Letter to my French Friends and Family

As you know I am married to Annie Martin, a friend to all of you, mother, grandmother, aunt and family member.  Annie has always been and still is Mon Amour Toujours. When I first saw her at South High School in Salt Lake City, Utah in 1960 there was, as Plato said, "a falling in love or the mutual recognition on earth of two souls which had been singled out for one another in a previous and celestial existence." To meet Annie was to realize 'We had loved before we were born.  And I fell in love with her all over again.

And when she left to go home to France in 1961, she left an 18 year old boy with very little hope of ever seeing her again. I dreamed of finding her, however, and even though it took 35 years, I did find and reach out to her. What I found was that a young boy's love was not just some romantic notion of being in love with a cute French girl, but was a love that was so deep and broad that I could not contain it. All I had were words, however, because she was 5000 miles away, but those words could and would not stop coming. And even more so after 28 years of marriage, my love for her is even deeper and stronger.

I am sorry, however, for taking her away from all of you. It was a sacrifice that was very difficult for her, but we decided that together with love as the foundation of our story, we could get through all the problems and obstacles together. And we have.  

I am so grateful to have met all of you, and for each of you being so kind to me, and for now being my friends and family. You have welcomed me with open arms, and I am enriched for having met and known all of you. As you know, when Annie makes a friend, that friend becomes a friend for life and her friends are my friends. She has taught me so much about friendship, and I have seen how each of you has blessed her life.

How grateful I am that we had our small apartment in Verdun, and that we are able to spend long periods of time in France. I love France and especially love the people of France, those of you who have welcomed me into your homes, which I credit to your love for Annie. You should know that she is also loved in Utah and now in Arizona, and that her many acts of kindness are recognized and welcomed. She has friends in Utah and Arizona who are French and she is particularly close to them, as she is with the many French speaking Americans she has met and in many cases taught. We are grateful to now be living in France to have more opportunities to be with you and make new friends.

Perhaps some of you wonder how Annie could become a Mormon, or a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day saints. Mormon is the name of a man who received generations of written records and abridged them, delivered them to his son Moroni, who buried them and made them known to Joseph Smith. Mormons is a nickname. You have all heard stories of Mormons, many of which are not entirely accurate. Maybe even some of you believe that she became a Mormon just because I wanted her to, and I have even heard the word 'brainwashed.' But those who really know her, will understand that this is just not true. She asked me and I told her it was not a condition of my marrying her, and in fact it was almost 5 years after we were married that she wanted to be baptized.  

One thing about Mormons is that we do not have to believe anything that is not true, and the only truth is the word of God. There is no official creed or set of beliefs dictated to us by others. One mistake is for others to see us as just another religion. I have always felt and can understand that most French people do not trust religion. It has been a coercive influence in your history. Your history includes religious leaders and the monarchs colluding to gain power over the people. The fact there that is a church in almost every village attests to the fact that someone was forced to pay for them and build them.

What Annie learned is that she did not understand the plot of our play on this earth, or why we are here. She did not know the beginning and did not know the end of the play. She was born in the middle of the play, and because religion had been so corrupted, she did not know that there was a plan and a reason for us being here. She learned that she existed before she came here and that her coming to earth had a purpose and that she could return someday to live with her Heavenly Parents, as well as her earthly family and friends. She learned that all of this was made possible by a loving Heavenly Father and Heavenly Mother who set in motion the organizing of this earth for a testing place for Their spirit children. Think about how this earth is quarantined or set apart in a cosmos so big that we are incapable of even comprehending. There are billions of earths like this one all organized for the same purpose. The fact that science can't discover them is a testament to the effectiveness of the quarantine. She came to know that in organizing this earth, God did not create it out of nothing. He took matter and using His knowledge organized it to form this earth, like He had done many times before.

So our Father in Heaven, who is the God of the universe, organized this earth and sent two people to inhabit it--Adam and Eve--and placed them in a Garden with everything provided for them. They were given two charges:  do not partake of the forbidden fruit and multiply and have children. Soon they recognized that they could not keep the second charge without breaking the first one, and that they could never know the difference between good and evil if they did not partake of the fruit. So Eve made a decision and did partake of the fruit and then convinced Adam to do the same. Because God told them that if they did partake of the fruit they would be cast out of the garden and would surely die, they were cast out and would be subject to death. But he did allow them a time of probation to learn how they could overcome the effects of the fall and return to Him someday.  

