I was talking to a lady from my ward, and she asked me if I was writing my experiences as a convert to the church, I said, “Yes, but I feel like a have to write something about each specific principle I have learned”, and she said, “I think you should do that”, so, I am going to share with you the way I felt when I first learned about specific gospel principles. Now that I think about it, this might help you if you are trying to teach somebody these principles.
Modesty: This is the first one that came to my mind because it was the most difficult to exercise, and the last one that I understood fully. As you know, I am from one of the hottest cities in Mexico; the temperature there can go up to 116 degrees in a summer day. Having said that, you can imagine that the kind of clothes that people use there is very light. So, I would only wear sleeves in winter, or if the blouse was extremely cute. I liked to wear miniskirts, and little shorts, I was the opposite of modest (oh, I forgot about the bikinis). I do not even remember when was the first time I heard about modesty, but I remember that it was introduced to me by Mike. He told me that women were supposed to wear sleeves and that whatever they wear in the bottom should at least cover their knees. Did I already mention that I thought he was the weirdest of the weirds? I was kind of offended; I told him that for me that was an unfair way to judge people. I do not remember what he answered, I probably ignored him.
The second time I heard about modesty was in one of the missionary discussions, once again I got offended. I could not understand why people would think I was a bad or a good person based on the sleeves on my blouse. I did not understand the fact that the way you dress tells a lot about yourself and your principles. When Mike told me that boys have bad thoughts about girls that they see dressed immodestly my answer was: “That is their problem, not mine”. Poor Mike, he tried so many times to make me understand that I was not being judged that I just stopped talking to him about it. I decided to charge against the poor missionaries, who are always very polite, I asked them if they would consider me as not worthy of the blessings of the church because of the way I dressed. I was mad; I told them that I was sure God loved me no matter what I was wearing. They said, “Yes, he does”, and then they asked me. “But, would you feel comfortable wearing immodest clothes in the presence of god?” They got me on that one.
At that time, I was working in Zara, which is a very prestigious Spanish clothing store (Crystal knows what I am talking about). As the second manager, I was entitled to a full wardrobe every season. I worked there for four years, so I had a lot of clothes, immodest clothes. How could I get rid of my clothes? I know this might sound so superficial, but at that time that was a big deal.
The time came when I decided to get baptized, I realize that I was completely okay with everything about the church, I knew it was true. Even though I did not understand the modesty issue completely, I decided to be obedient and started dressing according to the church teachings. After a couple of months I was reading something about the prophets and I felt the confidence that what they were saying was true. Prophets speak the word of God. Therefore, how could I question the modesty principle when I know they are right? How could I believe one thing and denied the other when both come from the same source?
I know that if you are obedient, the lord will bless you with knowledge and assurance. I still struggle when I have to buy clothes just because I am still attracted to the things I cannot wear. I am still learning and I am not perfect. I am trying to be obedient and I know that my testimony will grow as I keep the promise I have made to the lord.
