Why I Continue to Stand By My Vote.

Hey guys!

On facebook, someone posted this talk by Elder Maxwell that was given in 1979. The person that posted it took a few bits and pieces from the talk and combined them into something that is very inspiring. Here it is:


"Make no mistake about it, brothers and sisters, in the months and years
ahead, events are likely to require each member to decide whether or not he
will follow the First Presidency. Members will find it more difficult to
halt longer between two opinions. President Marion G. Romney said, many
years ago, that he had 'never hesitated to follow the counsel of the
Authorities of the Church even though it crossed my social, professional or
political life.'
"This is hard doctrine, but it is particularly vital doctrine in a society
which is becoming more wicked. In short, brothers and sisters, not being
ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ includes not being ashamed of the
prophets of Jesus Christ. . . . Your discipleship may see the time when
such religious convictions are discounted. . . . This new irreligious
imperialism seeks to disallow certain opinions simply because those opinions
grow out of religious convictions.
"Resistance to abortion will be seen as primitive. Concern over the
institution of the family will be viewed as untrendy and unenlightened....
Before the ultimate victory of the forces of righteousness, some skirmishes
will be lost. Even in these, however, let us leave a record so that the
choices are clear, letting others do as they will in the face of prophetic
counsel. There will also be times, happily, when a minor defeat seems
probable, but others will step forward, having been rallied to rightness by
what we do. We will know the joy, on occasion, of having awakened a
slumbering majority of the decent people of all races and creeds which was,
till then, unconscious of itself. Jesus said that when the fig trees put
forth their leaves, 'summer is nigh.' Thus warned that summer is upon us,
let us not then complain of the heat."--- Elder Neal A. Maxwell



Talk about revelation! My goodness! This gives me strength in knowing that my vote was the right thing to do, especially reading it AFTER the election. The way I understood what Elder Maxwell said was that we are going to be faced with a decision to either follow the First Presidency or not.

One of these decisions would be protecting the family. Elder Maxwell states that "it will be viewed as untrendy and unenlightened" which I thought was very true when talking about Prop 8 with some people. I definitely thought that I was in the minority about the whole issue and was surprised (but hopeful) when the Proposition passed.

When Maxwell talks about how some skirmishes will be lost before an ultimate victory, it makes me think of Prop 22 that was passed but then overturned.

He then says "There will also be times, happily, when a minor defeat seems
probable, but others will step forward, having been rallied to rightness by
what we do." That makes me think of how at the begining, I did not think that this proposition would pass, but all these different types of people, old, young, male, female, Mormon, Catholic and others came together to pass this proposition.

I followed the First Presidency without hesitation, and it's something that I will always do. I know that they tell us what we need to know, even if it's not what I necessarily what we want to hear. I feel like there couldn't have been a more clear on which way I should vote and and happy to say that in no way do I regret my decision.

Elder Maxwell said "not being ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ includes not being ashamed of the prophets of Jesus Christ" I in no way am ashamed of neither the Gospel nor the Prophets. After the election, I was nervous to go to school and face my classmates. I was imagining every worst case scenerio that could have happened such as walking into my VERY liberal Anthropology class and having them tear into Mormons for supporting this awful Proposition, then me standing up for me and my religion and then getting beat up after class. (crazy I know, but that was HONESTLY what was going through my mind.) But if there was one thing that I knew for sure, it was that if anything like that had happened, there was no way that I was going to keep quiet when they were attacking my religion. I'm proud of who I am and I'm proud to be LDS and I would have taken every beating happily if it mean that I was defending my church. Of course, none of that happened, and a few people just said that they were dissappointed that the proposition passed.

Anyways, I could probably go on and on about this topic, but I THINK I am done for good. I am SO grateful that I can speak (or type..) freely my views on this subject. I'm grateful for my family who I love dearly who support me with what I say and do. I voted to support the family because I LOVE my family. I even love all of you who might not support me :) I love you all and thanks for reading!