 | Dear Gramps, I have enjoyed your site Gramps, but I have a question for you. I am new convert to the church and I have been intensely involved in missionary work. In fact I am preparing now to go on a mission. But to my question. A friend of mine that is very interested in being a member of the church belongs to a polygamist family. The family in a sense is LDS and he has read the Book of Mormon. But he knows what his family is practicing is not right and he wants to be baptized. He spoke to a stake president about his concerns and this Stake President told him that if he were baptized that he could never see his family again and only communicate with them once a year (like at Christmas). My friend now will not give up his family for the church. Even though he believes it and has a testimony of the Book of Mormon he loves his family too. Help Gramps, can you shed some light? s/Ben Joe, dixie.edu |
Dear Ben Joe,
Congratulations on your new membership in the Church! It’s wonderful to catch the spirit of the work and have a burning desire to share the marvelous blessings of the gospel with others. I’m sure that you’ll become a devoted and dedicated missionary.
With respect to your friend, there are a couple of things to consider. You mentioned that the polygamist family is in a sense LDS. Many good people believe and practice many of the doctrines of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints without having a true allegiance to the Church, so it may be a little strong to say that in a sense they are LDS. Perhaps a better phrase would be that they practice some or many of the doctrines of the LDS Church. Some of those who practice polygamy claim membership in the Church, but of course that is a false claim since the practice of polygamy is contrary to laws of the gospel. As I’m sure you know, any member practicing polygamy would normally be excommunicated.
Now with respect to your friend’s interview with the stake president. We must be careful in making judgments on the report of a confidential interview. The stake president’s counsel may have been based on much more than the reported circumstance. But whatever the circumstances were, if indeed your friend’s membership were dependent on a separation from his family, although it’s easy to see what a difficult decision it would be, there is no question as to what decision should be made. The Savior has said that He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me (Matthew 10:37). I would suggest that you might counsel your friend to take his problem to the Lord and seek guidance and strength from the author of that statement. In the meantime, if you continue to show your friendship and your support of whatever decisions he would make in the matter, you would be a true friend, and the example of your faithfulness would undoubtedly be a powerful influence in helping him make the right decision.
Gramps