That's right. I admit it ... I'm an avoider.
Laney has always impressed me with her willingness to share her enthusiasm for her faith with anyone and everyone. I don't think that anyone who knows her in high school has any doubt about what religion she follows. She's a Mormon. She knows it. She loves it. She lives it.
Laney never hesitates to share her testimony on social networks as well. Her facebook status today? "Heavenly Father can move my mountains!" Number one: Bravo for such great faith! Number two: Hurray for listening to and receiving the message in seminary today! Those kind of statuses make your seminary teacher/mom super happy after a difficult morning. But moving on ... it is refreshing to see the youth who use social networking to spread positive thoughts and feelings. Reading some of the goofy status updates where youth (and some adults even) use facebook to deal with their relationship issues or brag about their not-so-cool weekend exploits makes me EXTREMELY grateful that facebook did not exist when I was in college. I shudder to think what sort of statuses would have ended up on my wall. And facebook flirting? ... you know, where people (generally girls) write goofy messages on guys walls to get them to notice them (I guess) ... horribly embarrassing (and I'm not ashamed ... okay I'm a little ashamed ... to say that I would have probably been that goofy/embarrassing in my younger days). So hurray for my facebook free youth!
So, anyway, I'm grateful that Laney generally avoids the goofiness of facebook statuses. And that leads me to the purpose of my post today. I know that many of Laney's friends do not share her beliefs at all. I'm sure more than a few of them may even think that she is dead wrong, but no one ever comments negatively on her status testimonies of her belief. They probably just react the same way that most of us do when we read a facebook post that we don't agree with ... we read it and ignore it, even though we do gain a bit of insight into the people who are posting them, I guess.
Well, last week someone actually commented on one of Laney's statuses with which they disagreed. I'd never seen that happen before with a Laney post, so it stuck out to me. Laney simply said that she loved the Book of Mormon and that it had made a difference in her life. One of her friends commented on this status, and cautioned her about her faith in the Book of Mormon, asking her to truly examine the Bible before putting her trust in another gospel.
When I first read the comment I checked out the guy who made it. I did not know him, so I looked at his facebook profile. It listed him as being a recent employee of the Waynesville School District, and so I immediately thought he was a teacher. ... and I was furious. A teacher criticizing a student's religious beliefs would be so far over the line of acceptability. I was going to have to raise a gigantic stink about it. Well, it turned out that he was actually a custodian who worked in the theater department while Laney was at play practice, and he no longer is working for the district, so my anger was diffused very quickly, and I didn't think that I needed to make a big deal about it.
Before I go any further I need to make this clarifying point. This post is in no way meant to speak negatively about Mr. Wood's comments or beliefs. I thought that he stated his disagreement with Laney in a kind and well thought-out way. You can't be a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints for more than twenty years like I have and not hear the issues that others have with your faith. I have heard extremely ridiculous arguments by people who are obviously not informed at all and have no basis in reality, but I have also heard arguments by well meaning people who simply don't agree with some of the basic tenets of our faith. Disagreement does not equal hatred. And so I really want to emphasize the fact that I do not fault Mr. Wood for his post at all.
Instead, what I really wanted to talk about was the responses to Mr. Wood's comments written by two young men who are members of our church and also friends with Laney. After reading Mr. Wood's comment, these two young men bore their testimony of the Book of Mormon in a clear, concise, and eloquent manner. They did so without anger or ridicule. They simply stated their belief. I thought it was beautiful.
I don't know Adam Goff. I think he might have been one of Laney's EFY friends. I do know John Bonney (although I think I will always think of him as ten years old ... sorry John). His family was stationed at Fort Leonard Wood twice, and so they attended church with us years ago. Before I comment specifically on their response, here is a screen shot of the facebook conversation they joined:
I love the Book of Mormon. It has changed my life infinitely for the better!! :)
This is why this conversation really touched me. Every day I check facebook out to see what's going on in the life of the people I know and love. Lots of times I find wonderful things. I really love to share in the triumphs and joys of people I have come to know through the years. In some ways it has helped me to get to know people more than I ever did in person since I am so slow to open up to others. I really do think of it as a blessing in my life in so many ways. But facebook can be goofy as well. I am friends with many, many youth because of my years working with Girls Camp and now as a seminary teacher. And so many times I want to reach through cyberspace and give a giant hug to some youth, asking them ... no BEGGING them ... to think about what they are posting online. Take a look at your wall. Now imagine yourself sitting around the fire one evening fifteen years in the future with your special someone leaning on your shoulder. Just for kicks you decide to look at your old facebook statuses because we all should know, once something is posted online it never, ever goes away. Is this the way you want to remember yourself? Really. Some of us should really ponder that.
But Adam and John were such good examples to me of what it means to be steadfast and immovable, strong in their faith, and willing to stand up for what they believe. I was sooooo grateful to know that there are young men out there who are strong in this way, unafraid to defend their beliefs, but also able to do so in a way that was not inflammatory or degrading. It was not hateful or mean spirited. It was not haughty or prideful. It was perfect. I know that these young men are going to be amazingly awesome missionaries some day, and that was comforting to me. I wish that more youth (of all faiths) could communicate on facebook in such a positive and clear way. And it means a lot that they would take time out of their days to defend a Laney status, especially when I know that so many read this and said nothing.
There are some amazing youth in the church, and I appreciate all of them who stand up for what they believe. And during this last week I have been especially grateful for two young men who were great examples of what exactly that looks like in real life.
Interested in really finding out what Latter-Day Saints really believe? Don't listen to hearsay. Go straight to the source. Check out MORMON.ORG. It is user friendly and very informative.
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