True Happiness

 
 

True Happiness

 
 
 

By: Zach Jensen

 

A fictional short story with nonfiction events

 
 
 
 
 
 

What do they have that I don’t? This was the prominent question in my mind one cold and snowy December day. What could it possibly be? They were always optimistic, and down to earth. What was I missing?

In my school, Beverly Charleston High, cliques were in. If you weren’t a member of a clique, you had no friends. If you were a member of a clique, those were the only people you communicated with. My friends, however, were strange. They all hung out together, but were also members of multiple cliques, which just didn’t happen. It didn’t make any sense at all. They were the friendliest kids I’d every encountered which, by the way, I’m grateful for, or else I wouldn’t have any friends at all. I had just moved to this strange town, and no one would accept me in their little group. But there was something else about them besides their friendliness. . Something I couldn’t quite put my finger on.

Sitting on my couch in front of the fireplace, I looked out of the window at the snow. As I watched and studied the snow softly falling to the earth, the question arose in my mind: what do they have, that I don’t? They were just normal kids, friendly yes, but nothing special about them, yet, when I go their homes to study or just to hang out, there’s an indescribable peace that I feel. It doesn’t matter which house I go to, whether it be John’s or Sarah’s, Zach’s or Brian’s, or even Stacy’s, the feeling is just the same. Pure peace. I’ve also noticed how respectful they are to teachers, their parents, and to other kids. Not once have I heard them curse, or put another person down because they smell funny. There’s just something about them that I can’t quite figure out.

The next day I was late for school. I woke up late, couldn’t find my hairspray, and then I was picked up for speeding, which set me back another fifteen minutes. I finally walked through the doors of my first period class, a half hour late.
“Good morning Sleeping Beauty,” Mrs. Preston greeted as I burst through the doors to my Chemistry class.
“Sorry I’m late,” I replied, “I slept a little too late, and then a cop picked me up, and then-”
“It’s OK Miss. Oaks, just sit down and don’t be late again.”

The rest of the day went rather smoothly. At least smoother than this morning. During lunch, my friends and I went to the “Royal Court” fast food joint to eat. As we were eating, John asked me a question that really caught me off guard. He asked, “Would you like to go to Seminary with us tomorrow?” I think Sarah noticed the expression on my face, because she smiled and supplied “it’s a morning Bible class that starts at 6:30 am every school day morning.”
“6:30 in the morning?!” I shot out, “Are you freakin’ kidding me? I can’t even wake up in time for school at 8:00 let alone 6:30 for some Bible class!”
“You’ll like it,” John said.
“Well, I’ll think about it.”

When I got home that afternoon, I walked through the front door and my stomach sank into my knees. What happened? I asked myself. The glass in the picture frames was shattered; books were all over the floor, some of them ripped. I saw my mom on the floor, holding her favorite antique porcelain angel that her best friend, who has since passed on, broken; a chipped wing and no head. Everything was in disarray. I then heard a horrid singing noise. I turned and saw my dad and his friend on the couch with beer bottles not only in their hands, but also in a one foot pile; empty. They were drunk! And they destroyed our home! Dismayed, I went to my mom to try comforting her. A half hour later, I went to my room where I stayed the rest of the afternoon and evening, with no supper.

As I crawled into my bed, I remembered the invitation my friends had given me earlier that day. Well, I thought, how bad can it be? I believe in the Bible, and my friends would like to see me there. I picked up my phone that was resting on a small desk next to my bed. I dialed the numbers to Sarah’s house, and asked her for a ride to the cemetery, or whatever it was. As I settled myself under the covers, I thought to myself, how bad could it possibly be?

Beep! Beep! Beep! Thump! … I rolled over and looked at my clock. Fetch! Five freakin’ thirty! What am I doing to myself? Still asleep, I bumped and crashed my way to the bathroom to get ready. Finally, at 6:10, I heard a knock on the front door. I opened the
door and saw a wide eyed, fully awake Sarah standing in my door way. I just stared at her.
“How can you possibly be so awake this time of the morning?” I inquired, “I’m still half asleep!”
“You get used to it. C’mon.”

We walked to the car, and Sarah hopped into the drivers side of her “family van”, while I tried to squeeze into a little car seat in the back of the van. Sarah giggled, got out, helped me into the passenger side of the van, got back in, and drove us to her church.

