Community Voices

Community Voices are essays written by people within our community.

An important part of North Star’s mission is to provide a forum which gives voice to the perspectives, experiences, and testimonies of individual Latter-day Saints — real stories of real people — who are striving to live the gospel in accordance with the doctrines and precepts of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

If you would like to share a personal essay on how a particular experience or realization has influenced your personal and spiritual growth, your relationship with God, or your commitment to the gospel or the church, we would love to hear it. Learn how to submit a Community Voices essay.

The following Community Voices essays are listed in reverse-chronological order, with the most recently published essays listed first.

 

	Understanding Same-Gender Attraction is as Simple as A-B-C May 2012 By sitaM nyliraM dna derF …You, my dear friends, are among our Heavenly Father’s most chosen. Don’t ever forget that! You have been given incredibly great gifts and talents for a purpose. You are the artists, the composers, the musicians, the authors, the landscape designers, the athletes, the doctors, the lawyers, the architects, the mathematicians, the scientists, the organizers, the inventors – and the list goes on and on. You bring rhyme and reason, light and beauty, healing and kindness to the world! Where would we all be without you to bless our lives?….
	Obedience—Holding to the Iron Rod May 2010 By reklaW edaW …Lehi’s vision of the tree of life is clear in my mind’s eye, and in retrospect I can visualize myself in the scene, seeing my experiences both as they were and as they are now. As I had always pictured it in Lehi’s dream, the rod is now suspended firmly in the air next to me—defying gravity, held by the invisible, yet real power of the word of God—and it is just within my reach, no longer hidden in the mists of darkness around me….
	My Letter to Those Struggling with Doubt January 2010 By *llehctiM selrahC …I think one of the most important things I learned in this journey was that I wasn’t alone in my struggle. You aren’t either; there are people who have homosexual attractions and are living the Gospel, completely and happily. I know sometimes our feelings and our beliefs sometimes seem to collide, but they don’t—though our actions and the Gospel sometimes do…
	Striving for Understanding November 2009 By drofgnaL nahtanoJ …Fiction has tools for getting inside the minds of characters, showing them in a more complete context while exploring the variations and possibilities of human experience….
	A Call for Compassion July 2009 By htimS nitsuA … Tolerance does not require one to embrace homosexual behavior, but my prayer is that we, as a church, can be more understanding, loving and accepting of our friends and loved ones who find themselves in this position….
	Diversities of Gifts June 2009 By derllA madA …We all have gifts. Additionally, there may be gifts that the Lord has in store for us in the future according to His purposes and our adherence to His guidance. It is our job to identify those gifts we have developed as well as those we must seek after so that we can use them to bless our lives and the lives of others….
	Riding the Gender Pendulum March 2009 By mlohsihC xelA …Some days are harder than others, with depression at times seeking to overwhelm me, but I feel as if I have the greatest Ally I could possibly have. Nothing beats the hope generated when one has a sincere feeling of having done the right thing regardless of how painful it is….
	The Sanctification of Marriage and Families February 2009a By Bishop Michael J. Merchant …It is my testimony that unlike any other relationship on this earth, it is only in a marriage and in raising children that we “come to understanding,” discovered the errors of our ways, have to seek “wisdom” and “instruction”, are “chastened” and invited to “repent” and are humbled that we “might be made strong, and blessed from on high, and received knowledge from time to time.”…
	A Heavy Load on a Rutted Road January 2009 By JD C …Ironically, what kept me afloat during such a devastating, dark season was something that I had also always carried with me and underestimated as much as I did my same-gender attraction: my testimony…
	“Ours is A Ministry Of Healing”: Addressing the Aftermath of Proposition 8 November 2008 By Leanne Anderson …So what do we do to help the healing—in our own hearts if that is needed, and in the hearts of others?…
	Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? August 2008 By Joshua Johanson …Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? … For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord….
	Reaching the Summit July 2008 By K nayR …Several times during the bike ride, I looked ahead to see what I thought was the summit. When I arrived at those points, I realized the altitude I gained only helped me see the path ahead with greater clarity—we still had a ways to go and more altitude to gain! Even at times when I was sure the summit was near, I arrived to those points time and time again, realizing over and over that the summit was still miles and miles away. Reaching the summit sometimes seems an impossible task….
	The Not-So-Lonely Road: Living with HIV/AIDS May 2008 By enotsdalG yeJ …Later when I found out I was HIV-positive, I reconnected to her since she was now living with AIDS. And God blessed us both. She was able to testify to me that regardless of what happens to her body, her soul belongs to God….
	Love is Always the Answer April 2008 By nedsraM neelhtaK …I believe the Church’s role is to uphold principles of righteousness and to protect the standards of the Church. I believe a parent’s role is to teach those principles and then to love and accept their children regardless of the paths they take….
	Never Give Up March 2008 By acinraG samohT ..I’ve learned that being faithful doesn’t mean being perfect. Really, the only thing I have to promise to do is to Never Give Up! I know that as I strive to live my best and do my best, I am forgiven despite my shortcomings….
	Discovering the Church that Changed My Life February 2008 By nahP cirdeC …I stood in front of them, cemented to the ground, listening to and being mesmerized by the harmony of their angelical voices. They were missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,…
	My Eyes Were Opened December 2007 By Nichole Trone …my eyes were opened to the fact that I cannot presume that I understand someone else’s trials, but I can love them regardless…
	Live The Questions November 2007 By nworB pillihP … I think we have a natural hunger for answers as human beings, but sometimes we need to carry on, even when we don’t have a perfect understanding…
	That Ye Love One Another October 2007 By Samantha Stevens* …In all of God’s plans and designs is the duality and integration of gender. And while God’s direction here to Adam and Eve pertained to the marriage relationship, I believe there are principles that translate to all relationships….