by brady | Mar 13, 2012 | About Mormons
Mormons Not FLDS
The simple answer is ‘no’.
The historically informed and more complete answer is ‘yes, there is a historical connection’. Mormons (members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) do not share many of the beliefs of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (FLDS) Church, though there are a few that are shared.
Both churches believe in the concept of “continuing revelation” — that the heavens are not closed, and that prophets do in reality live today, in our time, and speak for God to all mankind. Both churches also believe that the Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ, and as such is scripture. This is why FLDS members still consider themselves “Mormons”, which the LDS Church disputes. (more…)
by nora | Feb 22, 2012 | About Mormons
by Mike Taylor
The Mormon Tabernacle Choir
Many members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (commonly known as Mormons) are called as missionaries. Members of the world-famous Mormon Tabernacle Choir and The Orchestra At Temple Square are all volunteer missionaries. They are called to bear their testimonies of the truthfulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ to the world, and are blessed in their callings.
My sweet sister, Susan, was a member of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir for twenty years. She volunteered to become a member of that group and traveled the world. Once while the choir was on tour she fell and seriously cut her leg. Elder Russell M. Nelson, a physician who was also an Apostle of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was on tour with the choir at that time and was able to stitch up the gash. She was able to continue on the tour. She said that she had many spiritual experiences come to her as she sang in the choir. (more…)
by | Feb 10, 2012 | About Mormons
Eric, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (inadvertently called “Mormon Church” by friends of other faiths) shares his testimony of the Savior, how he gained that testimony, and how he continues to strengthen that testimony of Jesus Christ. Watch Eric’s video below: (more…)
by brady | Jan 18, 2012 | About Mormons, Mormons in the News
It seems that one of the greatest challenges that Mormons (members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) face today is public opinion surrounding the historical but long-discontinued practice of polygamy. Those who oppose the LDS Church use this topic as often as they can to try and paint the church and its members as anything but good people. The reality is, when there is a genuine interest to understand and learn about the history of polygamy, a better assessment can be made about Mormons and what they believe. The Deseret News has finished up their five part series on the recent Pew Research Center Forum on Religion & Public Life, ‘Mormons in Ameria’ survey results, which were recently released. In this their final article, “Mormons say Polygamy Morally Wrong, Pew Poll Shows,” not only is polygamy addressed, so are some other very sensitive and important topics.
If there is one thing that many can agree on it is that Mormons seem to be clean-cut, innocent people with very high moral standards. We saw this most recently on the past season of NBC’s “The Sing Off” when the BYU acapella group Vocal Point displayed their amazing talent for the world to see. During the comments from the judges, there was often reference to “clean-cut”, “pure”, “innocent” and “warming.” So there seems to be one fairly strong opinion about Mormons. However, there are also other opinions that may not cast the LDS faith in the best light. When discussions about polygamy, morality and homosexuality are brought to the forefront, it seems that negativity and misperceptions abound. (more…)
by brady | Jan 17, 2012 | About Mormons, Mormons in the News
We have all heard the statement “proof is in the pudding.” In a recent survey by the Pew Research Center Forum on Religion & Public Life, ‘Mormons in America,’ many great topics were addressed and a better understanding gained of what Mormons think about those topics. The Deseret News has taken a look at this research and has created a five part series discussing different aspects of the survey. In their piece “New Pew survey reinforces Mormon’s top goals of family, marriage” they take a deeper dive into the findings surrounding these critical beliefs of those who are Mormon.
The article references a very important statistic that was found through the Pew survey, “81 percent of Mormons say being a good parent is ‘one of the most important things in life.’” I guess from one perspective you could ask the question, based on what Mormons are taught about the role and importance of families, why this number is not 100%… but 81 is a good number. There are probably a number of reasons that number is not higher which may lead to some good follow-up research. (more…)
