What Do Mormons Believe?

Have you ever had a pair of young men show up at your door from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints? Have you ever stopped to listen? Here is what they want to tell you:

First, 

God is your loving Heavenly Father, you are literally His child and he loves you. He has said 

"For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man."

(Moses 1:39)

God wants you to come back to live with Him after this life so that you can become more and more like your Father in Heaven and his son Jesus Christ. 

Second,

The gospel of Jesus Christ will bless your family in many ways. A home centered around the Savior will be a home where the Holy Ghost can come and create a refuge safe from the cares and concerns of the world. God has always taught His people about his gospel through prophets. The words of many ancient prophets have survived to our day and are recorded in books called scriptures. 

"Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets."

(Amos 3:7)

Third,

Prophets are given authority from God, they ordain others to that authority, or Priesthood, under the direction of God and by the laying on of hands. Christ gave this Priesthood authority to His Apostles so that they could do His work.

"And he ordained twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach, And to have power to heal sicknesses, and to cast out devils"

(Mark 3:14-15)

After Christ's crucifixion and the martyr and death of all of His Apostles, the authority that they held slowly dwindled and was taken from the Earth because men had stopped doing things the way that Christ had commanded and thereby could not have or exercise His power or authority. The world went into a time of darkness, and after a few hundred years of disagreements between men about doctrines the Christ had taught, scholars gathered and decided what was what. Once that happened, the churches of the day began to quiet any questions that were asked, they openly and sometimes violently brought down anyone with an opposing view, thus stopping people from asking questions without fear of retaliation. This time was foretold by the prophet Amos in the Old Testament.

"Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord:And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it."

(Amos 8:11-12)

Fourth,

During this time period we see many eras of reformation, churches sprung up faster and faster as emigration moved to North America searching for religious freedom. Thus with the world beginning to truly seek after the Lord again, we saw the fulfillment of the words in Acts 3:19-21, which state that Christ would remain in Heaven until the "times of refreshing" and "times of restitution of all things". A young boy wondering what church he should join, followed the advice in James 1:5, asked God, and found an amazing answer. In his words, this is what occurred. "

"I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me... When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other—This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!" (See Joseph Smith - History 14-20)

The time for the "restitution of all things" was at hand. Over the years to follow, the Lord brought back to the earth all the promised blessings and authorities prophesied for the last days through His prophet. Through Heavenly Messengers this new prophet was led to an ancient record of scripture written by prophets in the Americas during the time of Christ who He visited after His resurrection. This record, translated by the gift and power of God, is now known as The Book of Mormon.

Finally,

It is the invitation of all those young men and women who may soon be knocking on your door for you to simply read from The Book of Mormon for yourself and to ask God if it is true. That is the only sure way to find out for yourself if anything is true. Follow the admonition to "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good" (1 Thessalonians 5:21). You can know from God whether or not Christ's Church has been restored to the Earth again, you can know that His authority resides in that Church, and that God speaks to His prophet again today as He has all throughout history. I testify that Christ's authority and church are on the earth again and that it has been a blessing in my life as I know it can be for you! I know that Christ lives, and that He wants us to be happy and with Him again after we pass through this life. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

We are Never Alone.

When we are discouraged it is easy to feel like God has abandoned us, I have come to know however that we are never out of His mind, heart, or view. Our Heavenly Father loves us dearly. The entire reason we are on the earth is so that we can become like Him. In 1839, the prophet Joseph Smith was, due to persecution of the Saints and false accusations, imprisoned in Liberty Jail in Missouri. This was a time of great despair for him. In his words:

"O God, where art thou? And where is the pavilion that covereth thy hiding place? How long shall thy hand be stayed, and thine eye, yea thy pure eye, behold from the eternal heavens the wrongs of thy people and of thy servants, and thine ear be penetrated with their cries? Yea, O Lord, how long shall they suffer these wrongs and unlawful oppressions, before thine heart shall be softened toward them, and thy bowels be moved with compassion toward them?" (Doctrine and Covenants 121:1-3)

While the Lord may have seemed distant, in His wisdom, He had a greater plan in mind. He knows that it is only in facing opposition and bitterness in life that we come to know the peace and sweet that He has to offer. The Lord's response is both comforting and full of Love, but you can tell that the Lord knows best.

"My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment;

And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes"

(Doctrine and Covenants 121:7-8)

I have a testimony that even when our trials seem overwhelming, scary, or impossible to overcome, the Lord is with us and ready always to help us to "triumph over all [our] foes".  Whatever our struggles are, physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual, the Lord is ready waiting to lift us and carry us to His side so that we can be with Him for eternity after this live is over and done. Even when you have troubles, remember that the Lord has not forsaken you! I know that He lives. I know that He is real. I know that He has helped me and carried me in the past and that He will continue to do so in the future. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Sometimes the Lord gives us mountains to climb,

but He will be there with us.

Having Compassion

Christ is often said to have felt compassion. Compassion and love are two of Christ's greatest qualities. In this video of His sermon on the mount, He focuses on how we can be more compassionate to those around us in keeping His higher law.

He teaches us to focus our lives on things that are of a better world than the one in which we all live. I know that as Christ has compassion, we must also have compassion, or love, to be His followers.

"By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another."

