And I Am A Mormon, or LDS and I Believe in Christ
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Mormons (real name: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) have been compared and confused with the Amish, Jehovah Witnesses, Seventh Day Adventists, and Evangelical Christians.
While we may have some similarities with these religions, and respect them, our beliefs do have very distinct differences from theirs. Most people know us for what we can't do rather than what we can actually do.
The girl in the video was a classmate of mine at BYU Hawaii.
There is a fairly new website at http://www.mormon.org/people/ which has several videos made similar to these. You can see that we come from many different places and have a variety of interests. The thing we have in common is our commitment to Jesus Christ, to family and our neighbors.
On the website, you can choose a gender, age group and ethnicity to find someone perhaps more similar to yourself than those I have put up videos for. Each picture is linked to a profile and they tell their story. You can even chat with someone if you have more questions.
Facts about Mormons
As of December 2009:
Church Units
- Stakes 2,865
- Missions 344
- Districts 616
- Wards and Branches 28,424
Church Membership
- Total Church Membership 13,824,854
- New Children of Record during 2009 119,722
- Converts Baptized during 2009 280,106
Missionaries
- Number of Full-Time Missionaries 51,736
Temples
- Temples Dedicated during 2009 2
- Temples in Operation 130
Information taken from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Statistical Report given in the General Conference Aprill 2010.
Misconceptions about Mormons
Mormons are not Christians - we are!
Mormons reject salvation through the grace of Christ? We do believe that we are saved through the grace of Christ.
They believe good works alone bring salvation? We believe Christ paid the price for our sins on condition of our sincere effort and repentance.
Mormons are polytheistic. As in the Athanasian Creed, written some years after the Nicene Creed, it states:
"We worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity, neither confounding the persons, nor dividing the substance. For there is one person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Ghost."
The Father and the Son are physically distinct as is evident in John 17. The Father, Son and Holy Ghost are one Godhead and are physically separate, but unified in purpose.
Mormons worship Joseph Smith. We consider Joseph Smith as a prophet just like Moses and Abraham. He restored the gospel in these latter days.
So, as you can see, we can do a lot of things. Yes, we have rules about not smoking, not drinking, not dating before age 16; we believe in attending church every sunday, paying full tithing and helping the poor, and many more that I could go on about, but I will stop here. I hope this helped you to know more about Mormons (our nickname BTW).
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Thank you for your comments legendindia. I checked out your site too. I love the clothes and art. Aloha.
Interesting information about a much misconstrued subject...Bob
Glad you found it interesting diogenes. Thanks for stopping by and commenting.
And I am a Mormon Too! Thanks for clearing up some of the many misconceptions about our faith. Great hub.
Thanks for sharing this, Elayne. I would also like to know what is the differences between Mormon-Christians and other Christians.
elayne001: Hi! I'm Dave or David,I am a Christian and I am very pleased to meet you. As far as I know, and you can correct me if I am wrong, the only difference between a Mormon and a Christian is Joseph Smith the Mormon Prophet, and (if) He is a true prophet of God, I welcome him.
I have alway thought of Mormons as simply another "Arm" of Christianity,out to fulfil the commission of Jesus to spread The Holy Gospel and Baptize. This is what all Christianity must and should be doing, as we as disciples of Jesus are commissioned to do so.
Brother Dave.
I have known and worked with several Mormons and some former Mormons. Most of those that were Mormons were converts.In both cases they were good workers and easy to get along with.
Thank you Captain Jimmy for sharing those beautiful scriptures. We have been studying the Old Testament this year in our Sunday School. I love the Psalms and also Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. There are so many comforting and motivating words to be found there. As Mormons, we believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly. We feel blessed to have an additional book of scripture, The Book of Mormon, which is another testament of Christ. We also have a living prophet to guide us now, and we get to hear him twice a year in General Conferences (broadcast to the members worldwide) and monthly in our church magazine, The Ensign. When I am feeling stressed or down, I often think of that scripture you mentioned: Be still and know that I am God. Then I feel at peace.
@LianaK - thanks for sharing your faith also.
@Marty and @Dave - to explain some of the differences, you can read this article by one of our leaders: http://lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale
Very well done.
@dagoglund - glad that you have had positive experiences with a few members of our faith. We are all striving to be perfect, but as humans, we still have many failings. It is difficult to be a good example of your faith in all that you do. That is why we have repentance. Thanks for commenting.
Thanks Onusonus - I had to check your hub out - left my comments there. You are very creative. Peace!
I love your informative hub. I have never seen a more religiously tolerant group. In their Article of Faith the promote this very principle. "We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may." I have never regretted being a Mormon myself.
Thank you for sharing your faith.
Thanks isi for your addition to the hub. I am happy that you have never regretted your membership in the Mormon faith.
@LillyGrillzit - Thanks for visiting and leaving your comments.
Thank you for educating us on the Mormon faith and lifestyles Elayne.
