Charly

"Oh the feels! :'( I loved this book :) Charly is an amazing person--er-- character. Sam was not the kindest person and had kind of an uncontrollable temper in that he said a lot of mean things. This book teaches a lot of important lessons that a lot of people investigating the church seem to worry about, such as being outcast by their family.<br/><br/> Something that really struck me from this book was a lesson Sam learned, beginning when the drunk man asked him if he knew Jesus. "The Savior knew several days in advance that Lazarus was sick and that he was going to die and that He would raise him from the dead. He understood that from the beginning, Lazarus' death at that time was to last only four days. When Jesus met Martha and Mary after they'd buried Lazarus, the reproached him for not being there when Lazarus was sick. As they walked to the tomb where they'd laid him, the scriptures say that Jesus wept. Why? Why did he weep when he knew that Lazarus would come to life in five minutes? Why did her weep when he knew that, in a few minutes, Mary and Martha would be happier than at any other time? Why did he weep when he knew that their sorrow was only a breeding ground for their approaching joy? Why did he weep?"(pg. 103) <br/><br/>I planned to ponder these questions and find an answer once I finished the book but later in the book, there is an answer. "I felt great heartache as I watched Charly slowly become weaker...I wanted to know how this appeared to the Savior. He lives and knows each one of us by name, and hie love for us is completely unconditional. How did he view the imminent passing away of my wife? We had been faithful to the covenants we made in the temple. The Savior was aware of the joy awaiting in heaven after the resurrection. This thing that to us was such a great tragedy, what was it to him, who saw beyond the grave? Did he understand the depths of my sorrow? Then I remembered the raising of Lazarus--Mary and Martha weeping for the loss of their dear brother as they all trudged up the hill to the tomb. Jesus was certain that in five minutes Lazarus would come forth. What if he had turned to Mary and told her not to cry and that everything would be okay? What if he had treated lightly her sorrow? Instead, he wept. He wept because they wept and because he shared their sorrow. He wept because he loved them, and whatever grief they carried, even for a short time, he shared it with them. He would not leave me comfortless because he loves me..."<br/><br/>I love this, never before have I understood this as well as I do now. I plan to challenge myself as Sam did himself, and come closer to Christ.<br/><br/>Another lesson I found incredible in this book happened 10 days before Sam and Charly were to be married. Before she was baptized, Charly had not followed the law of chastity because she hadn't known to. When she was baptized, she was washed clean of this sin. However, children that are raised in the church as Sam and I were, are taught to follow the law of chastity because we would want our future spouse to do the same for us. Sam hadn't thought it possible that his future wife would not be morally clean, but she really was because she had been baptized after those things happened and had followed the commandments after. This made her temple worthy but in Sam's eyes she wasn't because he hadn't been prepared for her to have made those mistakes in the past. Sam had to learn to forgive and understand that Charly was clean. I think this is an important lesson that should be taught more often so that members of the church can prepare themselves, in case they ever are in that situation.<br/><br/>I really want to see the movie of this book and read the rest of the series as well as more books by this author!"