Dear Bro Jo,
I can feel the spirit through your words. Thank you.
I would like to meet with my Bishop from back home, but I'm currently in another state. I actually attend BYU-Idaho.
Ta da! Maybe you guessed that.
I haven't even spoken to the Bishop in my University ward. And I honestly don't think he's the person I should go to, since he doesn't even know who I am.
I'm afraid that if I talk to my Bishop from here, there's the possibility that I might get sent home. I have no idea how great that possibility is, but I know it could be a possibility. Each semester that I've been up at BYU-Idaho, I've progressed more and more. I've become such a better person. It's the times that I've been home that I've slipped back into temptation. I know that I can't run away from my problems, but I ended off contact with the boy from this summer and we've reached a mutual understanding about why I don't see him. I recently had another relationship with a young man that did not involve the same serious acts that I've done before. I was better able to avoid and resist temptation.
That last bit of information probably doesn't really matter. I go back home in November for Thanksgiving. Should I talk to my Bishop from school who doesn't even know me? Or I could talk to my Bishop from home in November. I guess my Bishop from back home could also get rid of my ecclesiastical endorsement. But in all honesty, I think it would be better to talk to him. I've decided I won't attend the temple until I do so.
What do you think?
- Lost
Dear Lost,
I don't think you should wait until Thanksgiving.
The man that has the keys to receive the revelation needed to help you though this ordeal is the man that is your current Bishop, the Bishop where you currently live.
You're still trying to put off repentance because you either fear or want to control the consequences of your actions.
That, Little Sister, is not repentance.
Let me be blunt (I know, BIG SURPRISE, Bro Jo being blunt, right?): what if you die tomorrow?
Or next week.
Some time before Thanksgiving.
Do you really want to dace Judgement before God knowing you could have repented but instead chose not to?
You're focusing on "losing your recommend" or "being sent home", but Little Sister, in the Grand Scheme of the Eternal Universe, should those be the consequences of your actions and deceit, It Doesn't Matter!
What matters is that you make things right with the Lord.
Look at your history.
I'm proud of you for making the progress you have, and I encourage you to share all of that with your Bishop. I sincerely hope that you've gained the will power to overcome that which ails you, but you've been here before with out the help of your Bishop and slipped.
That's not to say that a Bishop is a magical cure-all, but each time you've "gotten better" and then gone back, the only thing you've failed to do is talk to Priesthood Authority.
Could that make the difference?
What if it does?
There's no harm in calling and making the appointment. You're already holding a Temple Recommend that you lied to get, so you're not going to use that, and school is school. Do what's right, not what's convenient.
Let me try to convince you with one more scenario; one that's a little less morbid and statistically more likely.
What if you meet the man of your dreams at a Halloween Party? You fall madly in love and want to marry in December. He proposes and you realize you can't even set a Temple Date because you have no idea if things are right with the Lord. You go home for Thanksgiving and your Bishop feels inspired that as part of your repentance process you need to be denied the opportunity for the Blessings of the Temple for 60 days.
No December Wedding, and now you have to go and tell your fiancé why.
Do you see what I'm driving at?
I want you to know that I have Faith in and a Testimony of the Atonement and the Blessing and Power it is in the lives of Heavenly Father's Children.
Make the call.
- Bro Jo
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