Mormon Women – About LDS Life and Belief

~by LeAnn

I remember as a youth attending early morning seminary during my 9th grade year. We would walk to our LDS Stake Center in Rose Park and meet in one of the class rooms. At first I was more interested in the boys in the class than listening to the teacher’s message. I also remember falling asleep a few times because it was so early.  I do remember at that time we were studying The Book of Mormon. I would often feel the warm sweet feelings of the Spirit testify of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. We  had an excellent teacher who was engaging.  Later on while attending West High School in Salt Lake City; we had released-time seminary. This meant that we could walked over to a seminary building during the class hour that we scheduled for seminary. I have many fond memories of my classes. I am sure I was more alert since the classes weren’t in the early morning hours.

I do have fond memories of carpooling with other parents to take our children to  early-morning seminary while living in Washington. I always thought how much fun it would be to be a seminary teacher. In my grown up years I loved teaching the youth so in the back of my mind I thought this would be a great opportunity.

In October of of 1994, I received a call asking if I would be interested in teaching an early-morning seminary class for students who were going to our local  high school. At that time my one daughter was a senior at the school and I thought it would be fun to have her in the class. As I contemplated doing this; I went over the pros and cons. Of course there were many pros but the con was getting up early in the morning. I knew this would be a challenge for me. It would be required me getting up around 5 am and then being in the class room around 6 am to prepare for the students arriving at 6:30. The next obstacle was that I would be starting in the middle of the year and would be teaching at the home of the sister who had started teaching that year. She had to quit to go back to work full-time [early-morning seminary teaching is a volunteer assignment] and didn’t feel she could continue with the class. I drove 12 miles to their home in Valley Forge and found that I would be teaching in a small room that was built in their garage. The room had a pot bellied stove and two small heaters.

There were 12 student desks in the room; this was the number of students that I would be teaching.  The room was warm, cozy and inviting. After fasting and prayer; I received my answer and knew  I was to accept this position.  This year the students were studying The Book of Mormon.

I found out quickly that I needed to be well prepared for each class. This meant preparing the lesson would require studying for 3-4 hours a day. I had always loved studying the scriptures and now I was able to really delve into them. Before starting to teach I made a home visit to each of the class members. It gave me the opportunity to get to know them before facing them in the class. There were only a couple of them that had difficulty attending every morning. I challenged them to come and feel the Spirit and learn from the Book of Mormon.

After Seminary I went home to prepare my lesson for the next day. I then ran some errands. When I came home I found my daughter in tears as she explained that there was a truck accident on the way home from school and she was told that David had been killed in this accident. The high school was a very small school and everyone knew each other well. I knew this was going to be tough on this little seminary class and I prayed so hard to know how to handle the situation. I cried  and felt so sad about losing this sweet dedicated young man. I canceled the class for the next day. I soon received a call that David’s father and mother wanted our little seminary class to sing the hymn,”I Need Thee Every Hour” at the funeral. I met with the students and they all said they would sing this hymn for David. We had a couple of quick practises and we prayed hard to have the spirit help us get through this assignment.  There was one young man that didn’t come very often and I was surprised when he came up and sang with the group. David’s funeral was attended by over 500 people. All the students from the high school came. The spirit of this occasion was very sad but sweet. My little group of seminary students sang the hymn and they sounded like angels. At the closing of the funeral all of the students at the High School went by David’s casket and laid a rose upon it in tribute to him.

After the funeral it was decided that we would hold classes in our stake center. The first morning back was really hard for us all. The room just didn’t seem the same. I can say that this one incident, although hard to go through brought  us all close as a group and filled our hearts with the comfort of the Holy Ghost. Out of this little group of young men and woman came a great force for good. The majority of the boys served LDS Missions, a few of the girls including my daughter served missions and almost all of them were married in the LDS Temple. I will always hold close to my heart a feeling of deep love for each of these young men and women.

A short time later I visited with David’s mother and she told me how much David loved our little class. We both knew that David had been called on mission to the Spirit World. I will always remember him fondly as he put his ball cap under his arm and started our seminary class each morning at 6:30 am.

LeAnn continued to teach early morning seminary for the next four years and had many varied and wonderful experiences with the young women and young men she was privileged to teach.

