The apostle Peter was addressing the early worthy members of Christ’s Church when he called them a “royal priesthood”:

But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light…(1 Peter 2:9).

Although some friends of other faiths think Christ was the great and last high priest, although He is the greatest high priest, the priesthood continued under His apostles even after Christ’s great sacrifice.  Priests were called as the apostles were called, from their worldly vocations, to serve in Christ’s Church.  This pattern, and the priesthood authority and power, have been restored in these latter days, the dispensation of preparation for the Second Coming of Christ.

In Christ’s ancient church there was no paid clergy.  Although Christ’s followers were originally considered a sect of Judaism, Jesus never called any member of the paid Jewish clergy to administer in His Church.  Instead, seeing into the hearts of men, He called fishermen and publicans to be His under-shepherds.  This is also the pattern in Christ’s Church today.  There is no professional clergy in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, often inadvertently referred to as the Mormon Church.  All worthy men are eligible to hold some measure of priesthood, which is the power and authority to act in the name of God, a portion of the power by which God runs the universe.  Women share in this power, and it is by and through this power that every spiritual gift named in the Bible abounds in this, Christ’s true and living Church.

Administration and Ministration in the Mormon Priesthood

Nowadays, people seek spirituality as they shy away from organized religion.  This is in most part due to disappointment with religious organizations of our time and with the professional clergy of those churches.  God’s true Church, however, does exist on the earth, and it is remarkable because it has been organized by the Savior Himself through modern prophets, according to the organization of Christ’s ancient church.  In other words, God’s church should be the most organized religion on earth, and it is.

The administration of The Church of Jesus Christ is managed through the Church’s lay clergy.  At the top is the prophet, the apostles, and the seventies, just as in biblical times.  There are seventies over various areas of the world who oversee not only congregations (wards) and administered groups of congregations (stakes), but missions administered by mission presidents.  The prophet, apostles, and first two quorums of the seventy serve for life once they are called out of their worldly vocations.  Other seventies, bishops who lead congregations, and stake presidents who lead groups of congregations, usually serve in their positions for about 5 years.  Experienced leaders train new leaders.  Manuals and teaching materials are correlated and are the same world-wide, as are teaching schedules and activities.  The Church is the same wherever you go, and congregations are organized by locality, so members don’t flock to leaders with charisma.  The prophet and apostles and a few other higher leaders who serve long-term may receive a financial stipend if they need it (most don’t), but all other positions in the church are entirely unpaid.  This prevents “priestcraft,” or preaching for gain.  Mormons are counseled not to aspire to positions and reminded that “calls” to serve come from God through the promptings of the Holy Ghost to those who have stewardship over them.  As a woman in the Church who has served in many callings of great responsibility, I can testify that God does indeed choose Mormons for callings through their leaders, as I have taken those names to my bishop.  I received them through inspiration, and he confirmed them through inspiration.

Administration of The Church of Jesus Christ is shared by men and women.  While men are apostles, seventies, mission presidents, bishops and stake presidents, women head the Relief Society (women’s organization – over 6 million strong), Young Women, and Primary (children’s organization) of the Church.  Administration on the local level follows the same pattern.  All welfare requests go through both the Relief Society President and the Bishop of a congregation.  On the general church level, female leaders counsel with male leaders before and after decisions are made through revelation.

Ministering is also a shared responsibility, since service is the watchword for Mormons.  A great deal of good is performed by both men and women in the Church, both in planned service and spontaneous, private service:

Verily I say, men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness…(Doctrine and Covenants 58:27)

Offices of the Mormon Priesthood

As at the time of Christ, there are two priesthoods, the greater (Melchizedek) and the lesser (Aaronic) priesthoods.  The formal name of the higher priesthood is The Holy Priesthood after the Order of the Son of God.  It is called the Melchizedek Priesthood (after Melchizedek, King of Salem, and great high priest of the Old Testament) to keep from using the name of deity too often.  It is referred to numerous times in the New Testament.  It is the priesthood the apostles held that enabled them to perform miracles of healing and other manifestations of God’s power.  This same power with the same results is fully manifest on the earth today in God’s true church.

