I remember walking along a busy road in the tropical costal city of Salvador, Brazil and wishing a truck would hit me. I was new on the mission, and the area I was serving in was called “The Staff House” because there resided the mission leadership, with the exception of the president and his wife. Our area was to be an example for the entire mission. If the Staff could not baptize, how could they encourage others to? It was the responsibility of my companion and me to fulfill their goals. On top of the already rigorous mission rules, they gave us grueling demands, such as extra fasting days, waking up early, leaving early, taking a 30 minute lunch with no brakes, and baptizing scores of people.

Besides all that I was slowly starving to death. There was a mission rule that you could only buy food one day a week; a rule I realize now probably granted an exception for starvation. But the one bit of advice you constantly hear for 19 years before you leave on a mission is, “Obey the rules!” On that one day a week I would go to the markets and buy expensive and delicious food: yogurt, cookies, guarana, and a wide assortment of Brazilian fruits. That day, and part of the next, I would feast like a king. But it took me a while to realize why the more experienced Elders put nothing edible in the communal fridge, because it was a free-for-all. The rest of the week I was forced to ration what little bread I bought.

That’s why I wanted a truck to hit me that day. I was exhausted, in every form and variety of exhaustion. I could only think about food. Add to that the fact that September 11^th was only a few months ago, and my Christmas was hot and lonely.  Suddenly, a drunk driver actually slammed into my companion’s left arm and sent his scripture case flying into the air. I watched the car in slow motion as it plowed into the group of people walking in front of us, scattering them over his windshield. I recall a woman who took the brunt of the hit appearing like a rag-doll, spinning and whirling in the air until she crashed on the pavement.

That next morning was the lowest point in my life up to then. My grandpa taught me from many summers on his ranch to work hard and never complain. Nobody knew what I was suffering. But I still got up early, studied and prayed, ate a quick breakfast, dressed in my white shirt and tie, and sat on the bench next to the door to put my shoes on. As I slipped on the black shoe I felt something substantial within. I took it off and found a piece of chocolate. It was cube shaped and wrapped in gold foil   That random act of kindness was like a steroid shot of happiness. There was no exhaustion or hunger that day because all I could think about was how nice and thoughtful someone must have been to place a piece of chocolate in my shoe. It was an answer to my prayers and motivation in sugar form. Some would argue that charity – giving something that is unearned – isn’t a good idea. But something as inconsequential and unsubstantial as a small piece of chocolate completely changing my life for ever is evidence enough to the positive results of charity.

New Years Day was that week, and my New Year’s resolution was to do a random act of kindness every day. It was one of the few New Year’s resolutions I actually followed through on. I recorded most of them every day on a calendar which I still have today. I thought if that small piece of chocolate could brighten my life as it did, then I was going to share it with others. I would leave chocolates in shoes, cookie packages under couch cushions, and candies under the newspaper. I like to think of that year long accomplishment as what will be the deciding factor as to whether I am admitted into heaven or not. The actual cube I found in my shoe on that morning I placed atop a stack of books on my desk, so that every day it could remind me to pass charity on to others.

Many months later I was doing ‘splits’ with a young man in the ward. My companion and his temporary volunteer were lucky enough to be in the area of our lunch appointment, so we had to eat in our apartment. While he began boiling water for some Top Ramen, I rested at my desk. Very hungry, I looked over at my trophy. My mouth watered. Whatever rationalization my mind conjured up, it wasn’t stronger than my stomach. I unwrapped it quickly and popped it into my mouth. I took a bite, made a bitter face, and spit it onto the table. It tasted like rotten and concentrated salt. It was brown like chocolate, but smelled like beef stew. Upon further examination I realized it was a cube of beef bullion. It then hit me that the stash of bullion cubes in Staff House was in a cupboard directly over the shoes. Most likely, someone had accidentally knocked it out of the cupboard and into my shoe. That whole year, that major turning point in my mission and life, was all due to a random accident.

