I've had the opportunity over the last few weeks to talk with a sweet friend. This friend is struggling to rise to full activity in the Church. They felt a bit like an outcast and a reject - they are so different from all the other members. How could they ever fit in?
I gave my friend this analogy. They laughed their head off, but really it is so true.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is like a bag of trail mix. Now, this analogy may sound strange at first, as it did to my friend, but just hear me out.
The Church is like a bag of trail mix. In a trail mix, there is a
MIXTURE of different types of food items. There are the
peanuts and the
almonds, the
raisins and the
dried cranberries, the
sunflower seeds and the
M&M's.
Now, if we were to just have a bag of raisins to take on our hike, would it be as delicious as a bag of trail mix?
If the trail mix were nothing more than a bunch of raisins, it really wouldn't be a mix at all.
The foods in a trail mix come from many different trails of lives. There are raisins that have been dried and aged with experience. There are the nuts that bring crunch to the mix, the dried cranberries that make it tart, and the M&Ms that make it sweet (and quite frankly, all worth it).
The church is exactly like a trail mix. There are people from all different walks of lives.
There are people (like the raisins) who have grown up in the church and are dried, aged, and tested in the gospel.
There are people who are young in the gospel, like the sunflower seeds, who have not reached the fullness of their gospel maturity but are striving hard to do so.
And there are M&Ms, who bring sweetness and spunk to our gospel trail mix, having taken the path of transformation in their life.
You cannot say one does not belong in the trail mix of the Church. It is a trail MIX for Pete's sake! You can throw many different things in a trail mix.
There is no dried fruit or type of nut or chocolate that does not belong.
You may be a nut. You may be a seed. You may be a M&M.
But regardless of who you are and what trail you traveled to get to where you are today, you are still important in His church. You still are valuable. If you aren't as progressed in the gospel as some, that doesn't mean you aren't still valuable. It just means you have a direction to follow, a path to trod, and a legacy to leave.
Don't give up. Whether you were born in the gospel, inactive in your childhood, or rebellious in your teens,
YOU STILL BELONG IN HIS FOLD. His arms are stretched out and He will come to your rescue, no matter how far you may be. (See Luke 15: 6).
He rejoices in any and all who are willing to come unto Him and take His name and join His trail mix.
Welcome to the trail mix of happiness.
In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
-Julie
