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The Mormon Life

created by sfc

(thing) by sfc (1.7 y) (print)   ?   (I like it!) 1 C! Mon Jul 02 2001 at 21:24:01

It seems that with many Christian religions there's not much involvement. Maybe you go to church for an hour a week and try not to sin too much. While this isn't necesarily true for any particular sect it certainly seems true for many Christians. In fact, I think it's one of the reasons many people dislike Christianity. You might find that within the ranks of Mormonism the ratio of "active" to "inactive" members is much higher than other forms of Christianity. Or, at least, that the active ones are more active. This is the case because of how The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints operates. This WU is intended to show you what it's like to live the Mormon Life.

Church Service/Sunday

See Mormon Church Service for complete details. LDS attend Church on Sunday for at least three hours. Several times a year the meetings range for 6+ hours over two days. Besides Church, all of Sunday is supposed to be a day for the Lord. Mormons refrain from physical activity as much as possible, do not spend money and try to pray and read scripture more than the rest of the week. Sunday is only the beginning though...

Commandments

Besides the standard sins most Christians are familiar with, Mormonism adds a few that affect you daily. The Word of Wisdom states you can't drink alcohol, coffee or tea. You also can't smoke or use illegal drugs. Many Mormons also refrain from taking caffeine. Mormons really do strive to follow all the commandments they've been given also. And, of course, many of them wear Garments every day.

Daily Activities

The Saints strive to do several things daily. Prayer happens throughout the day. When you rise, when you eat, before you sleep, whenever there's any kind of meeting between members. Mormons are also encouraged to do daily scripture study and many do. If you have kids (and Mormons tend to have a few) then you need to do all of this with them.

Callings

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is a lay church, meaning that the members do most of the work. There are no paid clergy until you get to the national level. That means nearly every member has some kind of calling. If involved with the Youth a great deal of time can be spent in preparation and execution of weekly activities. Many members teach various classes on Sunday and need to prepare for that. If you're really lucky you will be given some of the more complicated callings, like Bishop or President of the Relief Society.

Besides regular callings, most members are called as Home Teachers (men) or Visiting Teachers (women). You're given several families to visit once a month, make sure they're doing ok and present a message. These families should comprise the entire ward, active and inactive.

Oh yeah, and it's pretty common for members to serve a mission. This means giving up every moment of 2 years to working for the Church in the mission field. Even if you're not on your mission it's common for the missionaries to ask for help from the members. I frequently go out with the missionaries when they are going to teach someone, and members provide meals for the missionaries on a regular basis.

The Mormon Teen

Being a teenager in an LDS Church can be quite busy as well. There is an activity every week for the youth, and occasional extra meetings for various reasons (dances, picnics, camping, firesides, etc.) Then there's seminary. During High School Mormon teens attend an hour long scripture study class. In Utah this takes place after school, but elsewhere it's normally before school.

Conclusion

If you're interested in a religion that will permeate throughout every aspect of your life, then Mormonism is for you! I don't consider myself the most active member in the Church and hardly a day goes by that I don't do something in connection with the Church. This has always made sense to me. If you actually believe in Christianity it seems that it should have a profound effect on your life.


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chaos

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