Worthy young men as young as age 12 may become Aaronic priesthood holders as Deacons and at 14 may become Teachers, and at 16, Priests.  A priest can baptize and bless the sacrament (like the Eucharist).  The Aaronic priesthood deals with the foundational principles of the gospel — repentance and sacrifice — and holds the keys to the ministering of angels.

Worthy young men as young as 18 may be ordained to the Holy Melchizedek Priesthood.  Male Mormon missionaries receive this priesthood and make higher covenants in Mormon temples before they depart for missionary service.  Thus, while not holding the same administrative position in The Church of Jesus Christ as an apostle, they do hold the same priesthood power, just not the same keys for exercising it, nor the same callings in which to use it.

Women and the Priesthood

It is through priesthood power that miracles happen.  When people say there is power in prayer, it is the priesthood power that makes things happen — God’s priesthood, Christ’s priesthood.  Although women do not heal others through the laying on of hands as a pattern in the Church, through temple covenants, women share in the priesthood power of their husbands and may bring forth miracles through prayer.  They often receive revelation for guiding their families and performing their callings in the Church.

Women also exercise priesthood authority within the walls of Mormon temples, sealing ordinances upon other women there.  In the eternities, women will share every blessing and power with their husbands as priestesses to the Most High God, if they merit exaltation into His presence and become co-heirs with Christ.  There is no disadvantage to women in the assigning of men to certain positions of administration in the Church or to certain kinds of ministration in the Church.

What all worthy Mormons yearn for is to eventually have their “calling and election made sure.”  This is to receive by the sealing power of Elijah, the assurance that one will be sealed up to eternal life in the presence of the Father.  Women have all the power they need to eventually reach this point.  The more they progress in their attributes to become more like the Savior, the closer they get to the point where they can see Christ and know that He lives and be assured of eternal life.

As a Mormon woman married in the temple to a worthy Mormon priesthood holder, I have had many years of experience both in service and in receiving the myriad blessings of the priesthood.  When I or one of my children have been ill or confused, my husband has exercised his priesthood power through the laying on of hands to give us priesthood blessings of comfort and healing.  Many of these have been prophetic and have given us guidance to help us into the future.  I have also been able to call upon this shared power to heal my children or better understand them, through prayer.  These healings have been great.  I am the daughter of a mother with Narcissistic Personality Disorder, and her mother was likewise afflicted.  Through the very real priesthood power, I have been healed of every injury —emotional, spiritual, and psychological — caused by that situation.  The priesthood is one of my greatest blessings.  I can’t imagine life without it.

An Old Bible, Lost for Decades, Reveals a Mormon Family’s Ancestors

Ed and Dawna Jones serve as “senior Mormon missionaries.”  Senior missionaries are retirees who are willing to donate their time for 6 to 23 months in the service of God.  Senior missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, often inadvertently called the Mormon Church, serve in many capacities.  Elder and Sister Jones are family history missionaries and offer their services at a Mormon Family History Center in San Diego, California.  These family history centers tend to be small and rely on the internet, genealogy software, and loans from the main library in Salt Lake City.  Before launching out on their mission, Elder and Sister Jones had worked on their own ancestral lines, submitting the information in order to complete Mormon temple ordinances for their dead.  These ordinances begin with baptism and proceed through covenants meant to join family members together in eternity.

One day at the San Diego LDS Family History Center, Elder Jones received a phone call from Gwen Whitlock.  She had in her possession an antique family Bible she had received from a gentleman who had found it in the trash some 40 years before.  She desired to donate it to the Center.  Not having much room for such things, especially a Bible this huge, Elder Jones was hesitant, but invited Whitlock to bring the Bible over, especially since it seemed to contain some genealogical information.  Family trees have often been handwritten into Bibles over the years.

