What You Get Out of Being a Mormon

April 16, 2018

What You Get Out OF Being a Mormon

 

There is a talk by Brad Wilcox that I like and it's entitled "what you get out of being a Mormon" really good talk. 

For this week I'm going to talk a little about what he says we get out of being Mormons. I had another topic on was going to do studies on but I couldn't focus this week and come up with anything good for you guys so here's this one.

 

The here and now things we get out of being a Mormon. 

The first thing we get out of being a Mormon is more life. Studies have shown that Mormons live 10-11yrs longer than those who are outside the church. 

Second is you get more education. This is because in our church like few other organizations in the world we have a huge focus on education. We believe in education. For us its part of what we teach in the church. Many people look at education as a better way of earning a living. But for us we see educated as going much farther than the benefits of earning a better living. We get an education to get life, and not just to earn a living. He talks about BYU graduation and how there is always someone in their 60 or older that is receiving their degree and how he can't imagine that they are doing that because they want to earn more money, or climb the corporate ladder. Why would they do that then? Because we see education as an eternal. Everyone talks about how education is a lifelong process. Well I think we got that beat. We are continually learning. 

Many people now talk about networking. Well in the Mormon Church you have a giant international network. What would it cost you to get an insurance policy that would guarantee that if you went anywhere in the world and got yourself into some trouble that you could call anyone and they would be willing to help. You have stake presidents, mission presidents, missionaries, senior couples, and any member of the church you could turn to for help, and they actually care. I don't think there is such a policy. If there was it would be too expensive! But that's what you have, and get for being a Mormon; an international network of friends. 

The last is a stronger marriage. 1 in every 2 marriages ends in a divorce in the US. To those who share the same religion it’s about 1 in every 4. Among 2 Mormons who are married it’s about 1 in every 6. Now that's not very good but it's better than 1 in every 2. Among every 2 LDS married in the temple it's about 1 in every 16. Still not very good, but it's a lot better than 1 in every 2. So what do you get? A stronger marriage, and you get a stronger family. Don't look just at your family, look generally at the world and you'll see you have a stronger family and marriage then the average family in the world. 

 

We have both spiritual and temporary advantages to being a Mormon. Things that bless our lives when we follow them. So why do we sometimes look for ways to escape what we get out of being who we are?

The wicked things of this world are made to look better than they really are. Drinking, drugs, sex, and all those things shown in movies and advertising are put in their best light for us to think we are missing something better on the other side of the fence. Really what we are missing is the other half of those stories. What happens later down the road or the next day after people do those kinds of things? Movies and advertising won't show those things, because if they did not very many people would do it. If they do show the other side of what happens it's made humorous so that we don't think it's that bad if we do try it. 

Stay away from these harmful and addictive things. They will blind you from the truth, they will make you see thing different then they really are and life will be so much harder to live. Stay clean, and worthy always. Use the atonement if you need to. Always think to yourself when unexpected or expected situations come up "what side of the fence do I stand on. The lord’s side, or the world's side?" I hope your answer will always be the lord’s side. 

We in this world are under attack by Satan. Especially those who are trying to live better lives. Satan see that we are fighting back, and are winning. But with every victory we gain the harder he tries, and things only get more difficult for us to keep strong. 

Hold tight to the iron rod and don't let go. Read the scriptures every day as a family and personally. Stay close with the members in your area there is strength in numbers. 

The end goal for us as being Mormons is to attain eternal life with our heavenly father and Jesus Christ along with our loved ones forever. We do this by faithfully living this gospel, and doing the best we can. 

I know we can overcome the temptations of the adversary. I know we can find the peace in this life through the gospel of Jesus Christ that everyone in the world seems to be looking for but just haven't found yet. We are all very blessed to have the fullness of the gospel and its teachings in each of our lives. I hope you will always remember what side of the fence you stand on.