Religious Puzzels...

This past week I spent a little bit of time re-reading my text book from my World Religions class (I know... re-reading a text book?!) somewhat in preparation for Festival of Colors (pictures below, though this entry is not about that), and somewhat just to understand different religions and where their beliefs fit into my own beliefs. It was while talking to my mom about my reading that I came up with a little analogy that I just had to share about what I believe and the how I see The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.


This might begin like other analogies, but it's not the same... and I'm proud of myself for figuring out a way to explain the complex simplicity of my religious beliefs...

Religion in general is like a puzzle... but not a 25 piece puzzle - a 1000 piece puzzle.  As we put the pieces together and decide/learn for ourselves what is truth, we come to see the picture we create for ourselves. With some religions or beliefs we create sections of the full picture, or mini snippets of the big picture.  Then there are religions that are so close, but there are a few little pieces missing... and isn't that the most frustrating thing?!  When there is only two or three pieces in a huge picture missing?  Yea, I hate that more than when half the pieces are MIA.

Now, how does the gospel of the LDS church tie into my analogy?  A lot of people claim that the LDS beliefs are so complex and there are many facets to our teachings.  They say it's too overwhelming and other religions are merely easier to understand.  For me, I disagree.  The LDS doctrine creates the full puzzle, with no missing pieces, and the spirit of your individual testimony seals the puzzle together.  When you first look down at the scattered pieces, you're right... it's overwhelming.  There seems to be a never-ending amount of work to accomplish, and it may seem you'll never get the puzzle down.  However, as the pieces start to align and form the picture, things build upon one another until the puzzle is complete.  As you step back and look, the picture before you is SO clear and simple.  You have the FULL picture before you, and all the pieces are present and fit together.  What was once so overwhelming becomes more simple...

Does that mean that every part of the gospel is always easy to understand?  Nope.  However, looking back to the big picture, you have a greater sense of the eternal goals before you, an increased amount of faith, and the ability to understand how differing pieces of the puzzle build off of one another.

My mom said that's how she felt growing up... She was always searching for more, feeling like pieces of her religion were missing.  When she first came upon the LDS faith, she thought there was SO much there to take in... Yet, as the lessons continued and she grew in her understanding, learning more and gaining more "knowledge puzzle pieces," the picture came into view with great ease.  It became simple... and beautiful.

I have a testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and that we can know the fullness of His doctrine as well.  We can know for ourselves that He lives, and that He and our Heavenly Father love us with their entirety.  I know that as we grow and learn more, by keeping the commandments from our Father in Heaven, we will see the bigger picture and things in life will become more simple... I'm not saying things will be easy, because they're not.  However, with more understanding, and the vision of the eternal perspective, our burdens can (and will be) lightened.  I know my Savior lives, and I know that gospel of Jesus Christ is upon the earth, in its fullness through the LDS church. 

I am so thankful to know that...

Now, just for some visual aides from yesterday, here are some pictures from my FIRST TIME at Festival of Colors... It was on my bucket list to go, and yesterday me and Sarah finally checked it off the list!  It's the Hindu celebration of Holi, and consists of music, food, worship, and throwing colored chalk in the air/ at each other. So, Sarah and I drove out to Spanish Fork (after getting lost...) to the Hare Krishna Temple, met some friends, and enjoyed the day!  I love the Indian culture!  Their music, food, beliefs, clothing, dancing, etc... It's beautiful.  I was excited to share a bit in the fun, and learn a bit about what they believe...

*muah*

Song of the Day:  I found this INCREDIBLE version of Nelly's song "Just A Dream," by Sam Tsui and Christina Grimmie.  My friend posted it on her blog, so shout out to JC!  I've seen stuff by Sam Tsui before and he is BOMB!  You'll love this... It's ten times better than the original.  For real. Enjoy!