A Miraculous Discovery

The rare Bible itself was a treasure. It was compiled by the Rev. Joseph Knight and published in 1815. It included the Old and New Testaments, as well as the Apocrypha. It also contained illustrations and a collection of beautiful etchings.

As they turned the pages, the Joneses discovered a more priceless and personalized treasure. Inside they found ornately handwritten genealogical records going back into the 1700s. When Dawna Jones saw the last name “Hammond,” her jaw dropped in disbelief. The names, dates and information belonged to her husband’s direct English ancestral line.

“It just blew our socks off,” Ed Jones said. “I knew there was a hole in the line, and … this (information) closed that hole. I didn’t have to look it up on the pedigree chart, I just knew. It was literally the biggest blessing we have ever received in family history. It was phenomenal.” [1]

Ed Jones’ mother had converted to Mormonism at the age of 87.  She had spent her final years engaged in family history work, and it seemed she had found everything that could be found. People at the library began to gather around the Jones’ and Whitlock, who was dumbfounded by what was transpiring.  Soon all were in tears at the obvious miracle which had occurred.  Whitlock had hoped to find the Hammond family, but had stumbled upon them “accidently.”

Over the years, Whitlock and her husband, the Rev. Carl Whitlock, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Pacific Beach in San Diego, have searched for a Hammond descendent among their friends and congregation, but to no avail.  Said Whitlock, “It’s been such a wonderful, spiritual story of how God put it (the Bible) for him to find, to bring to me, for me to hold it for them. Then for God to impress me to take it the day the Joneses were there is a miracle of huge proportions.”

Elder and Sister Jones want to return the favor, so they are researching the Whitlocks’ family history for them.

Miracles Attend the Work of the Lord

Since I am the only member of The Church of Jesus Christ in my family, I’m the only one working on family history.  It had been extremely difficult to find anything until genealogical help began to appear online.  Then things got somewhat better.  I had an uncle who had researched one line quite a bit, but he wouldn’t share the information with me for many years.  One day he received an email from a person he had never heard of.  The person was quite an accomplished genealogist, not a member of The Church of Jesus Christ.  She had been researching a line, thinking she tied into it, but she was mistaken.  My uncle had no interest, so he referred her to me.  She sent me a manila envelope containing a number of 8 ½” x 11” sheets of paper, taped together end to end.  It turned out to be a pedigree chart about 5 feet wide, taking one of my own ancestral lines back to 1700.

I can attest to the fact that family history work is of interest to us and to our deceased ancestors.  This work is proceeding on both sides of the veil, and it is inspiring and thrilling to be part of it.

Blessed from the Beginning

I have to admit that I had a good start, having been born in post-World War II America to educated parents.  They provided me with the ability to get an education and develop my talents.  We had lots of books in the house, had access to dental and medical care, and all the perks associated with the middle class.  But I was wanting spiritually.  I can see now that God led me in a direction from my youth so that I would find The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (often inadvertently called the Mormon Church).  Finding the Church at age 15 saved me from the vicissitudes and craziness of the ‘60’s and helped me to navigate a safe path through my college years.

Protection and Guidance

Although I was the only member of The Church of Jesus Christ in my family, I found support in my friends, church associates, and college roommates.  I strove to live according to the commandments of Jesus Christ as they came down through Mormon prophets, and living those commandments saved me from some pretty dangerous stuff.

I never did smoke or use drugs.  I never drank.  And I worked to follow the Lord’s standard of sexual abstinence outside of marriage.  My freshman year of college, I attended my parents’ choice of schools for me, and it was a party school.  My friends there struggled every day with their decisions, especially in the area of sexual morality.  Their desires and the peer pressure they faced placed them in the position of trying to make their way with a situational morality.  They never could find a standard that didn’t shift with the occasion.  They struggled with guilt and the wonderment that comes with trying to formulate a new life philosophy on a daily basis.  They seemed agitated and confused.  If they drank too much, all their decisions blew away with the wind, and they had to deal with the aftermath.