All of this is recorded and was taught to Adam by God himself, and because Adam fell, we exist, and because of their fall, we die and are partakers of misery and woe. So that Adam, Eve and their posterity (all of us are of the family of Adam and Eve) could be enticed by the one (God/Good) or the other (Satan/Evil). Satan was allowed to come among us and try to entice us to follow him. And this became our test: would we choose good or would we choose evil?

But Adam was also told that there was a way to overcome the effects of his fall, and that was by turning to Jesus Christ. Yes, Adam and Eve were taught of Jesus Christ and were taught why it was necessary for them to repent, or to turn to Christ, be baptized and receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, and to thereafter put their trust in this Jesus Christ. Adam was told that Jesus Christ paid the demands of God's justice for all of us and put in force a plan of redemption for all of us. The fall of Adam and Eve brought upon them the Justice of God. Christ's atonement brought about the Mercy of God--that if we repent, or turn to God, Christ would suffer the demands of Justice, and we would not be subject to the justice of God. He was also told that everyone would be resurrected and would live forever. For those who accepted the Mercy of God, they would be found guiltless, and for those who did not accept His mercy would be subject to the Justice of God. But even God's punishment, or God's Justice would not last forever, but even they would emerge after having paid for their own sins and be raised to a place where they desired to go, and live forever.

Now you are going to ask, how do we know this? We know it because it was recorded and our history and the history of mankind begins with Adam. Adam, you see, was taught to write by God and kept records of all that God had revealed to him. We have this history, and by we, I mean it is available to all of us, including you. Some of it is found in the Old and New Testament, and many other ancient records that have been discovered, including the Book of Mormon. God did not leave us blind. He imposed certain conditions on all of us, and therefore thought it expedient that he tell us what those conditions are and how we can overcome them. But many of these treasures are hidden to us unless we have the desire to search them out and discover them for ourselves. His words have always existed among us. Whether one does or does not search them out, they exist nevertheless. There are countless who have searched them out and stand as witnesses that these treasures do exist and that they are true. 

Adam and Eve taught what they had been taught to their children, but most of them rejected God because of the cares of the world and the promise of riches. So for several generations after Adam, the majority of the people rejected God and chose to be subject to His Justice. Years later, however, a man named Enoch called upon God and was told to go out and call the people to repentance, which he did, and many repented, but again over time the majority rejected the teaching of Enoch.  

Again after several generations the majority of the people rejected God, and other prophets, i.e. Noah, Abraham and Moses, during different dispensations, called upon God and the gospel of Jesus Christ, with proper authority to perform ordinances was established. Then again it happened when Jesus Christ came to the earth as the mortal Jesus, and we can read what He did and what happened to Him in the New Testament, and how He also restored the truth for a time. After Christ was crucified the people again perverted His teachings and we move into the period of time after Christ.  And this is where Joseph Smith comes in. He like, Adam, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Moses & Jesus Christ, ushered in this last dispensation when the Gospel of Jesus Christ would be on the earth for the last time prior to Christ coming again as He promised He would.

And with this last dispensation other records have come forth adding additional evidence to all that I have said.

Annie, is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ (nicknamed Mormons because of a man named Mormon who abridged the plates kept by people in America from 600 BC to 400 AD--The Book of Mormon), because she knows that all of the above is true and that it was necessary for her to repent (turn to Christ) and be baptized so she too would receive the Holy Ghost to help her through the rest of her journey here on this earth.  

She came to know this because she read and continues to read the Book of Mormon, and other scriptures. She prayed and received a witness from her Heavenly Father that it is true--a witness that anyone desiring to, can also receive. Annie came to know that it would not be by control or compulsion that the world would change, but rather by the principles of righteousness and love. Annie epitomizes this mighty power of love in her life and in the life of all. She knows that true love results from a process available to all:  faith, repentance, and baptism, followed by the visitation of the Holy Ghost, which fills us with hope and perfect love. This love is charity or the pure love of Christ and it remains and grows by praying to the Father with all energy of heart, and as a result our love for others is a result of feeling His love for them. This love wants everyone to partake of the same love.

And she prays for each of you to be protected, to be happy and for you to want to know what she now knows, and taste what she has tasted, for the knowledge she has is from God. 

I will miss seeing each of you this year, but can't wait until next year when I can see you again. While I don't understand much of what you say, I can see how you enrich Annie's life, and how your lives are enriched because of her. Thank you for helping to make the Annie I love so much.

Gros Bisous,

Clark