Everyone has been reacting to the news. It's not unlike other church announcements we have been seeing recently. So I want to talk about this one specifically, and other announcements that have been made.

Let me start out by saying that I do not know everything about church doctrine. I don't understand some things.

But here are a few things that I do know: I know that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love me, and every single person on this earth. I know that we have a prophet on this earth today, and as we read in Official Declaration One in the D&C, that prophet will not lead this church astray, God will not allow it. Prophets have agency, but when it comes to taking the church in a direction, they are 100% directed by God. I know that God has a plan for each of his children. I know that families can be eternal, and that the family is the basic unit in that plan that God has for us.

Here's my take on the new policies; children of polygamist families cannot join the church except under similar circumstances to this new change, any type of child can't join the church until they have parental permission or are of legal age. This is not to hurt them, but to protect families. People are welcome to come to church, attend activities, etc. They just need to wait until they are on their own to be baptized. This isn't news; this is how the church has been operating for years. They're just adding another type of family to the list of families that are important to keep together until children can really make their own decisions. They're not being asked to disown their family, but they will be asked to understand what the church teaches and abide by that before joining. It's the same for me; I have family members who drink and smoke, which is against what I believe. I don't have to never see them, but I also don't have to agree with them. We agree to disagree, and that's OK.

This will be hard for some people to understand. I have many friends who are homosexual, and I love them. There are so many things that I don't fully understand, but the things that I KNOW outweigh the things I can't wrap my head around.

God is leading his prophets. I know that following them will bring me happiness. I know that Christ is at the head of this church, leading it. These are not mere men making decisions; this is God telling them what they need to do. And if you don't believe that, that's ok. I won't judge you or hate you. But it won't change what I am absolutely certain of.

God's ways are not our ways. But "doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith" (Elder Utchdorf). Remember, this is the God of all the universe we are dealing with. I'm pretty sure He's not up in heaven, wondering what to do next. There's a plan. He has timing. He knows what He is doing.

Randy and I decided on a family motto a few weeks ago, I think it fits perfectly here:

"Trust God, and believe in good things to come." (Elder Holland)

Trust God my friends. Spend time on your knees asking for guidance and understand. And know this: Either this church is true, 100%, or it's not. Either Joseph Smith was a prophet, the Book of Mormon is real, we have prophets today guided by God, or not. There is no in between. It's true, or it's not.

And it is.

It is.

It is.