tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4580878831974186967.post4586434060434283371..comments2023-03-24T01:18:21.495-07:00Comments on The Gay MTC: District Meeting Devotional: Your PurposeTheGayMTC Instructorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02201762995480354121noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4580878831974186967.post-32633270627993624552014-06-22T17:18:24.572-07:002014-06-22T17:18:24.572-07:00Thanks for this post and your testimony. "If ...Thanks for this post and your testimony. "If you have a desire to serve, you are called to the work"--I love your emphasis on that. Of course, pre-mission interviews with ecclesiastical leaders are important to determine worthiness to serve, and it's important to be worthy, but worthiness is not perfect, it's simply obeying the commandments with a sincere heart and repenting when we do things that offend the Spirit. And an LGBTQ Latter-day Saint is NOT fundamentally unworthy, and the trial by fire of their testimonies can even have the potential of making that desire to serve stronger. I think that interview process with ecclesiastical leaders can be daunting, but I'm hoping that as the Church provides more training and more clear statements on the similar worthiness between gay and straight members, that interview process can be a strength and not a gauntlet.Naomihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07261589696069380362noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4580878831974186967.post-36952186490901433572014-06-18T17:45:30.973-07:002014-06-18T17:45:30.973-07:00Joe, that's a very good question to ask. Many ...Joe, that's a very good question to ask. Many people have left the church for those very reasons. I personally choose to stay because I have felt a very strong spiritual witness that, though the church and church leaders are imperfect and have made many mistakes in the past/continue to make mistakes, God wants me to stay. If you look at the early days of the church, our doctrine was actually very progressive in regards to blacks and women. We don't have a lot of historical material on how things were for queer saints in the early days of the church--the word "homosexual" didn't even exist back then, so there aren't a lot of sources to work with. In any case, for me, the fact that church policy and church leaders are imperfect does not mean that God isn't in charge. Just because the messengers are flawed, doesn't mean that the message is.TheGayMTC Instructorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02201762995480354121noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4580878831974186967.post-53164039557401350452014-06-17T22:35:18.344-07:002014-06-17T22:35:18.344-07:00Great post and valuable to any reader. Thank you.Great post and valuable to any reader. Thank you.abehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12422309747744239544noreply@blogger.com