What are Sundays For?

There seems to be a common notion that Sundays are for, pick one:
Sleeping all day
Camping
Skiing
Golfing
Boating
Shopping
Going to movies
Watching sports all day
Going out to eat
Anything but going to church
Playing football or other sports
Clean house
Wash the car

What do I as a Mormon believe?
All of them are wrong.

What is Sunday for?
Going to Church to remember God, Jesus, and renewing the covenants, promises, we made when we were baptized.

Mormons, in one of our Sunday meetings, called sacrament meeting, take the sacrament. It consists of bread and water.

In taking the small piece of bread we are to remember that Christ gave his life to allow all of us to overcome death, be resurrected, and live forever.

Drinking the small cup of water reminds us that Christ shed his blood in the garden of Gethsemane to pay for our sins if we accept his sacrifice, repent, and follow him.

Prayer on the sacramental bread

"O God, the Eternal Father, we ask thee in the name of thy Son, Jesus Christ, to bless and sanctify this bread to the souls of all those who partake of it; that they may eat in remembrance of the body of thy Son, and witness unto thee, O God, the Eternal Father, that they are willing to take upon them the name of thy Son, and always remember him, and keep his commandments which he hath* given them, that they may always have his Spirit to be with them. Amen."

In the prayer on the bread we are to do three things:
Eat it in remembrance of the body of Christ
We are willing to take upon us the name of Christ
Always remember Christ

Prayer on the sacramental water
"O God, the Eternal Father, we ask thee, in the name of thy Son, Jesus Christ, to bless and sanctify this wine [water] to the souls of all those who drink of it, that they may do it in remembrance of the blood of thy Son, which was shed for them; that they may witness unto thee, O God, the Eternal Father, that they do always remember him, that they may have his Spirit to be with them. Amen."

In the prayer on the water we are to do three things:
Remember the blood of Christ, that paid for our sins.
Witness to God that we do remember Him.
That we will have his Spirit to be with us.

What is right for Mormons to do on Sundays?
Go to Church
Take the sacrament and renew our promises to God and Christ.
Spend time with family.
Visit family members.
Eat - I like this one particularly well.
Read
Study the scriptures
Eat - there that is again, but no, pigging out on Sunday is not what we are supposed to do. Simple meals are what we should focus on, not elaborate meals that cause lots of work.
Watch a video with the family? Well, yes, I do this. Some people don't, but I do. We are just careful what we watch.

There are lots of others.
Does that mean that no Mormon watches sports on Sundays?
No. Lots do, but lots don't. We all try to follow the best we can.

Should we travel on Sunday? Probably not, because it takes away from the purpose of the day.

Have I ever traveled on Sunday?
Yes.

Should I have traveled on Sunday?
No. We could have probably worked around it when it happened, but like I said, we all are trying the best we can. Sometimes we don't get it all right.

Do I ever get it all right?
No.

Am I trying to get it all right and be a better person?
Yes. That is the secret, a long sustained effort to follow Christ.

Focusing our life on money and possessions leads to a life of unhappiness.
Following Christ and serving others brings happiness, peace, and a fulfilled life.

Christ's church has been restored with the truth that was lost after He and his apostles died. It is important to know that, and to find the truth. Today

Until Death Do You Part

What a great thing to hear as the final part of your marriage ceremony!

Sounds like something to be excited about.

I can't imagine being married and then reminded that this marriage that you have waited for and been excited for has, in essence, a divorce decree built in.

Is there more?
Yes

Part of what we believe, is that when we are married in one of our most sacred buildings, a temple, where only worthy Church members can go, that if we live worthily, we can be with our spouse for eternity.
Wow

Together forever. Part of the God's plan of happiness for us.

There's more. Lots more.

Find answers to many of lifes hardest questions at mormon.org

Kindness

This story was told by a prophet of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

His message to everyone was to be kind, love others.

He died last year.

He was a prophet of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Heaven or Hell? Who goes Where?

Who goes to heaven? Who goes to Hell?

If you listen to some in the world, this is what happens to people.

Babies who die - Hell
Young children who have not been baptized - Hell
People who live good lives but have never heard the true gospel - Hell
People who have grown up knowing nothing except worshiping idols, statues, multiple gods - Hell
Good people who have spent their lives serving others who have never been baptized - Hell

What do Mormons believe?
Well, we believe literally what Christ taught, that everyone must be baptized.
Even He set the example to show that everyone who wants to enter God's kingdom must be baptized.

So, does that mean He didn't love everyone and that only those who happened to hear the gospel and were baptized can dwell with God for eternity?

Well, we believe that He provided a way for everyone to have that chance.

We believe that after death, we go to a place to await resurrection. In that place, everyone who has lived is taught the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Each person has the chance to either accept or reject Christ and his gospel.

But they're dead! What can they do about it if they accept the gospel? They can't be baptized!

Therein comes the beauty of Christ's restored gospel. With restoring His Church and His gospel comes His authority, his priesthood, to baptize those who are living as proxies for those who are dead.

