Believer, why believest thou?

A few days ago I was messaging someone on Facebook. We started to have a conversation about faith. I testified of the truth of the Book of Mormon and gave her a conference talk to read. As the conversation went on she said something that made me think: 

"I have a ton of faith. Not in God, not in the bible or any of that. I have faith in MYSELF. Which I think Mormons need more of. Stop believing in religion and start believing in yourself. I know who you where in the past. Don't let a mission or the church change you because in the future you will be unhappy if you stay. The biggest lie the Mormon church will tell you is that you can't be happy without the gospel. It's a lie, look how happy the whole world is who isn't mormon. Stop letting a book control your life."

I stopped the conversation there because I didn't feel as though any response would be of any help at this point in her life. I do however, want to use this statement as a template for my post today. I will take a phrase or so at a time.

1. "I have a ton of faith. Not in God, not in the bible or any of that. I have faith in MYSELF. Which I think Mormons need more of. Stop believing in religion and start believing in yourself."

Faith in ourselves is a key point in the gospel of Jesus Christ. That being said, where can we gain that faith in ourselves?

"I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." - Philippians 4:13

"For behold, the Spirit of Christ is given to every man, that he may know good from evil; wherefore, I show unto you the way to judge; for every thing which inviteth to do good, and to persuade to believe in Christ, is sent forth by the power and gift of Christ; wherefore ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of God." - Moroni 7:16

As we can see from these two scriptural examples, everything good in our lives comes from God. He cannot and will not lead us astray. 

2. "I know who you where in the past. Don't let a mission or the church change you because in the future you will be unhappy if you stay."

My past was somewhat of a bitter road and I am not afraid to admit that. However, through the atonement of Jesus Christ, I can be cleansed of ALL sins and shortcomings, as can you! The point of the gospel is to be changed! Right now, I am the happiest I've ever been because I am following Christ's teachings.

"Adam fell that men might be; and men are that they might have joy" - 2 Nephi 2:25

3. "The biggest lie the Mormon church will tell you is that you can't be happy without the gospel. It's a lie, look how happy the whole world is who isn't mormon."

I've met a lot of people in my somewhat short life, and a lot of them have been very happy people. Some had the gospel and some did not. Especially here in the Southern states, I've found VERY happy people who were not of my faith.

"...Consider the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God." - Mosiah 2:41

To go on even more about how happy the gospel makes me and how being a part of The Church of Jesus Christ of latter-day saints has influenced my life for good would make this post far too long, so let's move on to the final point.

4. "Stop letting a book control your life."

The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ is "the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book." - Joseph Smith

That's a pretty bold, and could be taken as a somewhat frightening, statement. How can we know this is true? By reading it for ourselves. One of my favorite people once told me, "The Book of Mormon is a 'How to Book' for life." The truth of that statement hit me hard. Using the Book of Mormon and the Bible side-by-side can prove to make our lives something we could not imagine. With the Divine help from both of these books, we can CHOOSE what we want to do. We can better use the agency God has blessed us with.

Now that I've hit on those four points, I want to make it clear, God loves us all, no matter how we choose to live. This post is in no way me tearing down other's beliefs or "bashing" anyone. I love you all so very much and only write this to hopefully "that perhaps I may be an instrument in the hands of God."