So, I had a birthday last week that I never posted about. It was wonderful! It was my golden birthday (I turned 24 on the 24th) and Josh spoiled me rotten!  But we didn’t take many pictures, and our eyefi isn’t quite itself because we recently got new internet, and mostly I have had something else on my mind for a long time that I want to share.

I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day saints, and I was raised by two of the highest quality people in this world.  They taught me to love my Heavenly Father and serve Him with my whole soul for my whole life.  They taught me to love the people around me and serve them. My parents taught me that family is the most important gift we have apart from the Gospel of Jesus Christ. My parents taught me very well, and they happened to choose to raise me in Utah.

Since moving away from Utah, I have realized that for whatever reason,  many members who take pride in the fact that they aren’t from Utah, and don’t seem to have any issue making fun of/assigning stereotypes to members of the Church who are from Utah. People say these things in my presence, though not directly to me, and don’t seem to think anything of it.  It seems that everybody outside of Utah ought to know that “Utah Mormons” are an inferior brand of followers of Christ. This trend, along with other experiences I have had recently have helped me see some of the things I do (and without thinking about the individuals it may affect) quite a bit differently.

I believe with all my heart that a person can have bleached blonde hair, wear make-up when they go camping, name their child LaPrell, and still be a righteous follower of Jesus Christ.  Though perhaps I don’t fit whatever stereotype people give to Utah Mormons (perhaps I fit it perfectly), I know that I am just doing my best to follow Jesus Christ the way I have been taught; and I realize that basically everybody is doing the exact same thing.  We’re all just doing the best we can.

But this isn’t just an issue I have seen with members outside of Utah. This is something that I see myself doing. I suppose that is the reason I am writing this: so that I can figure out a better way for me to do things. But what I realize now is that though it may seem that the entire world accepts a certain stereotype, there are individual children of God–whom He loves beyond comprehension–that make up every group of people who have been lumped into one stereotype. If I were to say the things I nonchalantly say about a group to the face of any individual in that group, I would feel enormous remorse for months.

Our Father in Heaven loves all of His children. He loves them individually and collectively. If we asked Him “Do you love members of your church who are always trying to ‘keep up with the Jones family’?” He would say “I love them more than you or they can possibly comprehend.” If we asked Him the same thing about people who have any idiosyncrasy or sin in the book, His answer would always be the same.  He loves everyone! I feel His love for me, and it is extremely humbling to realize that He has that same love for EVERYONE EVER!

I have caught myself saying things like “Oh, well some people are just so obviously without good intentions…” and that is how I justify judging them. But it turns out it was NEVER my job to be the judge of somebody’s goodness or flaws. Jesus Christ paid the price for everybody’s sins and so He is the one who ultimately has to decide where their hearts have been. And He, knowing all our sins and imperfections, our pride, our selfishness, our sloth, our pessimism, our everything, is the One who wants the most to save us.

I am grateful that I have had the privilege of learning these things again, and I am sad to admit that I will likely have to learn them many times over in the future.  But I hope that I will be a little better at seeing past the stereotypes and the quick judgments, and remember that Heavenly Father and Jesus will love each and every one of Their people no matter what they do, no matter how many times they fall or even willfully rebel.