LDS (“Mormon”) Temples are Heaven on Earth
Temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (commonly referred to as the Mormon Church) are revered by Latter-day Saints as the House of the Lord Jesus Christ. Each temple that is constructed is prepared and dedicated for the work of sacred gospel ordinances. Those who are deemed worthy and hold a valid temple recommend are permitted to enter the temple and take part in those sacred ordinances. The temple is a place of solace, or a place of comfort and peace from the distress and worries of the world. Temples are also places of worship and prayer. Speaking of the temple, President thomas S. Monson, president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has said: Now, my brothers and sisters, we have...
Mormon General Conference: The Savior Wants Us to Forgive
Throughout his life, Jesus Christ performed many, many miracles. He healed men and women from leprosy, restored sight to the blind, cast out unclean spirits from mortal bodies, and even infused physical life back into the dead. Accompanying many—if not most—of these tangible miracles was the pronouncement, “Thy sins be forgiven thee” (Luke 5:20; Matthew 9:2; Mark 2:5). We are to understand that the true miracles Christ enacted were those of forgiveness and redemption. Why is that forgiveness important, and what are we to do with it? Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (often inadvertently referred to as the Mormon Church) believe that we must take the Savior’s mercy and actively apply it in...
The Role of Women in Mormon Temples
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (often mistakenly called the Mormon Church) builds temples throughout the world for worthy members of the Church to enter and participate in sacred ordinances and to make sacred covenants. Mormons consider each temple to be the House of the Lord Jesus Christ. Women play significant roles in the work done in temples. When the Prophet Joseph Smith, the first President of the Church of Jesus Christ, organized the Relief Society, the women’s auxiliary of the priesthood, he said: “The Church was never perfectly organized until the women were thus organized.”1 Fifth Church President Lorenzo Snow said of the women of the Church: “You have ever been found at the side of the...
A Mormon Life Filled with Purpose
I have never read the best-selling book by Pastor Rick Warren, The Purpose-Driven Life. It’s never been on my reading list, probably because I’m too busy living my purpose-driven life to feel the need. My life is bursting with purpose, and it has been since I was baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, often mistakenly called the Mormon Church. At the time that I found the Church, I was hungering. I felt an emptiness and yearning that had to be filled, and I was attending various churches with friends and neighbors. I enjoyed them all but one. But when I crossed the threshold of a meetinghouse of the Church of Jesus Christ, I had an amazing spiritual experience, something I had...
Who is Jesus Christ?
Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, often mistakenly called the Mormon Church, have sometimes been accused of not being Christian, because they reject the idea of a trinity (3 beings of one essence) as being biblical. Indeed, Mormons know that the “Godhead” comprises three separate personages — God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost. While God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, are glorified, resurrected beings, the Holy Ghost is a person of spirit whose influence can be anywhere; he can dwell within us, or at least his influence can. Mormon belief in the Godhead is not “Modalism” (with Jesus fully God, but all three members of the Godhead as three modes...
The Amazing Mormon Missionary Program
The missionary program of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (often mistakenly called the Mormon Church) is remarkable in all the world. Recently, the LDS Church lowered the qualification ages for Mormon youth who desire to serve missions from 19 to 18 for young men and from 21 to 19 for Mormon young women. As soon as the announcement was made, applications jumped nearly five-fold and now remain double what they previously were. At the time of the announcement, in October 2012, there were over 50,000 Mormon missionaries serving full-time around the world. The increase in applications means that the LDS Church may soon have 80,000 young people serving globally. Fifty-eight new missions have been created...
Mormon Temple Worthiness
Since the Mormon temple is literally a house of God, one must prepare as if he or she is actually entering God’s presence. In holy temples Mormons consecrate themselves to the service of God. If a person cannot abide by the commandments in everyday life, then how can he or she expect to live an even higher law? In the Book of Genesis in the Old Testament, we read about Abraham, who was commanded by God to offer up his son Isaac as a sacrifice. Since human sacrifice, practiced in some pagan religions, was abhorrent to the true faith, and since Isaac was Abraham’s only hope to fulfill God’s promise of seed, this request must have struck Abraham as incomprehensible. But he still followed through. ...
What is the Mormon Endowment?
“Endowment” means gift, and the Mormon temple endowment is a gift from God of power and knowledge. Worthy Mormons, those who are keeping the commandments of God, including keeping the Mormon health laws, the law of chastity (no sex outside of traditional marriage), paying a full tithing (10% of one’s income), and being honest in all one’s dealings, may seek to enter the Mormon temple to make higher covenants. The endowment ceremony takes about 90 minutes and consists of instruction and covenant-making with God, leading up to the desire to be wholly consecrated to God, the desire to do His will continually. The endowment ritual takes place in an auditorium-like room in the Mormon temple. These...
Teaching About Mormon Temples
In May our senior mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (often mistakenly called the Mormon Church) will end. Retired couples in the LDS Church are needed not for proselyting (the young Mormon missionaries do that) but for all sorts of other necessary service. My husband and I have been involved with “member-leader support.” Because the Church of Jesus Christ has no professional clergy, members run things as they are called to do so. New members need help in fulfilling their callings and increasing in their abilities to perform as they increase in gospel knowledge and testimony. On our way home, we will stop by a Mormon temple some hours from here to take several women to the temple who have...
The Garment of Adam
Why Noah Cursed Ham So, Noah got drunk and Ham saw him naked. Why did Noah curse Canaan (one of Ham’s sons), if Ham saw him naked? In the Book of Jasher (Sepir Ha Yasher or Book of the Upright), we find an interesting reason. When Adam left the Garden of Eden, he was given a coat of skins, or a special garment of authority. This garment represented Adam’s current plight on earth, but was a connection to Eden. It would symbolize the heavenly garment that Enoch, Isaiah and others would be dressed in during their heavenly ascensions. Adam’s garment allowed him to be able to speak with the animals and give each of them names. When he wore the garment, animals were not afraid to approach, because they saw him as...
Do Mormons Believe in Birth Control?
Mormons (members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, often mistakenly called the “Mormon Church“) tend to have large families. They are encouraged by their leaders (a living prophet and apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ) not to put off or refrain from having children for material or worldly reasons. Because of this, you will see young Mormon families, with dad in medical school or graduate school, who already have two or three young children. The Plan of Salvation shows us that we are all eternal beings, created spiritually by our Father in Heaven. His desire is for us to become like Him, and receiving a mortal body and experiencing mortality on earth is an important step in that eternal...
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