By LeAnn @ Living Waters

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Filed under: How We Live, Mormon Church Life

~by Michelle

This is a common question we get at Mormon Women. We’ve addressed it before (“Why do Mormons wear special underwear?“), but with Mitt Romney (himself a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) in the presidential election spotlight these days, we figured it’s a good question to address again.

And there is a recent Buzzfeed article (“A Brief Guide to Mormon Underwear“) that responds to the question both thoroughly and respectfully, so we wanted to share some of that as part of our response.

As Janelle said in her Mormon Women article, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints can “get uncomfortable when people ask [us] about [our temple] garments.” In his Buzzfeed article, McKay Coppins notes something similar: “Because garments are considered so sacred, Mormons tend to recoil when they hear non-Mormons make casual reference to their underwear–especially in a political context” (which is happening all the more these days).

But Coppins makes a good point…that this question is out there (the Book of Mormon musical and these presidential campaign contribute to people’s curiosity). And I think most Mormons would want people to understand that the principle behind garments is pretty simple. For all that people (e.g., Howard Rodney-Browne, Craig Bergman, Robert Jeffress) accuse us of being a cult, and some want to associate Mormon garments with cultish behavior, garments are simply, as quoted from lds.org in the Buzzfeed article, “an outward expression of an inward commitment.” Coppins notes:

[T]he principle behind Mormon garments would be familiar to any Baptist who’s worn a “What Would Jesus Do” bracelet, or any Jew who’s worn a yarmulke or tzitzit (woven threads Orthodox Jews wear on shawls under their shirts).

Mormon garments are tied to Mormon temples. Again, from McKay Coppins:

In temples, Mormons pledge to obey Biblical commandments, live chaste lives, and serve in the church–and the garments are worn to remind wearers of those promises.

Mormons begin wearing garments when they “go through the temple” for the first time–a spiritual rite of passage that typically coincides with leaving to serve a mission, or getting married. Children in the church don’t wear garments.

Find answers to other questions about Mormon garments in Coppins’ article, such as:

“What do [Mormon garments] look like?” (no photo is attached (they are sacred to us, and we appreciate when people respect that), but a simple description is given)

“How often are [temple garments] worn? Where do Mormons get them?”

“Are they magical?”

With regard to that last question, Coppins notes:

Mormons are taught that by putting on “the whole armor of God”–a Biblical metaphor regularly employed in LDS discussions of the subject–they are afforded protection from temptation, in that they have a physical reminder not to sin. But there’s no magical guarantee involved. Just as cheating spouses ignore the vows symbolized by their wedding ring, plenty of garment-wearing Mormons sin. The power is in the symbolism of the garments, not any kind of miracles that result from wearing them.

Let me add that the idea of “power” we may associate with the temple garment is, as he notes, not in wearing the fabric, but instead reflects our belief in God’s power. We believe as we seek to obey His commandments (keep our covenants), and as we remember, follow, and rely on the grace of His Son, Jesus Christ, we can feel and experience God’s power in our lives.

Simply put, temple garments help remind us both of our need to obey God and avoid sin (works), and remind us how all hope that we have depends on the Savior, Jesus Christ. Mormons believe that it is only through Him that we are saved (grace). This testimony of Jesus Christ is fundamental to the teachings in the Church and in the temple.

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For more information about “Mormon underwear” (Mormon temple garments), see the following articles:

from lds.org, temple garments explained in a manual for Mormons preparing to “go through the temple” for the first time

LDS Church Temples: Mormon Underwear

Why Mormonism: Mormon Underwear

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Filed under: How We Live, Mormon Temples, What We Believe

Following is a new video from Mormon Messages for Youth, with teachings from Sister Elaine Dalton’s talk “Remember who you are!” including thoughts about true, deep beauty:

[Deep] beauty … cannot be purchased. It [comes] from years of seeking the best gifts, becoming well educated, seeking knowledge by study and also by faith. It [comes] from years of hard work, of faithfully enduring trials with optimism, trust, strength, and courage. It [comes] from her unwavering devotion and fidelity to … husband, … family, and the Lord.

“[D]eep beauty” [is] the kind of beauty that shines from the inside out. It is the kind of beauty that cannot be painted on, surgically created, or purchased. It is the kind of beauty that doesn’t wash off. It is spiritual attractiveness. Deep beauty springs from virtue. It is the beauty of being chaste and morally clean. It is the kind of beauty that you see in the eyes of virtuous women…. It is a beauty that is earned through faith, repentance, and honoring covenants.

