Gospel Message from a Fairy Tale

As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, we are often counseled by our leaders to "be in the world but not of the world". Some of us find this a difficult task to accomplish at times, but we still strive to abide by that counsel. I admit that I get wrapped up in worldly things sometimes just like everyone else, but I constantly try to be a good person, to be in the world but not of the world. To be the person my Heavenly Father wants me to be.

If you know me and D, you know that we are BIG movie people. We love watching movies together, and love buying movies from the $5 rack, rather than just renting. For Christmas, one of our gifts was the DVD of Peter Pan, but we didn't get around to watching it until a few weeks ago. We both love Disney movies because I think it brings us back to our childhood days, and we love being able to watch movies without being concerned about vulgar language, nudity, or other sexual images or innuendos. This time around watching Peter Pan wasn't really any different for me until it was over and we were listening to the last song. Some of the lyrics to that song struck me, and I've been thinking about them over and over again since. The lines that hit me were: "Think of all the joy you'll find, When you leave the world behind."

I hear and read that message from Church leaders all the time, so I don't know why it hit me so hard while watching Peter Pan. I guess it was just hearing the message outside of a Gospel context. But the way the lyrics were put in the song made a bigger impact on me this time, for some reason. "Think of all the JOY you'll find, when you LEAVE THE WORLD BEHIND."

I truly do find JOY in the GOSPEL of JESUS CHRIST. I find JOY in knowing that my FAMILY is ETERNAL. I find JOY in knowing that I can live with my Heavenly Father and my Family FOREVER. I find JOY in knowing that we have a LIVING PROPHET on the Earth today. I find JOY in knowing I can be FORGIVEN of my sins. I find JOY in knowing I am a DAUGHTER of GOD. I find JOY in knowing my SAVIOR LOVES ME. I find JOY in knowing that the GOSPEL of JESUS CHRIST is bigger than anything the WORLD can throw at it. I find JOY in reading the BOOK OF MORMON, and I know that I can find answers to my problems when I read it. I find JOY in knowing my Heavenly Father wants me to SUCCEED, and I'm glad His definition of success is not the same as the "success" of the world. I find JOY in the JOURNEY as I follow my SAVIOR, JESUS CHRIST.