closed on Sunday because we love Jesus

This is a picture of a license place I saw my second week in the Tennessee Nashville mission. I had to snap a photograph of it because this is just not something we see where I am from. One of my favorite things about this region of the world is the outward expression of love for God and for our Savior Jesus Christ. It is not uncommon to see license plates that say "I have decided to follow Jesus", billboards with the ten commandments on them, or to hear Christian rock blasting from a teenager's car in the summertime. When I surf through Tennessean's blogs and websites I find similar patterns: people are very open about their religious views and are not shy writing about their relationships with God the Father or Jesus Christ. It reminds me of the verse in Romans 1:16 that says, "I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ." People here have taken this scripture to heart.

The Utah culture I grew up with is similar to the culture here in a lot of ways, but very different at the same time. I grew up in a very religious community where people have a lot of the same customs as people here in the Bible belt; they read their scriptures on a regular basis, pray, and go to church on Sundays. They are very good at living the commandments in their daily lives. Most of my acquaintances from home truly are "doers of the word, and not hearers only"(James 1:5). Businesses close on Sundays in order to keep the Sabbath day holy, certain movie theaters refuse to play inappropriate movies, and many people choose to drink lemonade at college parties instead of alcohol. However, a visitor to this state may not know what motivates these people to keep the commandments because there are very few "I love Jesus" bumper stickers or billboards, and Christian music is usually only heard on Sundays. Most people I know in Utah do not blog about their relationships with God or their Savior-they keep this to themselves- even though these relationships are very important to them.

So where am I going with all of this? Well, I have been studying a lot lately about what it means to be a true disciple of Jesus Christ, and I have concluded that it is a perfect combination of these two cultures I have experienced. It is not enough just to talk about Christ, for He told us "If ye love me, keep my commandments." It is not enough just to live a good Christian life, for as 3 Nephi 5:13 states, "I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I have been called of him to declare his word among his people, that they may have everlasting life."

My dream is that Tennessee and Utah will combine forces.. and that we will all become both "hearers" and "doers" of the word. For as a modern day prophet once said:

"We will attain our exaltation only on the condition that we share with our Father's other children the blessings of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and observe the commandments that will enrich our lives here and hereafter." -George Albert Smith