The hardest part about my freshman year of college was having these students, many of them older and more accomplished than I, come to me crying about their rootlessness.  By the end of the year, I was drained.  I was too young to carry their burdens, especially if they weren’t interested in making the sacrifices necessary to join me on the path Christ has laid out for us.

I transferred to a college owned by The Church of Jesus Christ, and there, I had an easier time.  I married a returned Mormon missionary, and we established a home and started a family.  Having been raised by intellectual parents in an adult-oriented home, I had to feel my way into Mormon motherhood with help from the Church provided by the loving sisters there who taught me many skills.

How the Truth Has Made Me Free

Because of the revelatory commandments of The Church of Jesus Christ, my husband and I have been free from many of the things that trouble our peers in the world at large.  We have never had to worry about the possible ravages or damage caused by sexual promiscuity.  In our eternally committed Mormon temple marriage, we have enjoyed decades of intimacy without any lonely periods.  We have been able to work through any low spots in our marriage with an eternal perspective in mind.  We’ve had no addictions to interrupt our good relationship.  We’ve raised six amazing children and now have thirteen super grandchildren  a large and loving family with enough members that there is always someone to call upon in times of need.

We have enjoyed personal revelation and  the power of healing through the Mormon  Priesthood to carry us through times of illness and financial difficulty, and by following the Holy Spirit, have enjoyed experiences that might not have otherwise come our way.  We’ve lived in five countries and traveled in many, many more than that, meeting wonderful people all over the world.

We have avoided the spiritual confusion caused by not having access to the Real Answers.  The more we study our faith, the firmer we become in our assurance that God lives, and that Jesus Christ is the Savior of us all.  We have had real help from the other side of the veil.  It has actually saved my life on several occasions.  I feel truly free   liberated, if the adjective fits.

As far as worldly pursuits are concerned, I never did write the Great American Novel… but there is still time…over the years, the value of truly excelling in a career has faded.  I’ve watched those who reached these worldly pinnacles burn out, fall down, their health or personal connections crumble, and it’s been easy to see what is really important, and how free I really am.

Hearing the teachings of the true gospel of Jesus Christ — Christ’s ancient organization and true doctrine fully restored in modern times — opened my mind to ideas I had never considered.  First, was the Plan of Salvation.  I had wondered if there were “more to life than this.”  More to life than what was available in a worldly sense.  It all seemed so limited to me, especially in the realm of vocation and worldly achievement.  A few human beings had made great contributions to society, but the memory of most was lost.  They lived and died in obscurity, and so what was the value of their earthly achievements?

The Plan of Salvation teaches that we are all eternal beings and that our sojourn in mortality is very short, indeed.  We lived forever before we were born into mortality with a mortal body, and we will live eternally after we die.  We were unique and individual “intelligences” before God the Father organized us spiritually.  In fact everything that exists, including the earth, was created spiritually before they were created physically.  God is, in fact, our eternal, loving Father in Heaven.  He loves us with a love that cannot be found in the world.  It surpasses the love of spouses, parents, children, brothers.  God’s entire work is to lead us to true joy, where we can abound forever surrounded by this love.

The Plan of Salvation is also called the Plan of Progression.  Mortality is the plane of existence that follows pre-mortal life as spirits in the presence of God.  One of the main purposes of mortality is to obtain a physical body, as imperfect as it is.  By forgetting pre-mortal life, we can learn to live by faith.  God knows our every move, our every thought.  The second our minds and thoughts reach out to Him, He is there to guide us toward Him.  The idea is to draw closer and closer to God by communing with Him, that we desire only to do His will and become like Him, thereby to return to His presence.

God created all things through His Son, Jesus Christ, whom we all chose to sustain and support in pre-mortal life as the Savior of this world.  The Savior was provided for us because of our fallibility.  Father knew we would fall and stumble.  The Plan gives us space to repent; the Savior gave us the atonement to remove all punishments as a reward for our repentance and willingness to keep God’s commandments.  The fall of Adam and Eve was in the plan from the beginning.  We all fall, but through Christ, we can be saved and exalted.

