Judgement

This post is going to be similar to one I wrote almost three years ago here. My opinions since then have both changed and stayed the same. Utah has become my second home and I love the people I have met here. This year I was super nervous about starting school because almost all of my friends have graduated or moved on with their lives. Tomorrow is the last day of summer before school begins and this past week has been an absolute blast! I have met tons of new friends and probably did more activities and hung out with more people than I did all summer. This is not what I'm going to write about, however.

Mormons. Everyone has some idea of what we are, what we do and what we stand for. Members also have their own opinions about things within the gospel. We belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and believe in the Bible as well as the Book of Mormon which is another testament of Christ. If you want to know more about us, you can find out here. Most of the time, I don't talk about the church too much because I don't want to say anything wrong and am terrified of what others will think.

Tonight I found out that several different people didn't think I was LDS (Mormon). At first I brushed it off but then I thought about it more and realized that it actually makes me upset and offended. I have no idea why they thought this because the first few times I hung out with them I wore appropriate clothes, had clean language, and didn't think I did anything out of the ordinary. I have two ear piercings instead of one, but I didn't think that was a deal breaker to thinking someone was or wasn't LDS. Anyways, I left the group of friends and had a little break down when I got home because people thought I wasn't LDS. Why did they think that? What did I do to make them think that? How do I carry myself around others? Plenty of negative thoughts went through my head. It is true that I haven't been to church almost all summer because of a trial I have been going through this entire year, but they couldn't have known that. So now I have no idea how to act around them or anyone for that matter, my self confidence went down 100%, I'm bummed about finding friends again, etc. It almost, for a second, made me not want to go to church tomorrow, which I was planning on doing for the first time in about a month. It seems silly, just because a few people thought I wasn't LDS, how upset I got, but is it? I didn't think I was an awful person and I'm sure others don't either. There are plenty of things I need to work on, but I never thought someone would actually have the thought or wonder if I wasn't LDS.

Moroni 7:48 says "Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen." I almost always interpret scripture wrong, so I won't go into this too much but basically all I'm trying to say is that the LDS church and it's members emphasize being like Christ a ton. With that being said, some of the nicest people I have ever met are Mormon as well as some of the most judgmental people I have met. If you affiliate yourself with the LDS church, all I ask is that we try to be more Christ-like, assume less, and judge less of others. Even if you are not LDS, what you say and/or assume can hurt a person's feelings even if you may think otherwise. Be aware of what you say to others and always try to be a better you.