my faith and knowledge of Heavenly Father’s Plan for families and my promise to be bold in that faith. There are good, honest people pulling from both sides. While it feels like a battle is raging around me, I know exactly where I stand. It isn’t about supporting a cause or even those sweet souls whom I love, it’s about families. God’s children, who he placed down here with the intention that they would create more families. Families whose children work together for exaltation, who promote God’s laws and commandments, and who aim to be able to enter into eternal covenants with one another.

In the October 2014 General Conference, Elder Dallin H. Oaks shared this:

“Even as we seek to be meek and to avoid contention, we must not compromise or dilute our commitment to the truths we understand. We must not surrender our positions or our values. The gospel of Jesus Christ and the covenants we have made inevitably cast us as combatants in the eternal contest between truth and error. There is no middle ground in that contest.”

There are heart-wrenching stories of military families not being able to keep marriage titles over state lines, of scared same-sex adoptive couples not able to claim life-partners as spouses in case of emergency, of tax benefits of married couples being missed out on. There are so many sad, unfortunate and loud stories being told to make the case for same-sex marriage.

But what loud stories or arguments are being said in behalf of families? They are out there, but they are few and they are quiet. We should always love and show kindness to our neighbors, our brothers, our sisters….but we should always love God most. It is our time to be bold, like my sweet friend always strived to be. It is our time to speak in behalf of God’s plan for His children and for His families.

It is important to remember that our God is not governed by the laws of the land. While this land is sacred, a deciding vote in legislature does not impact the laws that the Lord has set in place. In this instance, national laws and popularity lie solely in the hands of man—the well-intentioned, but very misguided hands of man.

So how do we be bold? First, we create and raise families in the knowledge of The Plan of Happiness. Second, we share our testimonies of families, and in God’s plan for them. We cast our political votes in the way we feel best exemplifies Heavenly Father’s plan for our nation and its families. And then, we make sure to stand up for the light and truth when attempts to diminish it are made. In addition to that, we share real and genuine love and kindness to those who feel differently.

I am grateful for the gift that the Plan of Happiness brings for families. I am grateful for the opportunity to be bold in my testimony of it, and for the equalizing love of the Savior for persons of all faiths, skin colors, and sexual preferences. This is a wonderful and trying time to be a member of Christ’s church, but the sacrifice of boldness is little in comparison to sacrifices made in my behalf. For that I am also grateful.