What a great weekend! We had a discussion in our home Friday night; we hope to continue with this man; he speaks only Romanian so it was  a little confusing but we enjoyed it.  Saturday we went with two sister missionaries who taught us the ropes in getting around Bucuresti on the subway.  We feel confident we can do so albeit we'll be slower than the sisters.  Krisy wants me to tell you of our incredible find on our outing; the sisters introduced us to soft warm pretzels stuffed with gooey chocolate.  Today, Sunday, we bore our testimonies in Romanian (I made a few slips into Italian but I think everyone understood).  We also had another lesson in our home; this time it was a Romanian woman; it went well (about 1/2 in English), I think Krisy really got along with this wonderful Romanian; we hope lessons with her will also continue.  There were 3 sister missionaries, this investigator and Krisy working in our small kitchen as Krisy taught them how to make American pancakes (they are familiar with crepes); see the attached picture.  Krisy then took the sisters to her "flower lady" (while I cleaned up their mess); hopefully this meeting will turn into some more lessons in our home.

Sister Missionaries, a Romanian investigator and Krisy all cooking in the kitchen

A US marine came to church today; everyone thought he was a member; the District President (like a stake president in a mission) welcomed him and asked him if he was an elder; come to find out he is an investigator who had a baptismal date but got shipped out to Afghanistan before it happened.  He will be coming to our house tomorrow for a/some lesson(s); this time it will all be in English.

One of the office elders was listening to a testimony of Elder Holland about the Book of Mormon and the truthfulness of the Gospel from a previous conference last week in the office; it was powerful.  As I listened I thought "who can refute such an argument, who can doubt such a clear statement, who can think that their own intellect or the intellect of just about anyone else can surpass the intellects of Elders Holland, Scott, Bednar and Nelson, President Monson and others of our leaders including at our Stake level?  Who can think these men are just pretending to be what and who they say they are? Who can doubt the evidence in the Bible that propounds our doctrine unmentioned by the rest of the Christian world such as the pre-existence, the nature of the Godhead, the organization of the priesthood and true church, the opportunity of the dead to learn, understand and embrace the gospel through vicarious work, the plan of salvation and our responsibility as children of our Heavenly Father, indeed, even our relationship to Him and His Son Jesus Christ?  Who can think, after a judicious study of our tenants, that the empty doctrine of many other religions, Christian or otherwise, obfuscated by ceremony, presents anything resembling a cohesive explanation of that plan and that relationship,  There are good and great churches everywhere of every denomination of Christian or other religion.  As I have observed these good churches and learned something of their doctrine I have noticed that their programs are strong and the organization is led by good, charismatic leaders but their doctrine, in my opinion, is weak with little substance.  Many religions are like that of the Pharisees, neglecting the "weightier" matters for the pomp.  Admittedly, some members of our church act in the same manner and many do things out of habit and tradition rather than having a doctrinal basis for their actions.

Yes, we have many people in the church who are weird (I'm probably one of them), many that have actual psychological problems (I might be one of them), some who are bad and, indeed, some who are evil.  Every church has these people.  We may have more than the usual of the weird and problematic but I don't look at this as a bad thing, uncomfortable perhaps, but not bad. As the Savior once said, "you will always have the poor with you".  Many in Jesus' time rushed to him because they thought he would be a geo-political leader that would return Judah to the grandeur of David and Solomon. When they found out that His kingdom was elsewhere they rejected Him and turned away. Some of our "poor" really do have a testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel and love our Lord. Others, like those in Jesus' time, leave embittered when they find out that the riches they are promised are not of this world.  

What about those people that attack our church?  Have they researched the histories and claims as indepth as they've researched the errors and weaknesses of people belonging to the church about whom the attackers complained?  Have they read the church's counter arguments with the same enthusiasm and desire for truth or are they just trying to justify their prejudices through superficial inquiry?

Do you disagree with some of the doctrine? Do you feel it and some of the commandments are too restrictive? Have you truly tested the doctrine through real prayer and experiment. I love section 89 of the Doctrine and Covenants that discusses the Word of Wisdom. It, as it says, is "for a principle with promise, adapted to the capacity of the weak and the weakest of all the saints"; most of the commandments are like the Word of Wisdom. To some the Word of Wisdom is just a test or a trial. To others with addictive potential it is truly life saving. To those who glory in the buzz of the cigarette, alcohol or drugs, it is restrictive. To all who obey the law it is liberating from the negative effects of these chemicals. The same is true of all the commandments of the church. Those seeking enablement for their weaknesses consider the doctrine too restrictive. Those wishing to escape the addiction of sin are liberated.

Is the church too demanding of your time and service; does it promote a guilty conscience? I must say those thoughts have crossed my mind, but those thoughts never got in the way of my testimony. The church is demanding with home/visiting teaching, callings, service, meetings, and family requirements (teaching the gospel and strengthening each other), but God looks at us with an eternal perspective, not as weak humans. The demands of the church are more correctly viewed as goals. Progression is the measure, not the timecard. The older I get, the more I realize that the church is an adjunct to the most important organization, the family. Our work is the means by which we keep our family safe and healthy.  We have our immediate family for whom we have the most responsibility, but since we are all children of our Heavenly Father, we do have responsibility for not only our church brothers and sisters but our whole human family including those who have slept and those yet to come.

I believe this to be the true church; the one established by our Heavenly Father with Adam and reestablished and maintained by prophets through the period of the Old Testament.  It is the church our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ reestablished during his 3-year ministry knowing that his work would lead to His atonement and final sacrifice.  It then degenerated into apostasy after the death of the prophets and apostles as it had a number of times during the past several thousand years and has been reestablished again with Prophets and Apostles through the Prophet Joseph Smith who translated the Book of Mormon.