The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints
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The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, otherwise known as the Mormon Church, is a well known large organization. With about thirteen million members, this Christian religion just keeps on growing. Mormons believe that the heavenly father (God) and Jesus Christ lead the church through revelations given to the President or present day prophet. They also believe that a man named Joseph Smith translated a sacred book called the Book of Mormon. With a living day prophet and this extra book of scriptures, they believe that their church is the most correct one in the world today.
I was able to interview my wife and father in law regarding some questions I had about the religion. Following is the summary of my learning’s about the Mormon religion. I learned that Joseph Smith was the first president of the Church, which was also the first modern day prophet. As a young fourteen year old boy, Joseph Smith Jr. did not know which church he should join or which one was right. He then went into a grove near his home and prayed to know which church was the one that he should adhere to. The answer to his prayer was not one he was expecting. Heavenly father and Jesus Christ showed themselves to Joseph and told him that none of the churches were right and that he shouldn’t join any of them. They also told him that he would be a part of a wonderful work that must be done. That work was to restore the true church back to Earth (Cheek, C., personal communication, August 14, 2007).
After Joseph’s first vision he repented for all the things he had done wrong and that night an angel named Moroni visited Joseph several times teaching him many things. One of which was the location of the golden plates. Before Joseph could take the plates, he had to prove himself to be worthy. Once he had proven himself, he was able to take the plates to translate them into what is now known as the Book of Mormon.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints believes that the Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ. It is the story of prophets and people in North and South America. How their life was waiting for Christ to come and then how it was when he did come. The Mormons believe that after Christ was resurrected in Jerusalem he went to North and South America to show them of his resurrection and to teach them as well. The Mormons believe that the Book of Mormon is scripture that goes hand in hand with the Bible (Cheek, C., personal communication, August 14, 2007).
There are many things that make the Mormon Church differ from other Christian churches. A major difference is that Mormons believe in the Book of Mormon to be another testament of Jesus Christ. It is a book of scriptures that no other religion has. Another difference is that most Christian churches believe the god-head or divine being to be one being, whereas the Mormons believe the god-head to be three separate beings; heavenly father (God), Jesus Christ (his son), and the Holy Ghost. One last thing that makes the Mormon Church different is that they believe the President of their church to be a modern day prophet (Cheek, C., personal communication, August 14, 2007).
Every Sunday Mormons meet in a certain church building. Depending on where you live is where you are divided and put into what is called a ward, and that ward is part of a stake. Because there are so many members they have to break you up so that there aren’t too many or too little of people meeting together at once. Church is divided up into three-one hour increments. It seems like it would be long, but with the way it is broken up it seems to go really fast. It can actually go by fast as well when you are truly trying to learn and be in tune with the spirit (Cheek, C., personal communication, August 14, 2007).
Sunday is a very important day; it is a day of rest. It is said in the Bible that it took God six days to make the Earth and everything in it, and on that seventh day he rested. Also, when God told Moses about the Ten Commandments one of them was to keep the Sabbath day holy. Mormons do everything they can to keep the Sabbath day holy. Most do not go out, work, or make others work. They do not play; but instead spend time together with family and go to church, read the scriptures, and pray. Mormons believe the Sabbath day to be a day dedicated to God (Tippetts, M., personal communication, August 14, 2007).
Mormons definitely believe in life after death. They believe that after you die your spirit is either sent to spirit paradise or spirit prison. Spirit paradise is where you have already learned about the church and Jesus Christ on Earth and have accepted it. Spirit prison is where you have learned about the church and Jesus Christ on Earth, but did not accept it or you haven’t heard about it and had the chance to accept it. In spirit prison you have the opportunity to hear it and accept it or have a second chance to accept it and go to spirit paradise. If you are in spirit paradise you wait there until the second coming, and when the second coming happens you become resurrected (Cheek, C., personal communication, August 14, 2007).
After the second coming of Jesus Christ, spirits and bodies of flesh will live together until judgment day. This day is when you will be judged on how you lived your life based off your good works. Depending on this depicts which heaven you will go to see. Mormons believe in three separate heavens; the celestrial kingdom, the telestrial kingdom, and the terrestrial kingdom. The highest kingdom is the celestrial, which is divided into three levels. If you are the highest level of the celestial kingdom, Mormons believe that you get to become like god and rule over your own worlds. This is a hard concept to grasp for many, but if it is true it would be a pretty amazing thing (Tippetts, M., personal communication, August 14, 2007).
Temples are a sacred place of worship. You have to be living your life worthy in order to be able to enter inside the temple. A few things that you have to have done or be doing in order to go to the temple is; you must be baptized, you must be a full tithe payer, and you must be living the word of wisdom. The word of wisdom is treating your body as a temple. That involves no alcohol, caffeine, drugs, tattoos, certain piercings, or anything else addicting or that will harm your body. Temples are a very special and spiritual place that you must be worthy to enter (Tippetts, M., personal communication, August 14, 2007).
Missionaries are those who have decided to dedicate part of their lives to spread the Gospel to the world. You are not forced to go on a mission, but if you want to and are of age you can. Most boys go at the age of nineteen, and women can go at the age of twenty one. It is said that this is to