3 Nephi 11:33-34

Still thinking about baptism...I like 3 Nephi 11:33-34.  It boils things down to the basics:

"And whoso believeth in me, and is baptized, the same shall be saved; and they are they who shall inherit the kingdom of God.  And whoso believeth not in me, and is not baptized, shall be damned."

I think often people get very angry, or perhaps, fearful of a God who goes around damning people.  But truly it is our own choices and actions that damn us, or in other words, stop our progression.  To continue on the path laid out for us by our Father in Heaven we must do those things he has told us are essential to do.  (And by the way, if you check out footnote "a" in verse 33 it refers you to the Topical Guide under Baptism, Essential.)  It is not because He is mean or arbitrarily likes to assign us things so we can jump through hoops, or into pools of water in this case.  It is because He loves us and knows what we need to do to make it back to Him.  He knows the path we must walk to learn the things we need to learn to become like Him.  I hope I can be humble enough to follow all the steps He asks me to take and endure, or more accurately--progress--to the end.