LDS aka Mormon my religion

As most of you already know I was born and raised in the LDS church which is short for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The majority of the world knows it as the Mormon church. Don’t get it confused with FLDS (Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints). FLDS is a radical polygamist sect, that branched off from the LDS church. They believe in marriage between one man and multiple wives, contrary to the LDS church who believes marriage between one man and one woman.

In this chapter I will be covering and explaining how the church is organized for those who aren’t members of the Mormon church or have just heard about it in general, and would like to know how it works. I will be explaining it all from how I remember it as a child and teenager, so it may not all be correct with how the church is organized now.

Let’s dive in, shall we?

When I was born my parents and entire extended family was active in the LDS church. So, naturally I didn’t have a choice if I would have religion in my life or not. On October 27th, 1996 when I was a month and a half old, my dad along with a few of the Melchizedek Priesthood holders in our ward and family, stood in a circle at the front of the chapel, held me in all of their hands, bouncing me up and down, then my dad blessed me and gave me a name. (most of the pictures I will be using are from google)

“A ward is a community of people who attend church meetings at a certain hour of the day each Sunday.” A baby blessing is a huge deal in the church, this brand new baby sent from God is now being introduced to friends and family with an official name in the church. My mom dressed me in a beautiful white dress that day that my grandma Cedar made for me. My brothers were also blessed once they were born in the exact same way. After the blessings we would have a get together at our house with food. Baby blessings are a major event, so family and friends from all over would come to witness it.

Let me explain how the LDS church meetings were structured. We would have three meetings in three hours. The first meeting was sacrament meeting which took place in the first hour. It was held in the biggest room of the building called the chapel. During this meeting there were prayers, reverent songs we would sing from hymn books, announcements for the ward, talks by members of the ward, and the sacrament was administered. “The sacrament is a holy ordinance in which church members partake of bread and water in remembrance of Jesus Christ’s atoning sacrifice.”

The second meetings were separate classes which took place in the second hour. The women who were 18 and older would go to Relief Society. “Relief Society was a class that prepares women for the blessings of eternal life as they increase their faith in Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the Atonement.”

The men who were 18 and older would go to Priesthood. Which was “a class that teaches the men about their duties and blessings of the priesthood.”

After the adult men and women had their separate classes they would come together for Sunday School. The purpose of this class is to "Strengthen individuals and families faith in Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ through teaching, learning, and fellowshipping, and help Church members teach one another the doctrine of the kingdom at church and at home."

The youth of the church who were between the ages of 12 and 17 would attend Young Men’s and Young Women’s.

“The Young Women’s class taught young girls how to build their faith in Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, understand their identities of daughters of God, obey God’s commandments, and recognize his guidance in their lives.”

“The Young Men’s class taught growth and development skills on how to strengthen their relationship with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, and teach importance of the priesthood.”

After separate classes, the young men and women would come together for Sunday School, which “helps accomplish the work of salvation and exaltation. It does this by helping God’s children learn and live the gospel of Jesus Christ.”

The children were separated into different classes based on their age, in their classrooms they were “taught the basics of the church and why it was so important.” After their separate classes they would go to Primary, which was filled with singing, praying, activities, and a lesson.

Children who were between the ages of 18 months to 3 years, attended Nursery. “The main purpose of this class is to serve the children, to provide a safe, organized environment where young children can learn and play and have a happy church experience.”

As I grew up going to each of these meetings/classes, I read The Book of Mormon diligently. We would be challenged no matter what age to read the entire thing, take notes, and learn about each individual story. We were also challenged to read the Bible. I probably read both books 3 times cover to cover. We were challenged to memorize scriptures and articles of faith. “Articles of faith are short passages explaining the basic doctrines and practices of the LDS faith.”

Prayer was also a big part, we would be told to have personal prayer in the morning and before bed, as well as a family prayer at night time. Saying a blessing over the food, before each meal was a must. Scripture study outside of church either alone or with family was also encouraged.

Every Monday evening our family would have “family home evening”. The purpose of family home evening “is a time to strengthen family ties. We do this by learning the gospel together, by listening to each other’s feelings, thoughts and ideas, and by enjoying activities together.”