Learning about the Plan of Salvation was the most mind- and heart-expanding part of the gospel for me to learn.  The young Mormon Missionaries who taught me were delighted (of course) when I readily accepted and  rejoiced in this new information.  But when they began to teach me about Joseph Smith, the first prophet of modern times, through whom Christ restored the power and authority to build up His kingdom again on earth, I could see their fear.  Many investigators of the gospel readily received their teachings until they got to the Joseph Smith story, but then they could not accept that people could receive revelation in modern times.  I could see the Mormon missionaries’ relief, when I told them the account of Joseph Smith’s first vision sounded completely logical to me.  In fact, it was more logical than the mistaken idea that God freely spoke to men and women anciently but had completely ceased to do so.

Since joining The Church of Jesus Christ, I have sought to learn God’s will for me, to reconcile myself to Him, and to be obedient to His commandments.  Repentance is an ongoing thing, and we partake of the sacramental emblems every Sunday to renew our baptismal covenants and renew our purity before God.  Obedience (we are not obedient because we are blind, but because we see) leads to spirituality, and as spirituality increases, so do the miracles in our lives.  I have had my own revelations for my personal benefit, for the healing of my family, and for major decisions and service to others.  The longer I am a Mormon, the more grateful I am.  All the greatest blessings I have ever received in this life can be attributed to finding the true gospel of Jesus Christ.

Additional Resources:

Mormons and What They Believe

Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Savior

Joseph Smith – Prophet of the Restoration

God’s Instructions for Good Living

At the April 2013 general conference, Elder Stanley G. Ellis, of the Quorum of the Seventy, spoke regarding the instruction that God has given us to live, learn, and marry, among other things.  Elder Ellis began by explaining his role as a “seventy” in The Church of Jesus Christ.  A seventy is especially tuned to doing missionary work: “to share the word of the Lord as we receive it from the apostles and prophets and from the Spirit and to be especial witnesses of the name of Christ in preaching the gospel in all the world, in building up the Church and regulating its affairs” (see D&C 107:25, 34).

Elder Ellis then cited his experiences as he matured, which taught him how to follow God’s commandments and instructions for good living.  As a farm boy from Idaho, he learned to work hard, to work smart, to honor the Lord’s timing, to do what is most needed, to be direct, and to do things simply.

We can apply those sound principles to our own lives, whether we live on farms, or not.  Elder Ellis counseled members of The Church of Jesus Christ to find The Way (Jesus Christ) and follow the path to eternal life, all the while using our talents and gifts to build God’s kingdom on earth.

Who Are We? How Then Should We Live?

Elder Ellis explained that we know who we are.  We are sons and daughters of God.

He is our Heavenly Father, who knows us, loves us, and wants us to return to Him. Jesus is our Savior and Redeemer, who through the Atonement made it certain we will overcome death and live again and possible for us to be exalted and have eternal life. The Holy Ghost is our comforter, revelator, teacher, testifier, and guide.

Because of the fact that we are directed from heaven, we have a sure guide, as long as we are willing to listen and follow.

God has the way to live,  to love, to help, to pray, to talk, to interact with each other, to lead, to marry, to raise children ,to learn, to know the truth, to share the gospel, to choose wisely what we eat, etc.

The Lord’s way is that we hearken to our leaders’ teachings, understand correct principles, and govern ourselves.

We can find out the Lord’s way by reading the scriptures and other wise church publications, hearkening to our leaders, and praying for specific direction.

Especially in the work of salvation, we learn that “in the gift of his Son hath God prepared a more excellent way” (Ether 12:11). The doctrine of Christ “is the way; and there is none other way nor name given under heaven whereby man can be saved in the kingdom of God” (2 Nephi 31:21).

