Seeking for understanding can help us to be involved in the modern Restoration of the Church.
Photo by Scott Richards
On the third date with my future wife, I asked her if she would ever marry someone who was not a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She said that she believed in marriage for eternity, and that meant being sealed in a temple of the Lord. It was the first time a Christian had made me feel like there was something meaningful that I lacked.
My siblings and I were raised Jewish and taught to explore and question the world. We learned to find the truth, or at least to determine the best path for each of us, by wrestling with the different teachings and information we received. It was a process that often provided me with both knowledge and experience. It did not, however, provide a purpose in my life. After some difficult and humbling events, I was guided to my future wife, someone who had been directly taught many of my hard-learned conclusions. She possessed a deep and desirable peace with an easy, contagious joy. I asked her what that attitude stemmed from, and she taught me about her purpose and faith.
While exploring the gospel and the restored Church, I developed a number of questions that I wanted answers to. Some questions were about church leadership or structure, others were about the plan of salvation or other gospel topics, and some were about common culture. No individual or source possessed sufficient answers to satisfy all of my questions. I was invited to attend general conference and encouraged to take my questions with me. I left that conference with an admiration for the leaders of the Church, a clear experience with the Spirit, and an answer to every one of my questions consolidated into a single message: “Your answers lie in humbly doing what it takes to marry her.”
While I listened to an apostle of Jesus Christ, dozens of questions that had prevented me from accepting the gospel were simplified and made unnecessary by the crystal-clear whispering of the Spirit, which pierced me to the core. Now married, my wife and I pursue answers with the right tools and foundation.
I am a part of the gathering of Israel. It is an effort led by apostles of Jesus Christ and a true and living prophet. Revelation from God is plentiful and flows to anyone who asks in faith. The journey toward truth and salvation is facilitated by sacred ordinances and the Spirit, whose presence can always be with us. These are the Restoration.
—Bernard Lee, Latter-day Saint Insights contributor
FEATURE IMAGE BY SCOTT RICHARDS
Find more insights
Learn more about the Restoration on the Church’s website.
Read another article on our website about interfaith relationships: “Why is Envy a Virtue?“