During my
pre-teen and teen years, I became increasingly dissatisfied with what my
family’s religious denomination offered and was seeking for truth. During
this time I had a discussion with my boyfriend about God’s love and the
innocence of children.
He had made some comment about God’s love and how His love is underneath and surrounding every interaction He has with His children. I returned with a comment about how He couldn’t be totally loving if He sent my baby sister to Hell. He asked me how I was so sure she was in Hell. I related to him the circumstances surrounding the death of my youngest sister.
Jill was born in a Catholic hospital. When she was two days old it was discovered she had some severe internal deformities that prevented her gastrointestinal system from working properly. She was born in the early morning of a Friday and the situation was discovered the next day, late in the evening. Emergency surgery was required and a specialist from New York was flown in. When my parents could not reach their pastor, a Lutheran minister, they had a nun at the hospital baptize Jill before the surgery. My sister survived the surgery but died the next morning about noon.
When the pastor heard of the death of my sister, he and his associates paid a visit to our home. They informed my parents that, because Jill had not been properly baptized, she was burning in Hell; that made my parents “bad parents”. Furthermore, our family was no longer a family in good standing. This information almost crushed my mother. Needless to say, after the death of my sister and this pronouncement from the pastor, our family was never the same again.
My boyfriend said that he knew she was not in Hell and could prove it. I was all ears but still somewhat doubtful. He paraphrased the scriptures from Moroni 8 regarding the innocence of children. There was a deep and resounding crack in the shell I had allowed around my heart concerning God’s love. While I did not accept his proof on the spot, as I pondered that thought, and later, when I was able to obtain a Book of Mormon and read it for myself, its truth slowly worked a beautiful thing in my heart. It was from this experience that I was willing to explore the RLDS religion and its beliefs.
He had made some comment about God’s love and how His love is underneath and surrounding every interaction He has with His children. I returned with a comment about how He couldn’t be totally loving if He sent my baby sister to Hell. He asked me how I was so sure she was in Hell. I related to him the circumstances surrounding the death of my youngest sister.
Jill was born in a Catholic hospital. When she was two days old it was discovered she had some severe internal deformities that prevented her gastrointestinal system from working properly. She was born in the early morning of a Friday and the situation was discovered the next day, late in the evening. Emergency surgery was required and a specialist from New York was flown in. When my parents could not reach their pastor, a Lutheran minister, they had a nun at the hospital baptize Jill before the surgery. My sister survived the surgery but died the next morning about noon.
When the pastor heard of the death of my sister, he and his associates paid a visit to our home. They informed my parents that, because Jill had not been properly baptized, she was burning in Hell; that made my parents “bad parents”. Furthermore, our family was no longer a family in good standing. This information almost crushed my mother. Needless to say, after the death of my sister and this pronouncement from the pastor, our family was never the same again.
My boyfriend said that he knew she was not in Hell and could prove it. I was all ears but still somewhat doubtful. He paraphrased the scriptures from Moroni 8 regarding the innocence of children. There was a deep and resounding crack in the shell I had allowed around my heart concerning God’s love. While I did not accept his proof on the spot, as I pondered that thought, and later, when I was able to obtain a Book of Mormon and read it for myself, its truth slowly worked a beautiful thing in my heart. It was from this experience that I was willing to explore the RLDS religion and its beliefs.
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