The Mormons
By Jordan C.
Joseph Smith organized this Church when he prayed to know which church he should go to. He claimed seeing Heavenly Father (God) and Jesus Christ, even other Heavenly beings. He said that the Men told him that neither of the churches he was going to was the right one. They also told him that they would guide him in what he needed to do in order to build His church. Joseph Smith was only 13 when he had his vision .
One year later the lord guided him to a place in New York called the Hill Comora. He told him to dig and would find a box .That box contained The brass plates, Nephi's sword, The Leahona, two silver bows fastened to a breastplate, the Urim and Thummim, and the Seems. The brass plates today are called the Book Of Mormon. It is revelations of the first coming and prophets in earlier times. The Lord told him to record them on paper in his language. Even though the language wasn't readable to him because they wrote in a different language in earlier times, the Lord helped him translate it.
When he had recorded the whole Book of Mormon, the man who was helping him wanted to take it home. When Joseph said no, he begged and begged to take it home. When Joseph gave in he took them home and lost the whole First Book of Mormon, The Book of Lehi.
Although it prospered in Nauvoo, the church faced many problems. When rumor got around that Smith turned their old religion into Mormonism some did not like it.
On June 27, 1844 Joseph Smith got killed when an armed, angry mob attacked Carthage jail when he and his brother recently got arrested for their beliefs.
To learn more about Joseph Smith click here
A three member first presidency is the Prophet, First Counselor, and Second Counselor. Also there is a 12 man council called the 12 apostles. There are two Quorums of the Seventy. For individual churches there is a Bishopric containing a Bishop and a first and second counselor. There are other callings in which members of a ward are asked to perform. But before the Bishop can ask them to perform these callings, he must pray and get a good feeling about it.
There are also two kinds of conferences. One is a Stake Conference held 2 times a year at a local Stake center. General Conference is held twice a year at the Salt Lake City Utah Temple.
Every child at the age of eight, or after they are interviewed and proved worthy to be Baptized by immersion (or all the way under) can be. After they are baptized they get confirmed as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
To learn more about how the church is organized click here
There are many temples throughout the world, over 100. Some are the Salt Lake City, Utah Temple, the Kirkland, Ohio, the Atlanta ,Georgia, The Nauvoo temple, and the Birmingham ,Alabama Temple. I named very few. There are many more throughout the United States and the World.
Some things you do in a temple are, listen to holy talks, Baptism for the dead where someone gets baptized for another who had never gotten a chance to hear the word of Jesus Christ. You could also get sealed to your family so you could live with them eternally.
There are over 60,000 volunteer missionaries throughout the world. They find many joys in doing this. Many of them are young and single. They could serve a mission from 18-24 months or they could extend and serve longer.
These missionaries share the word of the lord or his Atonement. They share it with everyone who want to learn the truth. Missionaries teach about the plan of Salvation or how you can live Eternally.
A missionary can be a boy or a girl but a boy could serve as one when he is 18 but a girl couldn't until she is 21.
Prophets
Today (2004) Gordon B. Hinckley, is the fifteenth prophet. We have had 14 other prophets in the past.
When you are in Primary you can learn a song that names them in order. But you have to change it sometimes because as soon as a prophet dies his first counselor is the new prophet and they have to make another ending for the song.
The version we use today is....
Latter Day Prophets are
number one
Joseph Smith, then Brigham Young
John Taylor came third, we know
Then
Wilford Woodruff, Lorenzo Snow,
Joseph F Smith remember the F.
Heber J Grant,
then George Albert Smith.
David O. McKay, was followed by Joseph Fielding Smith,
then
Harold B. Lee, Spencer W. Kimball,
Ezra Taft Benson, Howard W. Hunter,
Gordon B.
Hinckley shows the way we hear and follow his word today!
The Book of Mormon
The Book of Mormon started out as the Brass Plates. Where prophets wrote what the Lord wanted them to write in it.
Later, before the last prophet in the Book of Mormon (which is Moroni) died, he buried a box that contained the brass plates and many more items that joseph Smith later found.
There is also a song for the book of Mormon prophets.
it goes like this
First and Second Books of
Nephi
Jacob, Enos, Jarom ,Omni,
Words of Mormon and Mosiah
in the Book of Mormon.
Alma,
Helaman, Third,
Fourth Nephi,
Mormon, Ether, and Moroni
learn the teaching of the prophets
in the
Book of Mormon
In our church it isn't all just prophets, songs, and reading. We have our fun too.
The fun starts at the magical # 8! That's when a girl starts Activity Nights and a boy starts Cub Scouts!
But that isn't where it ends. At 12 you start Mutual for both boys and girls.
When a woman is older than 18 she can start going to Enrichment Night. Men go home teaching once a month after their mission and women go visiting teaching. It's the same thing but only men go home teaching and only women go visiting teaching.
There are different Sunday classes, but you have to be 18 months to even get in the youngest one, What a pain on mothers!
Anyway the steps of the classes are 18 month nursery, nursery, Primary, Young Women for girls , and Young Men for boys. Then some go on a mission and after that go to the Singles Ward to find love so they can then get married in the temple. After they are married the husband goes to priesthood and the wife goes to Relief Society.
What a wild journey!!!
When Joseph Smith was recording the Book of Mormon he wrote down 13 paragraphs of their Basic beliefs.
If you want to hear them keep on reading!!!
1.We Believe in God the Eternal Father and in his son Jesus Christ and in the Holy Ghost.
2. We believe that man will be punished for their own sins and not for Adam's transgression.
3.We believe that through the Atonement of Christ all mankind may be saved by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel.
4. We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the gospel are, First faith in the lord Jesus Christ, Second repentance, Third baptism by immersion for the remission of sins, Fourth laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.
5.We believe that a man must be
called of God, by prophecy and by the laying on of hands by those
who are in authority to preach the Gospel and administer in the ordinances
thereof.
6.We believe in the same organization that existed in the primitive church
namely, apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists, and so forth.
7.We believe in the gift of tongues, prophecy, revelations, visions, healing, interpretation of tongues and so forth and so forth.
8.We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God.
9.We believe all that God has revealed all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God.
10.We believe in the literal gathering of Israel and in the restoration of the Ten Tribes Zion; that (the New Jerusalem) will be built upon the American continent; that Christ will rein personally upon the earth; and, that the earth will be renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory.
11.We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may.
12.We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law.
13. We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent,
virtuous, and in doing to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the
admonition of Paul—We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured
many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is
anything virtuous, lovely or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after
these things.
Timelines-
Today the church is just the same as it was in earlier times except they change callings like Bishop, Counselors, Prophet and more.
Today Mormons still use The Book of Mormon, They still have The ten Commandments, and they still go to the temple and do baptism for the dead, and still have missionaries. We hope that our church will stay the same forever and go on!