First off, the good things. I met so many wonderful people and was able to have a lot of really good conversations about God and also just life in general. At the daily worship services I felt the spirit more strongly than I have in a while. The music was so good and seeing the kids and everyone honestly grow closer to each other and to God was powerful and really strengthened my testimony in the goodness of Christ. I cried almost every day. It helped remind me that despite differences, He is there for everyone. No one has a monopoly on God. No matter which of us is "right," He loves us the same.

On the flip side, hearing the gospel without the plan of salvation felt incomplete. It felt like I was listening to someone read a book with a hole cut out of the middle. It would be fine for a bit, but then they'd get to the hole in the page and they just skipped over the missing words and didn't acknowledge or even seem to notice it or how some sentences just didn't make sense and the topics seemed to jump around randomly. This honestly strengthened my testimony more than any conference talk or Sunday school lesson. Sometimes you have to take away something to appreciate it. If this week has taught me anything about my church it's that the main difference isn't the book of mormon or living prophets, it's the plan of salvation. Christianity without it feels hollow. Like I genuinely can't wrap my head around why it all happened if the premortal existance doesn't exist, and if we don't have the opportunity to be saved after we die.

They do, though? It's a widget you can add to the home page.

They do, though? It's a widget you can add to the home page.

I know so many people think it's just a small thing and that it's not a big deal and it does seem like a small thing but that's exactly why to me it is a big deal.

The Lord asks so much of us. His prophets ask so much of us, and so many of those things are really really hard. If someone is an alcoholic and they're trying to become clean. That's hard. My fiance and I work diligently to keep our hands to ourselves until marriage. That's hard. Going to church every week? Not an easy habit to build. Attending the temple regularly? Reading the scriptures every day? Remembering to pray in a moment of temptation? Hard hard and hard. All of those commandments involve going out of our way to build habits that might not come so naturally to us. Even as those acts of faith bless us and strengthen our connection to God, that doesn't automatically make them easy.

But deciding to say the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (or the Church of Jesus Christ, or Christ's Restored Church) instead of saying Mormon or LDS is awful inconvenient, but it's not hard. And if we want to follow God and profess our faith like we say we do then we aught to be considering the small and simple things God asks us to do because God doesn't ask us to do something that doesn't matter.

And going further, I know that just because it's a small change it doesn't mean it doesn't have a big impact. The reason that so many people (including the late President Nelson) were emphasizing the full name of the church is because it is the church of Jesus Christ. The Latter-day Saints part is pretty cool and it's in there for a reason but it is secondary to the Jesus Christ. He is the one we worship. He is at the center of the plan. He is the one who saves our spirits and restores our bodies. It is all about Him. And when we casually emit him from the name of our religion we lose SO MUCH. The name of Christ alone has the power to cast out demons, to heal the sick and bring peace to the afflicted. Jesus Christ is the one who sunk below all things so that we could rise above all things. It is His love that propels the plan foreword, gives us strength to resist temptation, become our best selves and do all those other hard things that will strengthen and edify us.

I get how easy it is to fall prey to the convenience of shortening the name of the church, especially when so many others are doing it. But I can confidently say that in an age where so many people will bend over backwards trying to convince us that we are not Christians, there is immense power in always upholding Christ, in proclaiming yourself a member of his church, and choosing to bring him front and center into even the most casual discussions about our faith.

Jesus: *chuckles*

Joseph: What's so funny?

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Ok guys I know it sounds bad but hear me out.

I (23M) have three brothers, Lemuel (21M), Sam (18M) and Nephi (16M). Recently my father (45M) had a vision that our town was going to be destroyed and he went and preached unto the people. Well they did not like that and threatened to kill him. He says he had a vision where the Lord told him to leave so he wasn't murdered. When we were packing he said to leave everything but the tents??? Which is confusing but whatever I guess. My father is crazy a visionary man. Then when we finally got to the wilderness and pitched our tents, my dad deadass looked me in the eye and told me we needed to go back to jerusalem to get these stupid brass plates "so our posterity would have the commandments." And the real kicker? The brass plates are currently in the possesion of our greedy, blood thirsty relative. Yeah, let's go risk our lives for these brass plates. That makes sense dad. So my brother Lemuel and I were like "dude what? why would we do that?" and he was like "because the Lord hath commanded it." and my younger two brothers were like "yeah stop murmuring come with us to risk our lives for these plates of brass." I went with them so they wouldn't get themselves killed.

When we got to Laban's house, we played rock paper scissors to determine who would go inside and get them. Of course I lost. I went inside to get the plates and Laban was like "no. You're a robber I'm gonna slay you." so I booked it out of there and told my brothers that we tried. He didn't give them back. We can go back to our father's tent now. Then Nephi gave us a little pep talk, saying that the Lord hath commanded this and the Lord will provide a way. It was clear that he was not going to give up so I was like ok, what's the way? And he said (I kid you not) "Let's go back to our house, gather all our riches, and give them to Laban." WHAT? So we went back to our house, gathered literally anything that was even remotely valuble, and brought it to Laban.

Good news is that Laban liked our stuff. Bad news is he took it, didn't give us the plates, and then sent his servant to murder us. Luckily we escaped but I was pissed at Nephi. Lemuel and I said some pretty harsh things to Nephi and Sam that I won't repeat. Eventually it escalated and we smote them with a rod. As we were smiting them with a rod, an angel appeared. The angel said "why are you smiting your little brother with a rod? Don't you know the Lord has chosen him to be a ruler over you because of your iniquities? Go back to Jerusalem and the Lord will deliver Laban into your hands." First of all, rude. Second, how was I supposed to know the Lord chose Nephi over me? I'm literally the eldest and Nephi is so annoying. Third, literally how is he going to deliver Laban into our hands?? We've tried twice already. He is powerful and can command fifty, he can even kill fifty, why not us? But this angel is making me question if I was in the wrong for smiting Nephi and Samuel.