What Do Mormons Believe? – Page 17 – "We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost."

Question Box: How Far Can I Go?

Q. How far can I go with my boyfriend, whom I love with all of my heart and am planning on being right here waiting for him when he returns off his mission, before he leaves his mission?

A. I have toddlers. I wasn’t expecting to answer this question for 10 years from now! The answer is: Hold hands. Kiss innocently and sweetly. Hug while standing up. Make your interactions as pure and selfless as you can. Instead of showing your love physically, show it through service to each other. When you are dating a person that you are madly in love with, it feels like you are sitting on top of a little piece of matter that could EXPLODE at any instant and create an entirely new universe. It’s intense and fresh and wonderful. But you have to keep it under control. Make it your hobby to keep it innocent.

The best reason is because God told us to. Lots of times, and lots of places. “Bridle all your passions that ye may be filled with love” Alma 38:12. And having His blessing on your physical union is SO important after you are married. If you give way to Satan and your own lust while you are dating, you risk losing God’s help right after you are married. And Satan doesn’t want married couples to have perfect intimacy, he wants to destroy that. So he wants you to have exciting, sinful, distorted intimacy before marriage and guilty, self-conscious, marred connections once you finally are married. That’s Satan’s plan. And it leads to all sorts of unhappiness in every phase of your life. God’s plan is the opposite: You have sweet, pure interactions (not intimacy) before marriage, even though it is SO. HARD. and you keep from arousing that universe within each of you until you are married, and then after marriage, you have wonderful, satisfying and holy intimacy, blessed by God. You will be so glad you waited. The atonement is very real and very good at healing these relationships, but why even cause Christ to suffer for that? Why not just follow God’s plan through from the beginning? It will come soon enough after you are married–and if you don’t end up marrying him, you won’t have wasted your precious self on someone you won’t be with forever.

Are Mormons Honest?

One of the lessons taught today in church was about honesty. It came from the Gospel Principles book. This book contains very succinct teachings, structured in lesson format, about the major doctrines of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. As I was listening to the lesson, there were several principles of honesty that stood out to me that I need to be better at, or had never thought about.

Most members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints strive to be honest in all things. Occasionally I do hear stories of how some church members have been dishonest. I apologize if you have been wronged or lied to by one of our church members. No one is perfect, so please don’t let the actions of an imperfect person cloud your view of our church.

I would encourage you to read the lesson by clicking here, but here are some excerpts that really stood out to me.

Lying is intentionally deceiving others. Bearing false witness is one form of lying. The Lord gave this commandment to the children of Israel: “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour” (Exodus 20:16). Jesus also taught this when He was on earth (see Matthew 19:18). There are many other forms of lying. When we speak untruths, we are guilty of lying. We can also intentionally deceive others by a gesture or a look, by silence, or by telling only part of the truth. Whenever we lead people in any way to believe something that is not true, we are not being honest. . .

Jesus taught, “Thou shalt not steal” (Matthew 19:18). Stealing is taking something that does not belong to us. When we take what belongs to someone else or to a store or to the community without permission, we are stealing. Taking merchandise or supplies from an employer is stealing. Copying music, movies, pictures, or written text without the permission of the copyright owners is dishonest and is a form of theft. Accepting more change or goods than one should is dishonest. Taking more than our share of anything is stealing. . .

We cheat when we give less than we owe, or when we get something we do not deserve. Some employees cheat their employers by not working their full time; yet they accept full pay. Some employers are not fair to their employees; they pay them less than they should. Satan says, “Take the advantage of one because of his words, dig a pit for thy neighbor” (2 Nephi 28:8). Taking unfair advantage is a form of dishonesty. Providing inferior service or merchandise is cheating. . .

People use many excuses for being dishonest. People lie to protect themselves and to have others think well of them. Some excuse themselves for stealing, thinking they deserve what they took, intend to return it, or need it more than the owner. Some cheat to get better grades in school or because “everyone else does it” or to get even. . .

These excuses and many more are given as reasons for dishonesty. To the Lord, there are no acceptable reasons. When we excuse ourselves, we cheat ourselves and the Spirit of God ceases to be with us.

It was a good reminder to me how easy it is to be dishonest in our world today and that I need to watch myself in everything I do and say.

Father’s Day

Happy Father’s Day!

Today in church, the young children went up to the front and sang some songs about fathers that they have been practicing for the last couple of weeks. It was fun to hear and see them sing. I also watched with great interest as my oldest son, who is 3 years old, sang along.

