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Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints I hope this page will help you to understand a little more about Mormonism. It is true that many still think of us as a cult or a secret society, but we are Christians. There is really nothing odd about us, and the reasons for our beliefs can all be found in doctrine. The one thing that I think stands out in our belief is that we have the gift of a modern-day prophet to give us revelations from Heavenly Father. We believe that after Jesus and the 12 Apostles died, the gift of revelation was broken from the earth. This is what Mormons refer to as "The Apostacy". When Joseph Smith restored the Gospel onto the earth in the early 1800's, the gift of prophecy was restored along with it. We believe in modern day revelation and believe it to be the word of God given through our modern day prophet. The name of our living prophet at this time is Gordon B. Hinckley. At the time of his death, there will be another, as there have been in the past since the time of Joseph Smith. Our prophet is also the President of our church, receiving no compensation for his calling. No one in our church organization, from the local Sunday School Teachers right up to the President, receives compensation for their calling. We believe this is a duty to our Heavenly Father, and that our willingness to accept these callings are what enables us to grow and learn and receive blessings. We believe that tithing is another way of showing our faith in Heavenly Father. As referenced in many scriptures (Genesis 28:22 and Numbers 18:26, for example), tithing is one-tenth of our income. There are few that find this a hard thing to do, as the blessings we receive far outweigh the money we give. We believe that families can be together forever by a holy ordinace performed in our Temples known as "sealing". A man and woman married in the Temple are sealed for all time and eternity, as well as any children born of that marriage, as long as husband and wife remain true to each other. Those who did not marry in the Temple can also be sealed; it is most commonly referred to as Temple Marriage. Any children that have been born before this sealing will be brought to them during the ceremony and sealed also. Any children born unto them afterward are sealed as well. I am sure you have seen some of the videos our church offers advertised on television. These, like the Book of Mormon, are free with no obligation to you. If you are interested in receiving any of these videos, please call. Our family enjoys watching them tremendously. We believe that the dead can be redeemed. We have been taught that geneaology is a very important part of our work on earth because we can do Temple work for those members of our families who did not have the chance to accept the Gospel while alive. We can perform baptisms for the dead by proxy, and seal past family members also... this is why it is so important to seek out your ancestry. We partake of a weekly sacrament. In this, we renew our baptismal convenant with Heavenly Father, and promise to take upon us the name of Jesus Christ and to always remember him. I truly hope this has helped you to understand a bit more about our religion. If there are some things that you'd like to know more about, please check out the Frequently Asked Questions section. If you cannot find your answer their, you can email me directly and I will try my best to help. |
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