Either God directed it in my shoe, or he was laughing when I began distributing chocolate like The Santa Wonka. Even so, the fact that an act (or accident) so small and easy caused such a positive effect is reason enough to substantiate the idea of charity, and inspire its practice.

Knowledge is belief in facts.  Faith is belief in your choice.

I was just finishing my last post when I received a text message:

“President Hinckley just passed away.”

About an hour and a half ago, 7:00pm MST, President Hinckley died of “causes incident to age” in his home in Salt Lake City. He was ninety-seven.

Gordon Bitner Hinckley (June 23, 1910 – January 27, 2008) was the fifteenth president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from March 12, 1995 until his death. He was the oldest person to preside over the LDS Church in its history. As president of the LDS Church, he was considered by its members to be a prophet, seer, and revelator. His presidency was noted for the building of new temples and the creation of the Perpetual Education Fund. Hinckley holds the record for dedicating the most LDS Church temples and has dedicated more than half of the current LDS Church temples. (source: Wikipedia.com)

I may be out on a limb here, but don’t you guys think that while there is a possibility of an actual place with a plaque labeled “Hell”, it’s actually a place you resign yourself to? I know I’ve felt “hellfire” through some really stupid mistakes. It may be God’s final decision as to where you will eternally reside, but I believe you will agree with that decision.

Your conscience and God’s judgment have got to be close to the same thing.

(of course there is always the butcher cannibal (clearly wrong) who might have a clear conscience about his actions…but let’s pretend such anomalies are rare).

I know if God or Satan put me in that place called Hell right now, today, I’d still go on being who I am and not feeling the weight of eternal damnation on my shoulders.

I served on a 2 year mission for the LDS church. I taught–literally–thousands of Brazilians. The most profound statement of faith I’ve ever heard came from a very poor and humble Brazilian man. I said to him, “Do you believe in God?”

“Of course I believe in God. He’s given me everything I’ve ever asked from him.”

I’d like to second that conviction. I believe that if you sincerely ask God if he exists, he will make himself known to you. Once that is settled, you can have the incredible comfort of having a personal relationship with the creator of the Universe.

The God I know is — for lack of better words — cool. He’s my dad, and he’s very interested in me, especially in those moments when I’ve checked myself into hell. It’s like that tic-tac commercial:

Can you live without God? Of course, but I wouldn’t recommend it.

My wife and I recently watched the entire 2 hour documentary about the LDS faith on PBS (watch “The Mormons” Here). There was a reasonable balance between Pro-Mormon and Anti-Mormon views, BUT that balance is still VERY skewed for someone like my wife who has NEVER heard anything Anti-Mormon in her life. She was SHOCKED that Joseph Smith dug for gold and had multiple accounts of the First Vision. I’ve served a full time mission; you pretty much have to get acquainted with the basic Anti-Mormon Propaganda that’s openly taught in most Evangelical congregations. (If you are Evangelical I would like to point out to you that the LDS church has NEVER — and would never — offered a course slenderizing another faith. Even in the Missionary Training Center. If anything, they teach us to respect other faiths).

FAIR (The Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research) LDS has created a wiki (fair lds wiki) of simple answers to these questions. Just like Wikipedia it provides plenty of references, and in my oppinion it debunks anti-Mormon views better than anywhere else. Here are two answers to Sarah’s Questions:

Why did Joseph Smith Dig for Gold?

Richard Bushman has compared the Smith’s attitude toward treasure digging with a modern attitudes toward gambling, or buying a lottery ticket. Bushman points out that looking for treasure had little stigma attached to it among all classes in the 17th century, and continued to be respectable among the lower classes into the 18th and 19th

Why Were There Multiple Accounts of the First Vision?

Paul the apostle gave several accounts of his vision of the resurrected Lord while on the road to Damascus. Like Joseph Smith’s account of the First Vision, Paul’s accounts differ in some details but agree in the overall message.