Remember to Remember the Good Days as a Gay Mormon

It is important to celebrate the positive moments. The times I smile and I see the world is as it should be. In a community that so frequently feels shamed, shut out and belittled, the good days can often be forgotten. I have shared my frequent and recent experiences of that negativity in my life as a gay mormon. I know those hard times exist more often then they should. But I also want to remember to remember the good times and capture those days of being gay and mormon where everything seems right.

April 30th, 2015 was one of those days. My friend Ben, who I have told you about and who is an accepting, Christ-like member of the church, accompanied me to the Payson, Utah Temple open house. We also picked up another friend of mine, who is a gay mormon as well. Two gays and a church employee at the Payson Temple. Seems like a horrible night right? Wrong. It was wonderful. 

We enjoyed a lively conversation on the drive down to Payson. We listened to tweets from a satirical teen novelist twitter account and ended with a conversation about nuclear energy. Wow, we are nerds!

We toured the Temple and all awed in it's beauty. Two gays and a church employee. There was no judgement from my straight friend, Ben. In fact there was a lot of empathy and love. At one point during the tour, guests were detoured to a sealing room where a couple taught the purpose of sealing rooms and the importance of families in the church. On the ride home, Ben asked me what my thoughts were during that point of the tour. I shared with him my thoughts, or lack there of, since none of it pertained to me from the church's stand point. I asked him what he thought of and he said he was curious of these two gay guys sitting next to him and what they were thinking. 

Ben is a good fella with a good heart and has never once judged me for being who I am. Instead, he shows pure love and acceptance, much like Christ would do. Thank Ben, for being a good example. And thank you for reminding me, that though there are hard days and experiences as a gay member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, there are plenty of good ones as well. I need and want to remember to remember these good times.