My mom made a little chart and had each one of our names labeled on small stone pieces that we could move around to different hooks. On this chart there were different assignments for the evening, prayer, lesson, activity, treat, and song. I always enjoyed this time of each week. Being around my mom, dad, and brothers always made me happy.

The church put out four magazines each month called “The Friend”, “The Ensign”, “The New Era”, and “The Liahona”. The Friend was focused around children of the church, filled with stories, lessons, and activities. The Ensign was focused around the adults of the church, filled with stories, lessons, and talks from General Conference. The New Era was focused around the young men and women. And the Liahona was for everyone. Usually our lessons for family home evening would come from any of those magazines. Treat, song, and activity were probably mine and my brothers favorite assignments to get.

One more major thing about the Mormon church are “callings”. A calling is a duty or position assigned to any member of the ward as an opportunity to serve those around them. My family as a whole were given many different callings. A few examples are, ward chorister, ward organist, Relief Society president, Primary chorister, Young Women’s president, Young Men’s president, Relief Society President, Elders Quorum President, Primary teacher, the list goes on and on. When we were assigned callings they would be required for action inside the church and would also branch outside of church, whether it was preparing for a lesson or activity, serving others on our own time, preparing music for an upcoming class, etc.

Once you turned the age of 8, you would get baptized. I already covered this in a previous chapter. If you haven’t read about it, it’s in Chapter 2.

Going to church every Sunday was apart of my life, it was normal. That’s just what we did. We went to activities on Wednesday, and some more random things throughout the week if they were planned. I literally thought everyone in the entire world was doing what I did as far as religion goes. When I did meet someone who wasn’t apart of my faith, I always asked “Why don’t you go to church? It’s what we are supposed to do.” Yes, I will admit I was very judgmental and thought less of those who weren’t members of the church.

Girls Camp was something I looked forward to every year. I loved being out in the wilderness with the girls from my ward. It was a time to disconnect from the world, and connect with God. We always had so much fun, rain or shine. My last year in Young Women’s I was a “YCL” which stood for youth camp leader. I was in charge of a group of younger girls, planned activities, and was mainly in charge of the whole camp along with my friends who were also YCL’s. We had our Young Women’s leaders as well, but it felt cool to be the oldest and in charge!

Sunday is the “Lords day” or “a day of rest”. After church, we would come home, get a snack, but could NOT change out of our church clothes until bed time. We were not allowed to watch regular tv, only church movies. Church music was the only music allowed as well. Going to any store or spending money on Sunday was against the Sabbath.

Every first Sunday of the month is called “Fast Sunday”, which means we would “abstain from all food for two meals, and donate the equivalent cost, or more to the church to assist the poor and needy.” We were required to donate 10% of our income called “tithing” which would go straight to the church. On the morning of Fast Sunday, young men from the ward would get up early and knock on every members door to collect fast offerings. Fast offerings is where each member of the church decides how much money they’d like to donate to the church. There was also an option to give your fast offering to the bishop at church.

During sacrament meeting every first Sunday a testimony portion was added. If anyone felt prompted to share their testimony of Jesus Christ, they would stand up, walk to the pulpit, and share their testimony. Everyones testimony would almost always start off with the words “I’d like to bear my testimony” and end with “in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen”. “A testimony is an expression of what each member believes to be true.”

The church has a Missionary Program, and is probably the most recognized characteristic of the LDS church. “The missionary effort is based on the New Testament pattern of missionaries serving in pairs, teaching the gospel and baptizing believers in the name of Jesus Christ.” More than 67,000 full-time missionaries are serving all over the world. Young men ages 18-25, young women ages 19-25, or retired couples are allowed to go on missions. If you are a male missionary you are expected to serve wherever God calls you for 2 years. If you are a female missionary you are expected to serve for 18 months. If you are a retired couple service can range from 1 to 2 years.

When you reach the age of a mission and you’ve done all the proper missionary prep needed, you receive a call from God to a random place in the world to serve. All your friends and family gather to hear you read the official letter, about where you’ll be going. I attended many of my friends and family’s missionary calls, farewells, and homecomings. The ultimate purposes of serving a mission is to baptize non-members into the church, do service for those in need, teach the gospel, and experience new things before returning home to go to college. This is the first time many young men and young women would be living on their own with a same sex roommate/companion for 18 months-2 years.

