Peggy's Pearls

I often hear or read things that I find inspiring or interesting, but I have a hard time keeping them in my brain both for future reference and for sharing. So I am going to start a new blogging segment called "Peggy's Pearls" featuring pearls of wisdom I would like to remember and share. These will not be my own original pearls of wisdom because I don't think I have any, but if I ever come up with any I will be sure to note it! My hope in doing this is that I will be able to remember them for a longer period of time and maybe someone else out there will also find inspiration from them. They are most likely to be of a religious nature, though it's hard to say at this point. Here goes my first one:

I was reading in the Oct. Ensign (church magazine) about the conversion story of a family who was originally from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and was forced out because of political persecution. The family fled to Zambia and eventually to the Washington DC area where they expressed an interest to know more about the Mormon church after visiting the beautiful temple there. Friends and acquaintances advised them so steer clear of that church and shared some of the negative things they had heard about the church. Norman Kamosi and his wife responded in the following way:

“In Africa we have an expression,” Norman says. “When you see people throwing stones at the mango tree, you know they are doing so because the tree is bearing good fruit. So I said to myself, ‘Since people are criticizing the Church, it must have something special, something good.’ I said, ‘We have to investigate the Church. Something good is in there.’”

The Kamosi family joined the church in 2000.

I thought that African expression was great and I loved the way that they looked at it. I think my mind works in much the same way. I always want to know more about the things that seem to stir people up and evoke controversy. I love 60 minutes and 20/20 and those kinds of shows. I am surprised that more people aren't curious to learn more about a church that claims to be Jesus Christ's true church restored to the earth in the early 1800's. That's quite a claim... is it true or isn't it? I am always surprised that more people don't investigate the church merely to prove to themselves that it's not true.

I am surprised that more people aren't curious about a church that sends out 50,000+ missionaries every year to serve all over the world at their own expense. What motivates these missionaries to serve and their families to be willing to send them? What sort of a church would send out mostly 19 year old males (who are untrained not only in theology but also in virtually every other skill that would make a good preacher) to spread the news that God the Father and Jesus Christ appeared to the boy Joseph Smith in 1820? We have a saying in the church that goes something like this, "if the church were not true, the missionaries would have proven it long ago!" It is so true. The missionaries we send out are nothing special. They may be special to us, their families, but mostly they are average young adults and Alzheimerish older couples. (No offense, I consider myself to be Alzheimerish as well!) What the missionaries have that is special is the message that they are sharing. That is their greatest asset.

And aren't people curious about a church whose youth not only continue to go to church and carry on the tradition of their fathers, but gets stronger with each coming generation while so many other congregations around the world are filled with older people but so few young people. For many members of other churches, religion has become something that their parent's generation did but something that younger generations have either little time for or little need for.

I think it often comes down to what I have been told by quite a few of my friends over the years. Many of them have shared thoughts similar to this, "I'm not sure if I want to know if the church is true because if I found out it was true, then I would have to do something about it." I truly don't mean to offend anyone by my religious musings. I know so many good people (both family, friends, neighbors and acquaintances) who choose to worship in their own way and I admire the people that they are and the devotion that they have. I do not claim to be any better than they are, in fact, I think most of them are better people than I will ever be. I am just surprised that more people don't react the way that Mr. and Mrs. Kumasi did and ask... what's all the fuss about? I want to know for myself.