By the time we got to her church, I was fully awake. We walked into the church and into a small classroom located downstairs. I saw John, Zach, Brian, Stacy, and five other kids I’d never seen before. Sarah introduced me to the kids I’d never seen before, and told me that they went to Beverly George High across town. A couple of minutes after Sarah and I sat down, an older guy, maybe in his thirties, came into the classroom.
“I don’t believe we’ve met,” he said after he saw me, “my name is Brother Jensen, and I’m the Seminary teacher for the junior class.”
“I’m Katie Oaks, and I’m visiting with my friends.”
“It’s nice to have you here Katie. OK class, today we’re talking about the Word of Wisdom. You might not know this yet, Katie, but we believe that a man named Joseph Smith helped restore Christ’s church on the earth once again after the priesthood was taken from the earth. Once Christ was crucified, and his apostles were murdered, there was no one on the earth who held the priesthood. This was called the Great Apostasy. Then, in 1820, Joseph Smith saw God the Father and his son, Jesus Christ. Through Joseph Smith, Christ once again set up his church on the earth. The Word of Wisdom was a revelation given to him concerning certain foods and habits.” I froze.
“You…you’re… m…m…Mormons?” I asked.
“Yes. Indeed we are,” came the reply. I was devastated. What was I doing in a Mormon church?! What were they going to do to me? Seal me in their temple? Try to drown me? Send me to the moon to live with the six foot Quakers they believe live there?

Oh no! I bet Sarah has horns under her beautiful, thick hair. I then found myself frantically looking around for any sign of a cross in the classroom, but failed, wondering if they were even Christian.

“OK. Turn your Doctrine and Covenants to section 89,” I heard Brother Jensen say, “this was a revelation given through Joseph Smith at Kirtland, Ohio on February 27, 1833. Katie, would you read verses 5-9?”
I jumped, and without thinking, I replied, “sure.” Sarah handed me her scriptures and pointed to verse 5. I read aloud:

“5 That inasmuch as any man drinketh wine or
strong drink among you, behold it is not
good, neither meet in the sight of your
Father, only in assembling yourselves
together to offer up your sacraments
before him.
6 And, behold, this should be wine, yea, pure
wine of the grape of the vine, of your
own make.
7 And, again, strong drinks are not for the belly,
but for the washing of your bodies.
8 And, again, tobacco is not for the body, neither
for the belly, and is not good for man, but is
and herb for bruises and all sick cattle, and
to be used with judgment and skill.
9 And again, hot drinks are not for the body or belly.”

“Thank you Katie,” Brother Jensen said as I handed Sarah’s scriptures back to her, “now who can tell Katie what this means?”
Brian was the first one to speak, “we shouldn’t drink alcoholic beverages, coffee or tea, smoke, or do anything that’s addicting.”

“Ok. What’s wrong with addicting things?”

“It can ruin families.” This time, it was me who answered, remembering yesterday afternoon. If only dad were here.

Brother Jensen talked some more on the Word of Wisdom, and then we played a game, which, by the way, was a lot of fun, and then it was time to go to school.

“I hope you’ll come back tomorrow,” Brother Jensen asked as I was heading out the door.
“Of course,” I replied, not realizing what I had just said. A week later, while my friends and I were at lunch, Zach asked me if I’d be willing to go over to his house and talk to the missionaries about the church. I had been attending Seminary every day that week and felt it would be nice to learn a little bit more about the Mormons.
“Sure,” I replied, “as long as they don’t try to seal me up in your ‘temple’.”
“Why would they seal you up…?” Sarah started, and then she giggled. “Oh, I see. No, they wouldn’t do that, don’t worry. When people get sealed, they do it as families, and they’re not actually being sealed up. When a man and a woman get married, they’re told ‘til death do you part,’ right?”
“Sure.”
“That means that when they die, they will no longer be married in Heaven, and their families won’t be with them anymore. When families are sealed together, they are, by the authority of the priesthood, spiritually sealed together, or in other words, spiritually married. So when they die, they will still be married in Heaven.”
“Oh. That makes sense.”

The next day, which just so happened to be Saturday, I drove over to Zach’s house. When I walked in, I saw two young guys, early 20’s, dressed in white dress shirts and ties. They came over to me and introduced themselves.
“Hi, I’m Elder Tibbs,” one of the guys said, “and this is my companion, Elder Jacobs. We’re missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We’re

here to answer your questions.” I had a nice chat with the missionaries and Zach’s family, and I learned a lot. One of the questions I asked was why I didn’t see any crosses in or around their church. They told me that instead of focusing of Christ’s death, which they
do believe is important, they believe that Christ rose the third day and is still alive. So they focus on a living Christ, not a dead Christ. Ok, I thought, so they are Christians. I also found out that they don’t believe in six foot Quakers living on the moon, in fact, they thought it was funny that I thought they did. Also, I found out that Mormons don’t have horns, which was a relief.

The conversation I had with the missionaries is an experience I’ll never forget. I felt such a happy and warm feeling, and I was able to feel what my friends always feel. I now knew what they had: the true knowledge of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I then knew, without a doubt in my mind, that this really was the true church of Christ. This is where I wanted to be.

Shortly after my visit with the missionaries, one month to be exact, I was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. A month later, my mom was baptized. My dad, however, just couldn’t give up his beer…until now that is. A full year after my mom and I were baptized, my dad finally decided to change and was baptized as well. In a year from now, my family is going to the temple to be sealed together, so that we can be together in the eternities. I am very grateful for my friends, and now have what they have; what I’ve been searching for: true happiness. na