As you can tell, the Mormon/LDS religion is very strict. This is how I was raised, doing everything I was told was the right thing to do. By doing the right things, and never sinning according to the church I would go to heaven once I passed away. If we did sin we would ask Heavenly Father for forgiveness in prayer.

If you are from Arizona, or anywhere but Utah I am sure you’ve seen the Mormon temples.. ya know the massive buildings that look like castles. You’ve also probably seen the Mormon church buildings as well. There are 5 temples in the Salt Lake Valley alone, in the entire state of Utah there are 17 temples, and 5,229 church buildings. Since moving to Arizona, church buildings and temples are far and in between but they are there. There are 6 temples in the entire state of Arizona, and 895 church buildings. There’s a huge difference, which shows how populated the state of Utah is with members of the LDS church.

What takes place in these big castle buildings called temples you may ask? Well, when you get married in the church you go to the temple to be eternally sealed to your spouse and future or present children. I can’t tell you more than that, because it is all kept a secret unless you’ve done it yourself. I never made it to the temple to take out my endowments or get married. “Children born into the covenant become apart of an eternal family, based on their faithfulness. The promise is made that our families will be together forever after death.”

Once you reach the age of 12 you are allowed to enter into part of the temple to do baptisms for the dead. The LDS church teaches that “performing baptisms for the dead allows this saving ordinance to be offered on behalf of those who have died without accepting or knowing Jesus Christ or his teachings during their mortal lives.” We would dress is white jumpsuits, enter the baptismal font, meet a man who was a temple worker, he would read off names of those who have passed, and then dunk us under the water. Again, no toes, hair, or body part could be above water or we would have to go under again. The temple worker would read off 10+ names, totally depending on how many they needed to baptize that day. You could also take any ancestors name with you to get baptized for them.

Twice a year in the April and October, the church holds General Conference. It is held in Downtown Salt Lake City at the Conference Center and broadcasted all over the world via radio, satellite, and online. This meeting is broadcasted live in 70 different languages, and later translated into more than 100 languages. “Church leaders from around the world share messages or sermons focused on the living Christ and His gospel. Viewers learn how to find peace, hope, and joy in Jesus Christ; how to strengthen families by following Jesus’s teachings; and how to receive personal guidance and inspiration from God.”

The Conference Center holds over 21,000 people. Free tickets are given out for those who would like to attend in person. You could also go to one of the 7,400 church buildings around the world that would be broadcasting the meeting live.

General Conference is held on Saturday and Sunday, broken up into two sessions each day. One session starts at 10:00 am and another starts at 2:00pm, each session lasts 2 hours. “A Saturday evening session every April is designed for Latter-Day Saint men and young men who hold the Priesthood.” “A Saturday evening session every October is designed for Latter-Day Saint women, young women, and girls of the church 8 years old and older.”

I remember attending General Conference at the Conference Center a few times growing up, that was a really cool experience, seeing the 12 apostles, the prophet, and his councilors in real life. When we weren’t able to go downtown, we would sit as a family in front of the tv, do activities that kept us involved, take notes, or sleep. The talks that were given either touched me, and made me feel the spirit, or put me right to sleep.

We had Stake Conference as well. Stake Conferences are when all wards/branches come together at a much larger church building called the stake center. It is a 2 hour long meeting, filled with talks, singing, stake callings, and prayers. This happens twice a year, under the direction of the prophet and quorum of the twelve apostles. The stake president is usually the main person over the meeting, unless a general authority or member of the seventy is presiding.

I got the opportunity to serve in the church many times. My favorite callings were probably ward chorister and playing the piano in young women’s.

The main rules of the church are as followed: 1. Drink no coffee, hot tea, or alcohol. 2. Go to church every Sunday even when on vacation. 3. Accept any calling by the Bishop. 4. Attend the temple once a month, keep a worthy temple recommend. 5. Never use a swear word. 6. Do family history work. Those are just a few. If you’d like to read them all, click the link below.

I attended every church meeting and activity for 17 and a half years of my life.. and then everything changed.