Basic Beliefs of Mormons

Jesus Christ, the Light of the World, and a Light unto me that cannot be extinguished. In a world so torn with despair, disaster, war and terror my only hope lies in the light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and His Sacred Atonement.

Tragedy after tragedy strikes and yet some people still get up every single morning and keep moving forward. How do they that? How can they pick up the broken pieces of their lives and keep putting one foot in front of the other. It is because Jesus Christ is not some ethereal being who lived 2,008 years ago. He is the real and living God, Jehovah of the Old Testament and the Messiah of the New. Because He is real, I believe His message and His hope.

Our Savior descended from on high that He might not only restore the fulness of the Gospel, but He also suffered the Atonement, freeing us from an eternity of sin, and broke then He bands of death with His resurrection. There is a peace that comes with this knowledge, regardless of the trials thrown at you.

The loss of a loved one tears at the very fabric of a family, and yet with that sorrow comes the peace of understanding that mortality is but a brief moment in time and the eternities await. In those eternities, if we sought truth and have striven to live by its precepts, we will be reunited with those we love.

Eternal life is the phrase used in scripture to define the quality of life that our Eternal Father lives. The Lord declared, "This is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man" (Moses 1:39). Immortality is to live forever as a resurrected being. Through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, everyone will receive this gift. Eternal life, or exaltation, is to live in God's presence and to continue as families (see D&C 131:1–4). Like immortality, this gift is made possible through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. However, to inherit eternal life requires our "obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel" (Articles of Faith 1:3). (Gospel Topics: Eternal Life, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)

This is more than vain hope. It is more than a childhood wish. It is truth, in its purest form. And with this truth comes knowledge that great joy awaits us, if we can but endure to the end.

Yes, I have fallen to my knees in pain and sorrow and wept to my Heavenly Father, begging for release from the pain.

Yes, my faith has been shaken on occasion.

Yes, I cried unto my God when it seemed if I had not the strength to continue.

In the darkest of nights, when my spirit drooped low, it was at that moment, with tears coursing down my face, that I knew my God lived. I knew Jesus Christ had bled from every pore to pay for my sins, my sorrow, my grief . . . and because He did, I was able to shake off that sorrow, lift my head and stand tall.

This is not a knowledge I can give you, but something you must seek after yourself. I testify that Jesus is the Christ, the Everliving God and through Him, and only through Him, may surcease from the pain of life be found. Only through Him and His teachings will you find the principles, practices and precepts which will lead you ever closer to perfection. And in your deficit of perfection, if you testify of Him, live for Him, teach of Him, preach of Him, He will reach down with a loving, scarred hand and lift you up.

Truth is testified of in so many ways. But as the warmth of that knowledge infuses my body and spirit, there is a certainty in my heart. There is Hope and His name is Jesus Christ.