Thursday, January 2, 2014

Religions I Tried Out

Christmas time was rolling around and my freshman math teacher offered students the opportunity to help rebuild a fence for the baseball field.  In return she offered math extra credit and community service hours.  I was excited not only to raise my grade, but also to help out the community on a Saturday morning.  Fortunately, waking up early was not an issue for me.  When I got there everyone was being addressed as brother or sister, because most people were from the same mormon church.  I really enjoyed seeing how everyone was helping out each other and I wanted to go to church to find that same connection between people.  I am on a search for the best church and the one I enjoy most, so far I have visited a mormon, presbyterian, and a pentecostal church.  They are all branched from Christian church, and they hold slight differences that make them unique.

I went to the mormon church and the missionary of the church, Sister Belle, came up to talk to us at the end of the service.  She wrote down my phone number and address and said she wanted to come visit me sometime to talk more about the church.  She convinced me to go to Sunday School where I was around kids a year younger than me.  They were talking about leadership and they kept referencing the Book Of Mormon.  I was not familiar with this book, but I later realized its a continuation of the Bible and it is about the 3rd coming of Jesus.  Like all the churches, everyone was really nice and they were happy that we attended.  I didn't feel it was the perfect fit for me, but I do want to visit it again.

The next church I tried out was the presbyterian church.  Luckily, my dad had friends that went to this church and they were very friendly.  We even got to go to their house for lunch after the service.  This church was different because the Sunday School was right before the service.  I walked into a classroom that was much bigger, but that was probably because we were in a middle school.  I walked in and we were talking about the Galatians and how their were fake gospels that we shouldn't listen too.  What I found amusing was that they were calling the Book of Mormon a fake gospel and I went there just last week.  After Sunday School, I met up with my dad and the service was almost just like the mormon church.  A lot of preaching and verses from the bible.  However, at this church I noticed a lot more singing which made it fun.  I really liked being with such a nice community, everyone came to greet us, and I really do want to visit again.

2 weeks ago, I visited my first Pentecostal church.  My friend Anai is spanish and she goes to that church, so I told her I wanted to check it out.  It was really different, but everyone was super nice.  We got lots of handshakes and smiles.  The whole service was in spanish, and everyone looked latino, so my dad and I really stood out.  We stood out so much that we were asked twice if we wanted a translator: Both times we answered no.  The preachers seemed to be yelling, but really it was just full of passion. I also noticed there were lots of songs sung here too.  I guess a church is not a church without songs.  I really liked this church, but I barely understood anything.  I want to be able to relate more than just the brief points.  I don't want to visit this church again, but one day I would like to accompany Anai again.

Every time I visit a new church I feel like a stranger.  This is why I prefer to go with a group of people that I know, or even just a single friend.  I feel like I can connect a lot better and understand how they do things if I am with someone that I know.  I feel so sad when I can't understand something, or if the person next to my attempts to talk to me and I can't understand them.  I want to go to a church that fits me, and its kinda funny to think that the community service project my math teacher started got me hooked on religions.

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