I have noticed recently there have been a lot of commercials on prime time television with people saying they are Mormons. The message is obviously that they are letting the world know they are normal humans like the status quo.
I was wondering what the reasoning for doing this is? Does it have to do with the presidential election in two years and having a good candidate you want folks to accept as normal?
I just ask because I never see other religions doing this even though many are misunderstood by mainstream America.
I appreciate your question John, as it may seem so, but at this site you can read and see a video about what our church believes regarding political candidates:
http://lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/news-releases-stori
Also, here is the site that originated the idea for the mormon videos and how it got started:
http://lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/news-releases-stori
I think the intention is just to take the Mormons out of obscurity, since there is so much misunderstanding about our beliefs and lifestyle. Thanks for commenting.
Maybe you can answer another question.... what is the relevance of Michael in Mormonism, and is there any parallel with Christ?
There are many misconceptions about the variance between faiths, I know Mormons are considered a cult by mainstream Christianity, but why?
OK that's two questions!
John
I also have a question... How does the average person access the Mormon birth/death records when doing family history?
Thanks aguasilver. I am assuming you mean Michael the Archangel. Here is a great link to explain about him:
http://lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale
As far as us being called a cult by mainstream Christianity, not sure why they would think that - it is mostly because of misunderstandings or misconceptions about our beliefs.
@RunAbstract - my father is the geneologist in our family, but we have a website familysearch.com where we start our search for our ancestors. Here is a recent article about the site:
Thank you for writing this hub. I learned a lot from it.
Guys: This is whacky. Yes you have nice family values. But you promote yourselves like Proctor and Gamble promotes dish soap.
Hi Hello, hello, you are welcome - always enjoy your comments.
@Yoshi - It may seems that way - P & G, huh? that's quite an interesting observation. Pretty funny too. I'd call it sharing.
Thank you for your hub on Mormonism. Beautifully done.
I appreciate that vocalcoach. Thanks for your comments.
I have met some WONDERFUL people within the mormon community. They do the walk, not just the talk. I admire them very much so. Thanks for this article.
Thanks klarawieck. Glad you have had a good experience with members of the LDS church. I appreciate your comments. Aloha.
Sorry I don't agree with you, I am Christian and my beliefs are otherwise. I believe in the one and only God. You acted like you were a christian, I totally thought you were until i came to this hub.
Guess we have a different view on what a Christian is. We worship our Heavenly Father who gave his son, Jesus Christ to atone for our sins. Because of his sacrifice, he is the only true way back to our Father. Would love to hear more about what you believe peacegirl101, so I will be checking out your hubs too. Thanks for all your comments.
Yes we do, I agree with you about what you said that Heavenly Father gave his Son Jesus to die on the cross. Mormons also believe in Jesus like Christians do, but you also believe in other things that Christians don't, I have a question, what do you think is the difference between Christians and mormons? Thanks.
P.s. Please check my hubs if you want and if you do please comment to them i love when people comment to my hubs, sorry but you won't find anything in my hubs about what I believe, I only have 4 hubs, 1 is about dolphins the other 3 is about a virtual world on the computer called Webkinz World. Thanks elayne.
Thanks for the clarification elayne001. As a non Mormon living in Utah I cringe at the miss conceptions voiced out loud by supposedly intelligent educated people. Number one being that Utah is overrun with polygamist. I tire so of hearing the idiot jokes from those that no not what they speak.
Personally, my husband and I love living here. As former residents of Los Angeles, it's a breath of fresh air not to worry about being mugged or ducking bullets. Also we can mention God in a public setting without being made light of or ostracized.
Excellent subject matter voted up, marked useful.
I am glad you enjoy living in Utah. Three of my children live there (and eight grandchildren) and I miss them so much. Yes, most people just assume we are a cult and do not believe in Christ, but both are so wrong. Thanks for commenting.
I love it when people tell others what we really believe. Thank you for being an example for me.
I appreciate that Justin22. Some people feel threatened or defensive about their own religion when you tell them what you believe. You are very open minded and that is rare these days.
You forgot to mention the secret magic underwear.
Thanks peanutroaster. I am so glad I have them! And, BTW, they are sacred, not secret.
As of 12/31/2011 the audited worldwide membership of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-days Saints was 14,441, 346.
Don't forget the members who are added after death.
peanutroaster: Are you asking for a figure that includes the baptisms performed for the dead? (That would be an unfair comparison with the "growth" in other churches, for to my knowledge, no other church continues that practice of Christ's original church.)
Thanks for adding that information Perspycacious. It was announced at our General Conference last sunday.
Hi peanutroaster. We have to wait to see if they accent Christ - we only do the proxy work for them. Yes,
We believe in the same organization that existed in the Primitive Church, namely, apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists, and so forth. Other churches have strayed away from Christ's original church. Thanks for pointing that out.
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legendindia 21 months ago
Nice hub.Thank you for sharing your knowledge.
www.artoflegendindia.com