I haven’t been a dad very long and I’m still learning a lot. Some things I’ve learned so far are just little things, like how to get marker out of the carpet or how to make the tastiest Mac and Cheese, but some of the things I’ve learned are on more of a deeper level. Maybe fatherhood and ageing has given me a different perspective.

As I watch my two toddlers, I often think about our Heavenly Father watching over us. I think of the love that He has for us. When my son works on a puzzle, gets stuck and asks for help, I’m willing to help him out with it. I also think about God being eager to help us if we come to him with our problems. The scripture in Matthew 7:9-11 fits well:

“Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask of him?”

My wife shared with me an experience she had when she took our son to get his immunization shots. Our son has always been really trusting. Even when he’d cry as a baby, he’d just call out and then wait for us to take care of him. He just wasn’t a big crier. Well, as the shots were administered, a look of pain and shock overcame his face. He looked up with an expression of “how could you let this happened to me?” My wife admitted she started crying too. She felt so bad for him and wanted to somehow tell him that the shots were to help him. It would only hurt for a little while. Later, she realized that Heavenly Father must feel the same way when we go through our trials in life. They may be painful or seem really hard at the time, but they really help us learn and become stronger people.

What are some insights that you have gained that demonstrate our relation, as children, to our Heavenly Father?

What Do Mormons Believe: Spiritual strength

“Spiritual strength is essential to a person’s temporal and eternal well-being. Church members grow in spiritual strength as they develop their testimonies, exercise faith in Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, obey God’s commandments, pray daily, study the scriptures and the teachings of latter-day prophets, attend Church meetings, and serve in Church callings and assignments.” ¹

“Nirina J-Randriamiharisoa of Madagascar currently lives in France while she pursues her education. When she first arrived, she struggled with loneliness and homesickness. ‘I sought for solace through prayer, scripture reading, and the gentle whisperings of the Holy Spirit,’ says Nirina. ‘These things brought me closer to Heavenly Father and the Savior, and I felt peace.’

“In time Nirina made friends and participated in activities within and outside the Church and found happiness. But then some tragic news from home shook her world. ‘One morning I received a message telling me that my brother had died. I had no idea I could feel such sadness. In the days and weeks that followed, I struggled through moments of loneliness, anger, and despair. Doing even the most basic things became serious challenges.’

“A few months later, a close friend also passed away. The added sorrow increased Nirina’s already-heavy burden. For just a moment Nirina considered not attending church, but then she remembered that the same things that had buoyed her in her earlier difficulties could bolster her now.

“‘As I had when I first moved to France, I sought comfort in prayer, scripture reading, and the Holy Ghost. Through this I discovered more strongly that the Spirit and the doctrine of eternal families can bring us comfort and that the Atonement of Jesus Christ has a real effect in our lives,’ she says. ‘Whatever trials we face, there are no ‘dead ends’ with the Lord. His plan is a plan of happiness.” ²

“A strong testimony gives peace, comfort, and assurance. It generates the conviction that as the teachings of the Savior are consistently obeyed, life will be beautiful, the future will be secure, and there will be capacity to overcome the challenges that cross our path. A testimony grows from understanding truth distilled from prayer and the pondering of scriptural doctrine. It is nurtured by living those truths with faith anchored in the secure confidence that the promised results will be obtained.” ³

For more information on self-reliance and provident living, see Providing in the Lord’s Way: Summary of A Leader’s Guide to Welfare, available in many languages at providentliving.org .

What Do Mormons Believe: Finances

Members of the church are encouraged to wisely manage their finances. Leaders of the church have said:

“We urge you to be modest in your expenditures; discipline yourselves in your purchases to avoid debt. …

“If you have paid your debts and have a financial reserve, even though it be small, you and your family will feel more secure and enjoy greater peace in your hearts.”¹

“All of us are responsible to provide for ourselves and our families in both temporal and spiritual ways. To provide providently, we must practice the principles of provident living: joyfully living within our means, being content with what we have, avoiding excessive debt, and diligently saving and preparing for rainy-day emergencies.” ²

“Successful family finances begin with the payment of tithes and offerings. When members put the Lord first, they are better able to care for themselves and others. Another part of successful financial management involves knowing your income and expenses and controlling money rather than letting it control you.” ³

For more information, visit the Family Finances section of providentliving.org or refer to the pamphlet All Is Safely Gathered In: Family Finances.

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Tithing