Live Conspicuosly

Addison is in all sorts of shows and has all types of friends.  He comes home and tells me funny stories about this person  or that one...and occasionally I ask..."Do you think he is Mormon?'  or "Is she LDS?"  Sometimes he can answer without a doubt....yes or no....and sometimes he just doesn't know.  It's not as obvious how they talk or what they talk about or do.  He's not quite sure.

Could the same be said about me?
 I hope not.
 I hope I live as an example of the LDS church and wear my testimony on my sleeve...but maybe I don't.

Elder Holland in May 2003 said, "Live the gospel as conspicuously as you can.  Keep the covenants your children know you have made.  Give priesthood blessings.  And bear your testimony.  Don't just assume your children will somehow get the drift of your beliefs on their own.  The prophet Nephi said near the end of his life that they had written their record of Christ and preserved their convictions regarding His gospel in order 'to persuade our children...that our children may know...and believe the right way.' "

The same could be said not just about our children, but our friends, neighbors...extended family....do they know?

Elder Holland continues:    Like Nephi we should ask ourselves what our children know from us, personally.  Do our children know that we love the scriptures?  Do they see us reading them and marking them and clinging to them in daily life?  Have our children ever unexpectedly opened a closed door and found us on our knees in prayer?  Have they heard us not only pray with them but also pray for them out of nothing more than sheer parental love?  Do our children know we believe in fasting as something more than an obligatory first Sunday of the month hardship?  Do they know that we have fasted for them and for their future on days about which they knew nothing?  Do they know we love being in the temple?  Do they know we love and sustain local and general leaders, imperfect as they are, for their willingness to accept callings they did not seek...do those children know that we love God with all our heart and that we long to see the face--and fall at the feet-- of His Only Begotten Son?"

I guess I have been thinking about this a lot lately since I heard  Huntsman's squirrelly comment when he was asked if he was a Mormon?

 I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  I know God lives and loves me.  I know my prayers are heard and answered.  I know the Temple sealing power is extensive and inclusive and I look forward to a forever family.  I have a testimony of the priesthood.  It has blessed my life and saved my child's life.  I know Joseph Smith restored the Gospel and was the first Prophet of the Restoration.  I love the Book of Mormon and feel of it's power when I read it.  I know the gospel is true. I am a Mormon.