Anita, an immigrant to the U.S., lives in New York and works as a journalist. This Mormon girl loves spending time with her mother, who is her best friend. The LDS Church teaches that family relationships are important and eternal. It is exciting to see women strengthen families and uplift the community around them. Anita had a challenging childhood, because she grew up without her father. Fortunately, she knows that Jesus Christ suffered for all of us in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the cross. Peace is found by applying His atonement in our lives. It is wonderful to see people take advantage of the blessings He’s already paid for. [1]
Lori, a Mormon Flight Nurse, flies in a helicopter to respond and save lives. She knows that the Atonement of Jesus Christ is real and has faith in God’s plan of salvation. It is wonderful to see the faith of someone who often sees death and tragedy. Although Lori works full-time, this Mormon woman is focused on quality time with her children. It is important for families to spend time together and Lori’s family has “Family Nights.” Modern prophets have counseled families to hold weekly “Family Home Evenings” (usually comprised of a short lesson and/or activity). Researchers know that families that play together… stay together. Lori’s family enjoys “games, popcorn, fire in the fire pit…anything together” [1] even playing baseball by smashing apricots. (more…)
In his article titled “Six Reasons Why Mormons Are Beating Baptists (In Church Growth) , dated 10 July 2012 which was posted on the patheos.com website, David French begins his article with the strong statement, “Our churches face a demographic crisis.” What he is speaking of is not so much a decline in actual church growth, but rather the losses that many Christian denominations are facing as numbers of their young people are beginning to leave their churches. In particular, French makes a stark comparison between the growth rate of youth in the Baptist Church and the growth rate of youth in the Mormon Church, noting that at a time when some youth are abandoning their church affiliations, the growth rate of youth membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (often referred to as the Mormon Church) is consistently increasing.
In his opening comments he states:
Young people are leaving, even the Southern Baptist Convention is starting to lose members, and when you drill down deeper – comparing church attendance with population growth – the picture grows even more bleak. Simply put, when America’s fastest-growing religious segment is “nonreligious” we have a problem. [1]
After compiling the results of a number of national studies, the Barna Group (an Evangelical Christian polling firm based in Ventura, California), published a list of six reasons why young evangelicals leave the Church. The six reasons that were listed are: the church is overprotective, their experience of Christianity is shallow, churches seem antagonistic to science, the church’s approach to sexuality is judgmental and simplistic, they wrestle with the exclusivity of Christianity, and the church feels unfriendly to those who doubt. [1](more…)
The single adult members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are a diverse group of individuals. They face life’s challenges the same as married members of the LDS Church, with one of the main differences being that they often face those challenges alone.
In an address delivered on 22 September 1996 at the Salt Lake Tabernacle titled “A Conversation with Single Adults,” President Gordon B. Hinckley, the 15th President of The Church of Jesus Christ, made these remarks:
You are a diverse group. I understand that all of you are over 30. In a sense that is the only thing you have in common, other than your membership in the Lord’s Church. (more…)
Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints love their country and cherish the freedoms that they have been proffered. They know that the soils upon which they dwell and traverse are part of a blest nation, a nation that was made by, and has been preserved by, the omnipotent hand of Almighty God.
Having endured their own battles for freedom in the early history of the Church, Latter-day Saints (or Mormons as they are often referred) know and understand all too well that freedom is not free. The freedoms that they, as well as their fellow Americans hold dear, are often wrought through the precious spilt blood of many comrades-in-arms who championed together for the cause of freedom and liberty. Some gave more, some gave less, but many gave the last full measure of their devotion, their lives, in defense of their country, in order that it would always be the “land of the free and the home of the brave.” (more…)
David Archuleta is a famous Mormon singer who has decided to serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Before he left to serve as a Mormon missionary, he filmed a short video message for those wondering about what he will be doing while he serves a Mormon mission. [1] Missionaries are called by a modern prophet of God (Thomas S. Monson) to “invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end” (Preach My Gospel: A Guide to Missionary Service, 1). In other words, David has temporarily put his career on hold to preach the gospel to people in South America. David, like all other Mormon missionaries, had no choice as to where he was sent to serve. The Lord decides and reveals that information to His prophet and apostles. (more…)