Service #18

Yesterday I bought a cute birthday card to send to my nephew David. I wrote him a nice message last night and will mail it on Tuesday (President's day holiday tomorrow). I love David dearly. He is so kind, so sensitive, so diligent, so easy to talk to. I have always had a special place in my heart for him. The past few years have created a void between us; his decision to live a gay lifestyle, and my decision to follow the prophet and oppose gay marriage put us on opposite ends of the spectrum where it comes to our stand on homosexuality. Though he has remained loving and sweet to me, I mourn the underlying hostility that I know must exist. I doubt he can understand my stance on the issue; oddly enough I can perfectly understand his. I don't understand why God gives some of his children this challenge; in the same way I can't understand why some people are born into abusive homes, why some must be born into imperfect bodies, or why some suffer debilitating mental illness. I only know that everyone has something - some limitation or struggle that is their cross to bear in this life. That he has been given this struggle makes me very sad. But I trust the scriptures and the teachings of our prophet; that to condone gay marriage would be to undermine the eternal nature of marriage and the celestial potential of the family. I am not following blindly, but trying to exercise faith in behalf of David and so many other wonderful gay people throughout the world. I know that God loves them and wants them to be happy, just as He does all his children. I just don't believe that acting out on their sexual attraction to members of the same sex will ultimately lead to happiness.