(John 13:35)

We must be as Christ commands and build our foundation upon Him and His gospel so that we will not fall when the wind and the rains of life come. I know that as we love His children as He would and remember that everyone we see is our brother or our sister we will be able to show them the love and compassion that He would. Will you have compassion on those around you? I promise you that if you will, you will find the love of God poured into your life. He not only commands us to love, but He will share with us His love so that we can love others as He does. 

Have a blessed day! Thank you for reading!

"who went about doing good"

The Example to Follow: The Savior

The Savior was one "who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him" (Acts 10:38). Christ was our perfect example in all things, but today I'd like to focus in on how He went about doing good. 

This video is an amazing example of showing our faith by the works that we do. It is in these things that we draw near to our Savior. As we serve as He would we are blessed to feel His love for those we are serving. 

"Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works."

(James 2:18)

The people in this video all exercised great faith, while many went on to let their faith bring them to wonderfully good works. How blessed are we when our works echo our faith. These people truly did what Christ would have done if He had been there.

I know that miracles happen, I know that Christ lives and that He is in the details of our lives. I know He loves us. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

His Church Restored

There are a lot of important questions and concerns that we all have in this life. I myself have many questions, but I know that there is a wonderful source of answers. Good news everybody, The Heavens are open and revelation does happen. I have a firm testimony of that. I know that God speaks to His servants and each of His children in times of need and in times of want.

After Christ was crucified and the Apostles killed, the spread of unclear and false doctrines spread slowly but surely throughout the Church that Christ had established. With the Apostles gone and the Priesthood Authority that Christ had given them no longer on the earth, the world was stuck in a time of spiritual famine.

"Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord: And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it."

(Amos 8:11-12)

We see that after the passing of the Apostles the "One Lord, one faith, one baptism" (Ephesians 4:5) which Christ established descended into that time prophesied. As the world moved on and those trying to follow Christ were persecuted and eventually assimilated with the basic population, the confusion that comes without revelation at the head of the church was answered by a council of men who decided what was and what wasn't true. While these men were undoubtedly intelligent and well meaning, they lacked the first and basic step to receiving inspiration. Asking Questions. And by so doing stopped the population at large from asking questions of Heaven. Once the questions stopped, so did the answers. 

The Lord hears and answers questions. This I know. In 1820 there was a young boy who had questions. He wanted to know what church he should join but kept getting different answers from those surrounding him. He decided to turn to his Bible to find the answers he sought, when he found   

"If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him."

(James 1:5)

He knelt in a grove of trees near his home and prayed to know what church he should join. When he leaned essentially what I just told you above. God and his Son, came to the young boy and called him to be the instrument through which They would restore Christ's church to the Earth. It would be "built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone" (Ephesians 2:20). I know that since that time, we have had an authorized servant of the Lord leading the Church by inspiration and revelation from God. I know that the Lord lives and that His church is again on the Earth. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Here is the story of the Restoration.

Listen to a Living Prophet's Voice!

Can you imagine what it would be like to have been living in the time of Christ? What would it have been like to sit at the feet of the ancient Apostles of the Lamb? I know that Christ's church has been restored to the earth and that He has prophets here again who speak and help us to know what the world needs to do to keep our families safe. The Living Prophet, Thomas S. Monson holds all the keys of the kingdom that Christ gave to Peter.

And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

(Matthew 16:19)

This is President Monson

Thomas S. Monson will be speaking, along with the living 12 Apostles today and tomorrow. (October 5-6, 2013) and you can hear what they have to say about the world we live in by visiting this link -> Watch General Conference.

Come Listen to a Prophet's Voice! 

Commitments to the Lord

In life we are asked to make all kinds of commitments. Whether we are committing to donate, time, money, help, or anything else. If we just think about it we aren't going to go anywhere. That is why it is so important to commit to do the right things instead of just having wishful thinking. As the saying that goes: "The road to hell is paved with good intentions". I've been able to see that over and over as I've been striving to serve the Lord. The devil doesn't always try to get us to do bad things, he'll settle for stopping us from doing the right things.

The Lord has commanded us to pray (3 Nephi 18:19), but as the devil is always in opposition to God, "...the evil spirit teacheth not a man to pray, but teacheth him that he must not pray" (2 Nephi 32:8). The  way he draws us away from our Heavenly Father is not, at first, by large and drastic means. It is merely to stop communication to God. Once we lose communication with God though we are losing our ground spiritually and are slowing edging toward the devil's territory. All because we weren't committed to daily personal communication to our Father in Heaven.

I've seen so many goals get set, by myself and by others that just seem to fall by the wayside. I've come to realize that the reason goals, especially spiritual ones don't seem to be achieved is because of lack of commitment. We had great intentions, but we were able to be swayed from our course by the influences of the adversary.

Goals are great, but if we truly want to be able to be like our Savior it takes commitment and not merely good intentions. I'm found that once we are able to sit back and truly commit ourselves to doing the will of the Lord instead of our own will, that is when we are able to be strengthened and empowered by Him. Often we sit and wait for the miracle before we will exercise our faith, but miracles come after faith. That is how it works. I know that once we commit to the Lord to do something and we truly are committed, He will open up the way so that we can hold to our commitment.


I know Christ lives. I know that He has power to help us overcome any obstacles that we face if we will truly turn to Him and act in faith. Once we commit to Him and can keep commitments, then we are becoming prepared to make and keep covenants with Him. Covenants are the way of promising the Lord and receiving a promise in return. Commit to the Lord to pray daily and to open the scriptures and you will find strength to commit to much harder things! I know this to be true. In the name of Christ our Savior. Amen.