Local Politics

My husband is running for mayor of our small rural Idaho town. It was not an ambition of his to do this. The current mayor has been in office for eight years and has spent our city into a severe situation and now wants to raise the sales tax by 1%. My husband's education and career are in finance and insurance. We have a home and a small business here. It looked like no one was going to run against the current mayor and my husband knowing the situation couldn't, in good conscience, let him run unopposed. So here we are. If he is elected, it's not going to be fun. But he will do it and he will do a good job. He understands personal responsibility and he understands this:

"Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty."

I've learned some very valuable things through this experience.

The first thing; I have married a noble man. He cares more about the eternal nature of his decisions and his behavior than he does about "winning" an earthly contest. In this election I have seen such disgraceful behavior and mourn for the husbands, wives and children that have to live with these individuals post election. Our actions follow us. We can't leave them behind unless we sincerely repent. My whole heart is thankful that I married a man who strives to not trust in the arm of flesh.

Second thing; There is peace in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I know this to be true. It is very easy to fall prey to the crab mentality. Contentions, jealousy, strife, malice, persecutions and pride are all fruit of the adversary and I am so thankful that the Gospel teaches me how to avoid those pitfalls, if I will. I am so thankful for the Atonement of my Savior, Jesus Christ. I have felt the empowering effects of it when the pain of hurtful or unkind words or actions have driven me to my knees to seek relief. As I have asked for help and followed the commandment to love my enemies and pray for them, I have felt peace and comfort and I know my Savior's promise is true. I have felt comfort and strength as I have sought out those I have offended and sought to reconcile and repent. Live the Gospel and you will live with peace and joy.

Third thing: I do not want my children to grow up to be apathetic to the sacrifices that have been made on their behalf. People have given their lives that we might have the freedom to vote and have a voice in our government. It appears to me a horrible form of ingratitude to be indifferent and uninformed. This experience has given me a renewed resolve to teach my children to think for themselves. To give them the opportunity to disagree with me and come to their own conclusions, backed by logic and reason rather than emotion. I am astounded by the resentment and defensiveness that arises when a problem that needs to be addressed and fixed is brought up if it somehow questions one's political affiliation's values or asks one to look at an issue outside of themselves. This idea of "if you disagree with me, you hate" is an unintelligent and lazy device to simply quiet someone who disagrees with us. The only thing this accomplishes is decay because there is no attempt at mutual understanding and without that that there can be no moving forward or mutual respect. I want my children to know that honor matters. It matters here and it matters in the next life. Behavior that seeks to provoke rather than address an issue honestly is dishonorable. Hiding behind bogus online profiles is dishonest and honesty is the most important virtue there is. The level of discourse that our nation and even the community I live in has fallen so profoundly. It's a natural consequence of our pride but I want my children to know that there is always a choice. There is a better way:

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith"

I know this is true.