I Thought I Left This In Arkansas

Ray and I had an interesting experience on Wednesday... He'd been out for something, and I was just chillin at home. When he came back, he had one of his friends with him that he had invited over for a little bit. Fine by me... until we all started talking...

Turns out this friend of his is going to a Christian College, that's VERY born again... Not that I have anything against Born Again Christians. All the power to them. If that's what keeps them going, then good for them. It's when it turns into an unprompted sermon, that I start having issues. So this guy started talking about how he's going to this College, and he's learning sooo much about Christ, and I was like "Good for you man", but then it turned out to be this two hour long preaching session. I mean... This guy wouldn't stop... Ray and I were literally being pushed into a corner having to listen to this guy go on and on and on with scripture references and contradictory doctrines... I was going insane.

This is something I haven't experienced since my mission in Arkansas. It was totally like I was in the middle of a bash where I wasn't allowed to say anything again. But he kept on saying things and gesturing that he wanted us to agree, but I don't want him to think that we believe the same things he does when we actually don't. I made it clear that Ray and I are Christians too because Christ is the foundation of everything we believe. But when he started talking about grace and being saved and not having to worry about sinning anymore... Oh man... That gets me fired up because I think it's silly and a total cop out for people who just don't wanna work hard at being good. But that is a soapbox I try to avoid getting on because I just end up getting mad and that's not Christ-like...

Anyways... So whenever this guy would want us to agree with him, I wouldn't if I didn't and I'd say my peace and let it be known what I believe, because I do NOT wanna be misunderstood or misrepresented. Especially when it comes to religion. I've got that aspect of my life figured out, and I hope that when I come across people who feel they have things equally as figured out, even if I don't agree, that I don't come across as pushy or preachy. I felt like I wasn't being rude to this guy, I was just making myself clear because it seemed as if he thought he was gonna convert Ray and I. I wanted to make sure that he knew where we stood, and I felt I did a relatively decent job.

This conversation was ridiculously drawn out though. I couldn't even figure out how the conversation even got to that point until after when I was trying to figure it out with Ray. Like I said, I respect people that are strongly devoted to what they believe, but there's a definite line separating a religious discussion that you both want and are equally interested in participating in, and a one sided conversation that makes the other person feel uncomfortable and disrespected. I felt uncomfortable and way disrespected. He even made us watch an Evangelical preacher online give a sermon... That's great that he's so excited about all this, but all I could think the whole time was that he was completely oblivious to our negative body language and the amount of talking he was doing. There was no escape... Finally Ray politely reminded the guy that he had an appointment to go to because he obviously wasn't watching the clock. Even then he doddled out of our place.

After he left Ray was really confused because when he had invited the guy over he said he could only come for a few minutes because he had stuff to do. Well he was definitely here for a lot longer than a few minutes...

I think this experience touched on two pet peeves of mine. 1. Overstaying your welcome, and 2. Showing no respect for what I believe in. 

I was all fired up after he left too. I was all ranting to Ray about how frustrating that was and how I thought I had left experiences like that behind when I left Arkansas. He thought it was funny that I was so worked up about it. He handled the whole thing pretty well. He was definitely more patient than I was with the guy. Ray just wanted a non-confrontational discussion, so in his mind he thought that if he didn't say anything to bring up more conversation that it would just end it. Whereas I didn't necessarily want confrontation, but I didn't want the guy leaving thinking that he had taught us things that we decided we believed in too just because of him. In the end, both of our efforts to end the conversation utterly failed, but Ray was proud of me for speaking up. He definitely saw a bit of how I was like on my mission... mind you... it wasn't necessarily the best missionary side of me.

Maybe I should prepare myself better for more experiences like that, especially while I'm in Colorado Springs... This place seems to be a mecca for Protestant religions. There's Christian Colleges, and plenty of denominations here. It's like a western South or something. I think once I'm here permanently and I meet more people in the community that I'll have a better feel for how things are here, and I can be better prepared to handle situations like this one more adequately...

I'm just glad I know what I know. Christ is my Savior. I try to live a Christ-like life, and I don't dismiss myself when I've made mistakes. I make a conscious effort to make my wrongs right again. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is simple, and if I read the scriptures and listen to the Living Prophet, all will be well and I will not be deceived. My hope is that I can be respectful and loving to those that try to prove me wrong. I know where I stand, and I will share what I know to those who want to listen, because I don't want people walking away from a conversation with me thinking that I was being forceful and disrespectful to their personal beliefs. 

Serving a mission was the best choice I could have ever made for myself. I feel like it taught me how to stand firm in my beliefs as well as being able to quickly and simply outline the foundation of my faith. I like to think that it helped me be more normal... haha... I like who I am and how I got to be this way.

www.mormon.org