Elder Ellis spoke not only of the confusion and sin in the world, but the hastening of Christ’s work on the earth, as well.  It is more important than ever to be able to discern the voice of the Lord in the din of the world, and to discern our role in helping to establish the kingdom of God on earth.

I witness the Lord has the way! Our Heavenly Father knows us, loves us, and wants to help. He knows best how to help. We are not spiritual orphans!

Our Savior, Jesus Christ, is “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6; see also Alma 38:9). His way is based on eternal truth and leads us to “peace in this world, and eternal life in the world to come” (D&C 59:23). I so testify in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Additional Resource:

Learn more about Mormons

The atonement of Jesus Christ is the center of Mormon belief.  Everything we are and do hinges on that.  Mormons believe that the entire work of God is “to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man” (Pearl of Great Price, Moses 1:39).  Immortality is guaranteed through the universal resurrection of all living things, brought about by the atonement of Christ.  In the resurrection, we will all enjoy perfect, immortal, and whole bodies that cannot age, become diseased, or die.  Therefore, Christ has overcome physical death; He has overcome the grave.

Eternal life is to dwell forever in God’s very presence.  This is not the same as salvation, which is to be saved into one of the myriad mansions in heaven.  This is exaltation into God’s presence, and it is conditional upon our righteousness, thoughts, deeds, intents, and in fulfilling requirements of eternal covenants and ordinances.  Through doing work for the dead in holy Mormon temples, Latter-day Saints provide those ordinances, that the dead may choose to accept them or reject them.  Thus, they can move from salvation to exaltation, should they choose and qualify to do so.

On normal Sundays, Mormons attend church for three hours.  Sacrament meeting, during which the sacramental emblems (Eucharist) are passed, is different on Easter.  Mormons sing hymns about the resurrection of Christ, (some of which are old Christian standards) and the congregation’s choir may sing special hymns.  Sermons (presented by lay members, who call them “talks”) deal with the resurrection and atonement of the Savior.

Mormons do not have a Lenten season leading up to Easter.  They fast one Sunday each month throughout the year and donate the funds they would have spent on food to the poor.  They repent constantly of their sins and strive to do better. There is no carnival season, either, just normal, diligence and humility.  The Mormon laws of health guarantee that Mormons live circumspectly and in moderation all their days, and not just during Lent.

The peripheral trappings of Easter observed by Latter-day Saints vary from family to family and culture to culture.  In the United States, Latter-day Saints may join their neighbors for Easter egg rolls, or coloring eggs.  In Greece Latter-day Saint families will dye Easter eggs blood red, as their neighbors do, and bake festive breads.  Gathering the family together for a feast is common everywhere.

Mormons perceive the atonement of Christ as the central event in all of history and the one that is most powerful and meaningful in the lives of all who have ever dwelt on earth.  Therefore, they try to minimize the peripheral and more worldly trappings of Easter to focus on the Savior and His sacrifice for us.

http://youtu.be/JVxhp2HATB0

I did fulfill other goals.  I was college educated and entered the career I wanted, but family was so central.  I had a lot of wounds to heal, and damaging behaviors that had stretched over generations to bring screeching to a halt.  Mormons call people who are able to do this “Saviors on Mount Zion.”  These are they who manage to heal individuals and families and get them turned around, so they can find peace and happiness.  This is not easy.  Abuse of any sort is not a good teacher for a future parent.  It is also a murderer of self-image and confidence.

Ours was a home for adults.  Though there were three children, and we had plenty of age-appropriate toys, we were close to the same age, and our parents were much more comfortable with us when they could communicate as adults.  We were far away from extended family, so my experience with young children or babies was minimal.  Suddenly, with a new temple marriage and the prospect of an eternity with my worthy Mormon husband, I was expected to be a Mormon wife and mother.  Mormon moms who have grown up with the various programs of the LDS Church have a great advantage when raising their own families.  I had never attended a Family Home Evening except in college, which isn’t quite the same.  I had just learned to pray myself, and had never helped a child to have spiritual experiences.  I was like my parents in preferring older youth — I was a high school English teacher, not a kindergarten teacher.

