As card-carrying members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we have a tendency to deny our mortality.

But we can only live in denial for so long before the big fat truth of our understanding lands on us like the proverbial ton of bricks and we are forced to realize that we are mortal.

*gasp!*

Yes. We are—just like our non-LDS friends and neighbors—a part of fallen humanity. We are prone to fear and to doubt, to pride and the resulting sin, and to all the other small and petty feelings and character traits displayed by the mortals of this world.

Sorry if that feels like breaking news to anyone.

We, too, attempt to find comfort and solace in the pursuit material things. We don’t want to be a peculiar people. We don’t want to live without our cable TV, our cell phones and Internet access, our iPads and iPods. We don’t want to be too different, too conservative, too weird.

And we certainly don’t want others to know we have problems!

We fear that our humanity, our human-ness, will distract from and undermine the image of the Church; that our less than righteous behaviors will somehow tarnish the reputation of Christ.

That is a lie.

The Church, as an institution, is a group of well-intentioned but mortal and therefore fallible human beings trying to lead and love and support other well-intentioned but human, fallible men and women.

The Church, as the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ, is exactly what it claims to be—given of God and perfect in its teachings.

Even when we are unable to live its truth perfectly.

~Colleen H.

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