So yes, we believe in baptism for the dead. That doesn't mean we dig anyone up and baptize them. It does mean that a member of the Church can enter one of our temples and with the name of their deceased relative, they can be baptized in that dead persons behalf.

Does that mean that the person is forced to become a member of Christ's church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints?

No. We believe that we have our agency, our ability to choose, to accept or reject Christ and his gospel in this life or after death.

That means that after the proxy baptism has been performed, that deceased person will have the opportunity to accept it or reject it.

Is that true for babies and young children? No. They are a different case.

We believe that the age of accountability, the ability to know right from wrong, is age eight. Those younger than eight are incapable of sin, because to sin means you know something is wrong and you do it anyway.

Children who die before the age of eight are perfect and return to God without the need for baptism, because they were never capable of sin.

Those eight and older will choose for themselves to accept or reject. Every person will have the chance, no matter if the person lived in a big city but never heard the gospel, or if the person lived in a hut and believed in a stone god. Every person will hear, learn, understand, and then choose for themselves.

It may seem that everyone, when they are dead and hear the gospel, would accept Christ. Maybe, maybe not, but they will have the ability to choose, something they never had the chance to do here.

That was part of the plan God made for us when he let us come to earth. Our freedom to choose to follow him or not.

He loved all of us then, he loves all of us now.

He loves you too. You were part of his plan.

What are you doing about it?

Did Christ Pay for Everyone's Sins?

Yes. But, only if they repent.

It is easy to say that you accept Christ as your savior.

It is another thing altogether to repent and follow Christ.

If you say you accept Him and do nothing, it counts for nothing.

As a Mormon, I believe that you must accept Him as your savior, repent of your sins, keep the commandments and live a Christ-like life.

You don't have to be perfect, but your life must be a constant effort to follow him and try to become like him.

If you accept him, you must follow him. Repent. Change. Become more like him.

He has revealed truth in modern times through a modern prophet.

A living prophet guides the Lord's Church today.

It's true. Find out for yourself at Mormon.org

Isn't there more to life?

What do you expect out of life? Money, toys, the wild life?

It's interesting that in interviews of lottery winners, those people many envy, that most were happier before they won.

How can that be? They have everything. Money to buy anything they want and they still aren't happy.

So, what does make people happy.
Someone to love and who truly loves you.
Belief in something larger than yourself, like God.
Doing something for others - service.
Knowing the truth.

The truth can make you free. And happy.
Find more of the truth at Mormon.org

Mormons Mormons Everywhere

You find Mormons in most places and you would generally never know it.

They don't have horns - I was actually asked where mine were. It was in California years ago. I couldn't believe that ANYONE was dumb enough to believe Mormons have horns.

Mormons, at least some, do have dumb jokes, a crazy sense of humor, sometimes no sense, sometimes no sense of humor, sometimes sensitive, sometimes not.

Do you know why?

Because, and this is a secret, don't tell anyone. We are real people just like everyone else.

Some of us like dogs and cats, some don't.
Some of us are healthy, some are not.
Some are exercise nuts, others are not.
Some are are excellent gardeners and the only thing others can grow is older.
Some are rich, some are poor, many are in-between.
Some read the scriptures every single day. Others don't.
Some are faithful. Others not.

The thing that unites us is a belief that after Christ and the Apostles died, the priesthood power of Christ was lost as was the truth that he taught.

It was gone for hundreds of years until in a grove of trees, God and Jesus Christ appeared to a young boy named Joseph Smith.

They told him that the truth was not on the earth, that the truth had been lost, and that they would restore it through him.

In the years that followed, they revealed that which had been lost. He paid for teaching the truth with his life, when a mob shot and killed him in cold blood.

He was a prophet of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. From that time to now there has been a living prophet and apostles on the earth, receiving revelations to help everyone, including you, find peace through the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.

It's time to listen. It's time to change. It's time to follow Christ.

The truth is here on earth. You can find it.

Want to know more? Find it at mormon.org

What happened before this life?

God created us as spirits before this life.

We started life as spirit children of God, complete with a bodies of spirit.

We were like our Heavenly Father, God, but his body was of flesh and bone.

He is the father of our spirit bodies.

He knew, that with bodies of spirit, that there were things we could not experience and could not ever know and could not ever learn.

Because of His love for us, he gave us a choice to come to this life and obtain a physical body. With that physical body we would be able to experience pleasure and pain, happiness and sadness, sickness and health. Everything we couldn't do as spirits.

Part of our coming to earth was the ability to choose right from wrong. That was part of Heavenly Father's plan for us. He wanted us to be able to choose to follow him or to follow a different way. Because he loves us so much, He gave us this freedom to choose.

He knew that some would follow Him and some would choose to follow Satan.

He knew that if we did wrong that we would need a way to be forgiven of those wrongs.

In our life before this earth life, Jesus Christ, our brother, offered to pay the price for the sins of those who would repent. For those who would not repent, they would have to pay for their own sins.

God loved us so much he gave us a chance to prove ourselves and return to live with Him again.

He loved us so he sent his firstborn son to help us return.

It's true.