YOHO Missionary Moments

I finished my new book. It's titled YOHO Missionary Moments. I never liked the acronym "YOLO," so I used "YOHO":  You Only Have Once; which is true in many cases.

 

Missionary work is something I love to do. I'm a convert and never got the opportunity to serve a mission, but everyday I can look for chances to share the Revealed Gospel.

 

 

And, my life has been anything but normal.

 

YOHO Missionary Moments follows stories of a drug addiction and subsequent hallucination, a missionary moment from a convert, health issues, stealing a vending machine, Satan worship. the last moments with an old Korean man, thoughts on Mormonism and physics, searching for foreign language Bibles, helping an abused student escape a terrible situation, committing the unforgiveable sin, a past in Protestant churches, Korean Marines and military service, seeing someone read the Bible for the very first time with a complete lack of any knowledge of Christ, going through the Temple for the first time, demons, Mormonism links to pop culture, art, Jehovah Witnesses, Mosque visits, a pornographic torrent site, going to Hawaii, etc.

 

 

Over the few years I've been LDS and a life spent before my conversion, I've come across many events and people who have really affected me, bringing my faith into focus after years of denial.  And now, I hope to inspire and be inspired. We are all missionaries, and there are always chances to bring light into others' worlds. Sometimes, we only have once.

 

Strange Meme

This is a very strange and confusing meme that has made its way through some of the Christian Facebook groups. To me, it seems like the designer of this meme forgot to do one thing:  research.

Let me explain:

I can understand how Greek Myths and Roman Myths are placed on the fiction section. That is pretty obvious. But...

Scientology:  Would this be a book about Scientology? Because that would be placed in non-fiction. If the designer of the meme was thinking about L. Ron Hubbard's book Dianetics, that would be placed in the self-help section, because it is only about how to make one's life better. If someone considers that fiction, that would be based on the pop-culture psychology brought up in Dianetics.

Vatican-ism:  I'm not really sure what a 'Vatican-ism' is, but I would guess it is a piece of wisdom from the Vatican? Or, someone from the upper level clergy, like the Pope? Considering the Catholics use the Bible (which is in the Truth section of the meme), then wouldn't a saying from the Clergy be based on the Truth?

Buddhism:  I can understand how some would not believe in this.

Jehovah Witnesses:  These are people. Does the designer of the meme not believe these believers exist? Or, is he referring to their beliefs (which are based off the Bible, which is in the truth section in this meme)?

Islam:  It's interesting that the designer of the meme didn't put the Quran instead. Muslims believe the Bible was given to the Jews and the Christians, but the Quran was given to the Arabs. They believe in Jesus (not as a Messiah, but as a Prophet), and believe the Bible was the Word of God, but it was corrupted over time.

Money Rules:  I'm guessing this is about Mammonism and not the actual book Money Rules. However, this is not fiction, but a sad reality in life--I mean, people do equate money with happiness and success. Churches do enjoy tax free status and continually fight to keep that right. Money ruling society is not fiction, but a reality in our culture.

Hinduism:  Why not put Shiva? Why not say the Bhagavad Gita? Why mention the religion over the book(s), especially when the Bible is mentioned in the truth section of this meme?

Taoism:  Again, why not mention the I Ching? Or, shouldn't the truth section say "Christianity"?

Evolution:   I've always wondered by Christians are so adamant about denying the Theory of Evolution. I think it is because of a harsh misunderstanding of Evolution, especially in terms of how we didn't actually come from monkeys but share a distant, common ancestor with the primates; and how Evolution has absolutely nothing to do with the origins of the universe and the origins of life. Evolution is about genetic mutations in large populations of time. And, I think the misunderstanding has to do with a more literal interpretation of the Bible, which does conflict with the science of Evolution.

Satanism:  This is a strange one to put on the fiction shelf. Is the designer of the meme saying that Satanism doesn't exist? Is he implying that the whole idea of Satanism is fiction? This is hard to wrap my head around, especially considering that Satan is such a big part of the Bible and how believing in the Bible does entail believing in Satan.

Kabbalah:  This is a Jewish sect based on a mystical interpretation of the Torah, which also makes this choice very strange to be on the list, mainly because of what I will say next.

And, in the truth section of this meme is the Bible. But, which one? Obviously the designer of this meme doesn't like the Catholic or Jehovah Witness translations of the Bible or the Kabbalah translation of the Torah. But, which version is the best? Would the Joseph Smith translation be the Bible in the truth section? Could be. The Seventh-Day Adventist interpretation of the Bible? The Vulgate? The Septuagint? The Geneva Bible? The King James? The New King James? Or, are they all correct?