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This is part of a series of perspectives and resources for Gospel Doctrine teachers and students who are looking for ways to teach and learn that are inclusive of LGBT individuals, their families and friends. This lesson will be taught next week in most wards.
Affirmation members talk about their experience with the April 2015 General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: what inspired them, what they struggled with, and what their hopes are.
I have learned that part of my personal plan of happiness involves having a family and a husband. I have also felt it tremendously important to stay close to my Heavenly Father and to His church. I can no more deny my faith in the Restoration than I can my sexuality.
What does He ask for in return? “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.”
Affirmation’s values include “authenticity, openness, diversity and integrity.” Those of us who create families, in whatever configuration, see them as nothing counterfeit but as authentic demonstrations of our desires to live lives of integrity that also contribute to the diversity that makes a strong society.
During the month prior to a particular lesson scheduled to be taught, we will seek your insights and suggestions in our Facebook group. In order to build bridges and teach by the Spirit, please keep your comments constructive. If you wish to share a quote, please cite the specific source, including author, title, date, etc. This will help build credibility if we are asked for the source in class, and it may also promote further study by class members or ourselves. Hopefully, these ideas will trigger additional insights between the Spirit and each of us, thereby bringing us closer to a unity of the faith.
I have a firm belief that the future holds a multitude of promise and blessings for the faithful…. Should the day come when something “great and important” is revealed I want to make sure that I am spiritually ready to hear it.
One Sunday, in October 2013, Jensen announced her transgender identity to a Springville LDS singles ward bishop and asked if she could attend church.
” ‘I don’t know anything about being a transgender Mormon,’ ” she recalls him saying, ” ‘but it’s my job to welcome you..’ ”
The Springville experience was richer than the worship she knew during her youth, she says, because she could “be in tune with the Holy Spirit.”
Need some affirming quotes to share with family and friends? These should help, as we all know that…“Few topics are as emotionally charged or require more sensitivity than same-sex attraction. This complex matter touches on the things we care about most: our basic humanity, our relationship to family, our identity and potential as children of God, how we treat each other, and what it means to be disciples of Christ.”