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Filed under: What We Believe

Seminary is a scripture-study class for high-school aged youth (ages 14-18) of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (friends are welcome!). Tonight, there will be an LDS satellite (and internet) broadcast commemorating 100 years of LDS seminary. President Boyd K. Packer will be the speaker.

Many Mormon youth meet in the early morning hours each day, before school, to have seminary classes. Sometimes seminary classes are held in a home, sometimes in a designated seminary building. Because The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has a lay clergy, LDS seminary is not for any specific clergy training, but is designed for personal spiritual growth and building wholesome, supportive networks of friends.

Hear what some Mormon youth say about seminary:

Mormon youth from Austria share what seminary means to them:

Johannes explains, “For me, being in seminary gives me power. When I go to school and all my friends talk about all kinds of stuff, it’s good to have some spiritual strength in the mornings.”

Julie says: “We have seminaryevery morning. It helps me start the day in a better spirit. We’re more cheerful and happy.”

Ben says: “When I go to seminary, I have better days. It really helps me a lot, even in school. I just don’t seem to have as many problems. The basic things you learn in seminary help in everyday life.”

LDS youth from Switzerland share their thoughts about seminary:

“In school, it’s hard to feel the Spirit, but in seminary, it’s like a warm touch in your heart.” Annika adds, “It’s a feeling you can’t describe. If you just read the scriptures, you can’t feel it as often. But if you study, yes, you feel it.”

Melissa says: ““You feel the Holy Ghost so strong, and you know you are doing what you should be doing.”

(From the article “Seminary Makes Me Happy”)

Dia from the Phillipines says this about the LDS seminary program:

“Seminary gives me the strength to continue to keep moving forward in the straight and narrow path in spite of the difficulties and challenges I encounter…. The things I have learned are the stepping stones and preparation for a greater and more profound knowledge of the gospel.”

Frazer, another Mormon youth, talks about other benefits of seminary:

“It was a relief to know that I had an automatic source of social interaction in Mutual, seminary, and church…. There is something … unique about forming strong friendships with people who love the gospel like you do, have the same standards, share common goals, and believe the same things.”

(from the Church News and Events article Seminary Program Anchors Youth in the Gospel)

To read more about the LDS seminary program, see the following articles:

Worldwide Seminary Program Anchors Students in the Gospel

LDS seminaries: 100 years of studying, learning and loving the Lord

Following are links for the Seminary Centennial Broadcast, which will be held live tonight at 6:00 p.m. MST.

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Filed under: How We Live

~by Michelle

After all the reading and reflecting on the recent “Mormons in America” study done by The Pew Forum on Religious and Public Life, I wanted to add a little endnote to the Deseret News series we have highlighted here. Today I want to focus on the topic of Mormons and politics. As always, my thoughts are mine and should not be interpreted to represent any official Mormon anything.

When people wonder about Mormons and their political positions, I like to look at issues such as immigration to illustrate that it’s not so easy to just pin us all down under one label. Yes, if you speak in generalities, Mormons can often tend to fall on the “conservative” end of things (as the Pew survey reflected). But as a friend of mine recently noted, “I know so many women in particular, who when you talk with them and get a handle on their views, they are aligned with progressive ideals and policies, but would never ever consider themselves liberal in the American definition of the term. So much comes down to semantics and semiotics.” (I think this is often the case with men, too, but she happens to do a lot of work with women.)

What does it really mean to be a Mormon conservative? A Mormon liberal? (Or in the U.S….A Mormon Republican? A Mormon Democrat?) Talk to any group of Mormons who identify themselves with such labels and you will likely get some different answers (nevermind the fact that what is “conservative” or “liberal” could mean different things in different countries, maybe even different regions within a country).

On a related note, whenever the topic of Mormons and politics comes up, I am anxious to bring up what our church leaders say about politics and political parties, that  “Principles compatible with the gospel may be found in various political parties.”

In reality, there is no party or platform or political policy or presidential candidate that perfectly represents the full sum of what Mormon beliefs include. We as Mormons value the political process of people doing their homework and voting their consciences. And the results of and opinions throughout that process will vary, even among members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

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You can read more at the LDS Newsroom about the LDS Church’s position on political party neutrality and political involvement .

Read more at Mormon Women on the topic of Mormons and politics here and here

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Filed under: How We Live