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the abuse you have spoken of is totally abhorrent to the teachings and doctrine of the Church because
it is totally abhorrent to our Savior Jesus Christ himself. Its nature is both sinful and mean spirited, both of which go
against all that Christ taught. On the Official LDS website you will find an article titled "Proclamation to the World: The
Family." You will notice how specific it is that parents are directed to treat their children with
kindness, compassion, love and example. When parents do not do this and if they should go through their lives unrepentant,
and do not seek to gain the forgiveness of those who have been offended, as well as the Lord, they will be held accountable
at the last day and judged accordingly.
The hard part, of course, is you must come to the point in your life
where you can overcome the bitterness and hurt that you have experienced through these years. By doing so, you will become
more Christ-centered, more kind, more peaceful and more able to be called one of his children.
There is a great quotation on this very subject which is as follows, "No pain that we suffer, no trial that we experience
is wasted. It
ministers to our education to the development of such qualities as
patience, faith, fortitude and humility.
All that we suffer and all that we endure, especially when we endure it patiently, builds up our character, purifies our
heart, expands our souls, and makes us more tender and charitable and more worthy to be called the children of God."
I am confident, that out of these difficult trials in your life will eventually become the best things. My counsel
to you is to take all of this to the Lord in humble prayer, morning and night, beg him for the ability to overcome the
bitterness and hurt that you feel. Beg him for the ability to be forgiving and even compassionate toward these people
because they literally "do not know what they do" to you.
The Savior has made it perfectly clear that if they do not repent of the evil in their lives, they will be held accountable
See Matt. 25:31-40, the conclusion of which says, "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least these brethren ye have
done it unto me."
I do not expect that you'll be able to gain this forgiving, compassionate heart that I have spoken of above in a short
period of time, but I know that if you'll be persistent in your attempts to gain such love, in spite of the fact that the
world would say, "They don't deserve it," the Lord will bless you for having tried.
Sincerely,
Donny Osmond
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