Mormonism 101

I was just doing a little browsing of blogs and I saw some about Mitt Romney that really bothered me. So I thought I’d vent a little before going to bed.

I didn’t think I’d ever really use this blog to discuss religion but here goes. I am a Mormon.

Now I’m going to try and clear up some misunderstandings:

1-Mormons are not Christian- The full name of my church is “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints”. If we weren’t Christian why would we put the name of Christ in our church? Our faith is centered on Christ. The misunderstanding comes because unlike most Christian faiths we believe that God, Christ and the Holy Ghost are seperate beings. But we do believe in all three of them.

2-Mormons have their own bible- We use the King James version of the bible. In addition to that we have what is called the Book of Mormon (which is why we are called Mormons). The Book of Mormon begins in Jerusalem where a man named Lehi and his family were commanded to leave. They built boats and sail to the Americas. When Christ was resurrected he visited his disciples, but after that he came to the Americas.   John 10:16 says “And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.”

It makes sense to me that Christ visited the people on the other side of the world. He loved them too. But like I said, the Book of Mormon is IN ADDITION to the bible.

3-Mormons worship some guy named Joseph Smith- When Joseph Smith was a 14 year old boy he read the words in James 1:5 which read “if any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God…” Joseph went out to a clearing in front of his house and prayed to know which church was the true church. He then saw a pillar of light and two figure standing before him. They introduced themselves as God the father and the son Jesus Christ. They told him that none of the churches were true. A few years later Joseph was lead to find the plates which the Book of Mormon was written upon and he was given the power to translate the book.

We believe that Joseph Smith was a prophet. We believe that God has given us prophets to continue to recieve revelations today. The current prophet, Gordon B. Hinkley, tells us what we need to do to prepare ourselves and to better ourselves. We don’t worship them, but see them as inspired men who talk to God.

4-Mormons have lots of wives- Polygamy was practiced by the church for 50 years, but it stopped in 1890. A lot of people argue about the reasonings behind this, but I’ll tell you that I believe that at the time polygamy was necessary. The members of the church had been chased from their homes in Illinois and Missouri. They walked across the country, many of them dying along the way. The pioneers made it to the Salt Lake Valley. At the time there was nothing there. For a young woman if you had a big family or if your parents had died along the way, which many of them did, they needed to be married to have someone provide for them. Men who were able took more than one wife in order to provide food and shelter for the women. This was not a practice that was used to make women slaves, no one was forced into anything.

5-Blacks couldn’t be Mormon until the 1970s- Blacks could be members of the church, black men were not able to recieve the priesthood until 1978.

Ever since biblical times, the Lord has designated through His prophets who could receive the priesthood and other blessings of the gospel. Among the tribes of Israel, for example, only men of the tribe of Levi were given the priesthood and allowed to officiate in certain ordinances. Likewise, during the Savior’s earthly ministry, gospel blessings were restricted to the Jews. Only after a revelation to the Apostle Peter were the gospel and priesthood extended to others. In 1978 the prophet at the time, Spencer W. Kimball, received revelation that all worthy men would be able to receive the priesthood.

6- Mormons have horns- seriously… who started this one? Horns?! ha!

7- Mormons aren’t allowed to dance or sing- so wrong! We can dance and sing and are encouraged to do so and develop our talents. Many people think that our religion is really strict and as a result we can’t do anything, this isn’t true. In 1833 Joseph Smith did recieve revelation that is called the Word of Wisdom. In it the Lord revealed what foods and substances are good and bad for our bodies. As a result of the Word of Wisdom we don’t smoke, drink alcohol, tea, or coffee. We are encouraged to eat grains, fruits and vegetables and to eat meat sparingly. This revelation was given over a century before research revealed the dangers of smoking and alochol.

I hope this was informative to anyone who reads this. If you have any questions I’d be happy to answer them. As for Mitt Romney, I wouldn’t worry about his faith when considering him as a candidate. I don’t currently support his candidacy because I don’t feel he has given a real plan of action for Iraq, his faith is not a concern. If you worry about what Mormon politicians are like look at Senate Majority leader Harry Reid of Nevada, a devout Mormon and Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah who is one of Ted Kennedy’s closest friends.

~~Lucy~~

wishing and hoping and praying

I stumbled upon this site today when I was doing some cleaning on my computer and I realized that I have not written on here in months. So I thought I’d post a little update on my life.

I survived the end of last semester and even managed to get decent grades. This was a little difficult though seeing as I met this incredible guy the last month of school. At first I was not interested in him, but he was pretty head over heels for me.  I don’t say that to brag, but it’s a fact. All of his friends knew he was crazy about me and it was with their encouragement that he asked me out.

For the first couple of weeks I played along because his friends were great and much more exciting than my catatonic-anti-sosh roomates. But then one crazy night I found myself on a couch talking with him. We talked for 8 hours. I found myself telling him things I’d never told anyone before,  and he opened up to me. It was one of those conversations that you never forget, but could never fully explain to anyone else. It was so private, so personal… By the time we were done talking (9:30 am) I’d found myself in his arms. A sweet kiss good morning and I was on my way back to my apartment on a cloud.

We spent the next week taking finals and spending each moment possible with eachother. We went on some of the most amazing dates and I fell hard for him.

Then we both moved home for the summer.

He lived an hour from me, but we made it work. We took turns seeing eachother and meeting in the middle. We talked constantly while we worked. It was an unforgettable summer, like the ones people write songs about. We fell deeper and deeper in love. I moved back up to school in August, but he got ready for another adventure.

He decided he wanted to serve a mission for our church. He’s in South Africa for 2 years. He can e-mail me once a week and he can write me letters, but that’s it. He does get to call home twice a year (Christmas and Mother’s day) but I’m not sure if his family wants me to be present for that yet.

Before he left we talked about ending things, but I couldn’t do it, and apparantly neither could he. So we didn’t end it. I send him a letter faithfully each week. A lot of people don’t understand why I do it. Why I choose to feel such pain and loneliness… but it’s love. I don’t think there is another choice. I want to marry this guy. He’s smart and he’s not threatened by my intelligence either. We can honestly talk about ANYTHING. This is a new experience for me, usually guys are too intimidated by my large vocabulary and my ability to win any argument.

So I go out on dates when guys ask me, which has been pretty often this semester. I’m open to the idea of loving other people, but so far no one has even tempted me. I don’t think there is room in my heart for another. 2 years is a long time though, this week will be 3 months since he left. I can’t promise I’ll feel this way for him in 21 months.

I asked him if he wanted to know if I dated and what was going on with me there, and he told me no. He asked me to let him know if I got engaged or something so he could try to forget me. If for anyother reason I decide to end it he asked me to simply send him a blank piece of paper. No explanation would be necessary.

I don’t on sending that blank piece of paper or a wedding announcement. I plan on being right here when he gets home.

 so this is love… it’s not easy, but I know it’s worth it.

~~Lucy~~