We had some fun at our family home evenings.  We prayed and read scriptures together, but we were never perfect at doing these things all the time.  We had six great kids, and I often relied on my natural abilities as a teacher, since my nurturing abilities were wanting.  We tried to follow all the counsels of the Latter-day Saint prophets, and sought after the Holy Ghost as our guide.  We did some crazy things, like moving abroad with no job prospects.  But again, we were following the Spirit, and he never let us down.

Our children are now grown and most have happy families of their own.  They are able to follow the patterns we set in raising their children in love.  We taught them good manners.  We taught them compassion.  They brought home lost pets and lost friends, and we had taken them all in.  They have continued in this path.  We have been numbered among the Saints;  we have a happy family.  We want to be together forever, and can be, through the higher covenants we have all made in Mormon temples.  The bad habits of past generations have been broken, and we can look forward to better years for generations to come.  Through family history and Mormon temple work, we are also healing those who have gone before.  We have had very personal spiritual experiences to show us that this is really happening.  Life is eternal.  Healing is eternal.   All of my deepest dreams have come true because of my Mormon family.

Additional Resources:

Worship with Mormons

Inside Mormon Temples

Core Mormon Beliefs

My Thanksgiving memories are a blur of ordinary things — family gatherings, fall leaves, cozy fires, parades, touch football, pumpkin pie, turkey and trimmings. Flickers and flurries and fun. My memories are dotted wits.h the classic elementary school holiday crafts — tracings of tiny hands made to look like turkey feathers — and dinner table chatter. I’ll never forget the Thanksgiving our neighbor boy, who was spending the holiday with us, gave us all a lecture on the origin of the word “cornucopia” that lasted the whole meal. We ate in silence, and laughed about it afterward. What a personality, he was, an endearing one.

My Thanksgiving traditions are typical, but I’m OK with that. It seems fitting, because for me — a woman who believes in a God who grants me daily breath — Thanksgiving is a blessed opportunity to celebrate the richness and wonder of the ordinary things I usually take for granted, like waking up each day, like a healthy body that moves and functions as it should, like the people in my life who love me and forgive me when I make mistakes, like laughter and safety and sunlight. It’s the ordinary things that make up the bulk of our lives. It’s the ordinary things that make us human and bind us all together as people and as Americans.

My faith in the gospel of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, known erroneously to many as the “Mormon Church,” is at the top of my list of things to be thankful for. It shapes every part of my daily life. It defines who I am. It lifts me out of hopelessness and strengthens me in moments of weakness. My country — the United States of America — is also at the top of my list. The freedoms it stands for, including the freedom of religion, made possible the restoration of the true gospel of Jesus Christ and the birth of the religion I am blessed to be a part of today. Mormonism is a uniquely American-born faith.

It began with Jesus Christ, his twelve apostles and the organization they established in Jerusalem hundreds of years ago, but it began anew with Joseph Smith, a 14-year-old farm boy from upstate New York. In the spring of 1820, Joseph knelt in prayer in a quiet grove of trees near his home, asking God which of the many churches he should join. God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, appeared to Joseph in a vision, telling him that none of the churches were entirely true and whole, that perfect truth had been lost in the world. From that day onward, Joseph dedicated his life to carrying out the will of God in restoring the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ to the earth.

This vision and the work and sacrifice that followed it flourished because of the foundational values of the United States and the tirelessness with which Americans fight for the right to worship how, where, and what they may. This freedom and the fierceness with which it is protected are American. I am American. I am grateful to be American and grateful to celebrate America’s history and subscribe to its traditions, as “ordinary” as they may be.

______________________

For more about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, use the following links:

Basic beliefs and real Mormons

Jesus.Christ.org

Mormon News

At the moment I write this, there are only about 52 days to go before we celebrate Christmas. I can say that time really flies on wings of lightning, and another year is fast approaching. Indeed, one of the most indescribable wonders of this world and the most joyous celebration is the Christmas season.  There is a different feeling, and it seems to win over the heart of every soul every time we celebrate this special event.

