All Saints – My Christian Friends

While going to school at Utah State, my daughter met some Christian missionaries on campus. She noticed that many people just passed them by, some even made snide remarks, but she wanted to talk with them. She liked what she found. She said, “They have light in their eyes.”

She inquired if they have a place where they meet for church, and they invited her to come. She asked me to go with her. I was excited to meet her new friends.

We really enjoyed their meeting. I came home feeling so happy inside. My spirit had been nourished, and I felt good. I just couldn’t wipe the smile off my face. I felt the Spirit of the Lord in the meeting. There are many things that contributed to the wonderful spirit. Here are a few of the things I noticed:

No one was put above another. I could feel the equality. There wasn’t any status associated with being the leader or the teacher. In fact, during the prayer, someone prayed that the teacher wouldn’t get in the way of the message he had to deliver. I felt his genuine humility as he taught us from the Bible. The majority of the lesson came from the Gospel of Saint Matthew, but he used the entire Bible to teach different principles.

My children noticed that he didn’t use a manual. The lesson came straight from the Bible. They liked that part. Children love to be taught the word of God, pure and undiluted. They were interested in what was being taught and no one was bored. I took notes just as fast as I could write. Scripture references were given for almost every point that was made. I wanted to have it all in writing so I could come home and reread and ponder the quoted scriptures. I also wanted to share what I learned with the rest of my family.

There are so many new things to discover about the scriptures. For example: I didn’t know that Jesus was quoting scripture when he was confronted by the Devil in the wilderness. Matthew 4:7 is an extract of what is given in Deuteronomy 6:16. The Jews would have been expected to know the rest of the selection when Jesus quoted part of the scripture. Even though Jesus was the one who gave us the Old Testament, he used scripture to teach the people.

I love the music. All of the songs praise Jesus. We stand up to sing, and everyone sings with all their heart. My children said, “We’re not embarrassed to sing because everyone is singing loud.” The songs aren’t about us; they’re about Jesus. On my first Sunday, I started to sit down after singing one song. Then I realized we weren’t done. We kept singing and singing. I don’t think anyone can praise Jesus song after song and not feel an abundance of joy.

I like the way they pray. We’ve incorporated the things we’ve learned into our family prayers. We wrote a post on this: A New Pattern of Prayer.

I’ve attended several churches and still have many more to visit. One characteristic that that is unique to this group of saints is their ability to keep focused on the word of God without condemning others. I don’t see the arrogance that is often present when some people try to prove that their belief in Christ is superior to another’s belief in Christ.

Thank you again for your kindness to our family. We’ve enjoyed your friendship.