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Been more off of here lately than on... But it seems like I& #39;m seeing some tweets about excommunication from the church and it not being good, so I& #39;ll maybe shed some light on our family& #39;s experience on it. Obviously It& #39;s our experience- but to me it highlights what can happen.
When I was 13 my parents divorced. My dad cheated on my mom. Before that we weren& #39;t an overly active family, but we did go to church some. We were a family that would leave after sacrament or stop at the store to get things for dinner on the way home (Harmon& #39;s at 5 Points!).
My dad was excommunicated and married that woman. My mom went to her 20 year HS reunion and met my step-father and they quickly married. As a family we had some choices to make. Living with my mom we became more firm members. My step-dad is a great guy.
He taught me to serve and to help and to love and to be a member of the church. I& #39;ll forever be indebted to him for that. My dad suffered the consequences of his actions. He couldn& #39;t participate in a lot of church things during my teen years.
He didn& #39;t speak at my farewell. He wasn& #39;t there when I went through the temple. He wasn& #39;t at my wedding. He was still a great dad to me and was always there to support me in sports and school... I was very blessed. My mission seemed to be a turning point for him.
He started to come to church again even though his wife did not. They came to pick me up in Brazil and it was a great experience. In true family fashion it was both spiritual, and also the first time I went to a night club... I just sat there and drank Sprite, BTW.
About 4 months after I returned home from my mission I baptized my father. As I look back the preciousness of an experience where I got to baptize the man that baptized me becomes larger and larger. I watched my dad take all the steps back to full activity.
He divorced his second wife and eventually married his current wife in the temple. He was serving in a branch presidency at a special needs branch until COVID hit. He taught youth Sunday School. He& #39;s still a little rough around the edges and I love that perhaps most about him.
My mom and step-dad are great people too. They served a mission to NZ recently and have just led a fulfilling life. I guess what I& #39;m saying is that A) time really does heal wounds and B) it worked out. We& #39;re all happy. We& #39;re all better, in fact. We& #39;re in better situations.
Is the process perfect? Probably not. Nothing is. But with the benefit of time I can say that it worked for us and I imagine many others. When we look at things through the lens of today many things seem to mean one thing that can mean something entirely different down the road.