What makes it so special? Well, the coming of the Mesiah was most anticipated and long awaited by ancient believers. Many prophets testified about this, and one of them was the prophet Isaiah. He said,

“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” (Old Testament, Isaiah 9:6).

At the time of Christ’s birth, an angel appeared to the shepherds declaring to them the name of the Messiah who had come. He said,

“Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.” (New Testament, Luke 2: 10-12).

As a returned missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ( commonly called Mormon Church by many), I remember that there were many people in my mission who  asked me about our beliefs, especially our views about the Lord Jesus Christ. The first of the Articles of Faith of the LDs Church says,

“We believe in God the Eternal Father, and in His Son Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.

The Church bears the Name of the Savior to emphasize its devotion to (and its teachings pointing to) the Lord Jesus Christ as the Head of the Church.

People may sometimes ask, “Do Mormons celebrate Christmas?” Well, of course, the answer is yes. The LDS Church joins other believers of the Lord Jesus Christ in commemorating His Birth. The LDS Church is a worldwide church, and members celebrate according to their countries’ traditions, but with an emphasis on the spiritual import of the holiday, instead of the material (at least ideally).
Christmas is indeed a joyful event for everyone. For example, in the Philippines, where I live, Christmas Season usually starts as early as October when Filipinos start decorating their homes with Christmas decorations. TV networks, news, and radio stations begin their traditional 100-day countdown for Christmas. Smiles and pleasant looks are evident in the faces of people everywhere as they slowly feel the gradual change of climate from humid hot to refreshingly cool. This is typical Philippine weather between September and February.
During Christmas Eve Filipino families gather together to enjoy the “Noche Buena,” which mainly consists of special food prepared for the occasion.  Our family tradition includes going to our extended family’s house to eat the food which they lovingly share with us. They afterwards slowly find their way to our house and eat our food, which we lovingly share with them, as well! It is so much fun to be with my cousins and play with them or chat with them throughout the evening. All of us are especially thrilled when one of my older cousins sets up a Videoke for us to sing along with some favorite carols and songs. It is the most memorable event of all when our family is together celebrating Christmas Eve. I would never exchange that for anything else!
The first Book of Mormon prophets wrote in about 600 B.C.  The prophet Nephi was shown the future birth of Christ in vision, attended by an angel of the Lord.

And it came to pass that I saw the heavensopen; and an angel came down and stood before me; and he said unto me: Nephi, what beholdest thou?  And I said unto him: A virgin, most beautiful and fair above all other virgins.   And he said unto me: Knowest thou the condescension of God?  And I said unto him: I know that he loveth his children; nevertheless, I do not know the meaning of all things.

And he said unto me: Behold, the virgin whom thou seest is the mother of the Son of God, after the manner of the flesh.   And it came to pass that I beheld that she was carried away in the Spirit; and after she had been carried away in the Spirit for the space of a time the angel spake unto me, saying: Look!  And I looked and beheld the virgin again, bearing a child in her arms.  And the angel said unto me: Behold the Lamb of God, yea, even the Son of the Eternal Father (1 Nephi 15)!

As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I solemnly testify that we believe in the Savior Jesus Christ and His teachings. He is the Son of God and the Only Begotten of the Father, our Great Exemplar of Righteousness. He came into the world to save us and guide us back into the presence of God, our Heavenly Father.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (New Testament, John 3:16).

References:
1) Old Testament, Isaiah 9:6
2) New Testament, Luke 2: 10-12
3) New Testament, John 3:16

**Read more: I Believe in Santa Claus

Additional Resources:

Mormons celebrate Christmas. Learn more at the official site of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (inadvertently called by friends of other faiths as the “Mormon Church”).

Learn more about the birth of Jesus Christ in The Book of Mormon. Request your free copy today.

Attend a local meetinghouse.