Doctor: “I see in your paperwork that you don’t drink alcohol.”

Me: “That’s right.”

Doctor: “Not even a little on New Year’s?”

Me (smiling): “No, not even a little on New Year’s.”

Doctor (sternly): “Really?”

Me (sternly): “Really!”

You may remember from previous posts on Mormon Women that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints has a health code referred to as “The Word of Wisdom.” One of the admonitions in this health code is abstaining from alcohol and other strong drinks (even on New Year’s!). This may lead some to think that we don’t celebrate New Year’s or that our celebrations are boring. But that’s just not true!

Similar to our Christmas celebrations that we posted about two weeks ago, the church is worldwide and full of a variety of people so our celebrations vary too. (I find it hard to believe that any of my fellow Mormons would tolerate a boring party, though!)

Many LDS people have traditional parties on New Year’s Eve, just without the alcohol. Sometimes these parties are family affairs, where children are involved in the celebrations, and sometimes the adults like to get out and have fun without children to care for so they hire a babysitter. I’ve had great times at adult parties with my husband and friends as we play games, watch videos, and maybe even dance.

There have been years that my husband and I have been content to celebrate New Year’s at home. This is especially true if we have a new baby in the family or are worn out from our Christmas celebrations. Even when we stay home we have a good time. There are always games – board games, card games (no gambling), charades, and the like. We might watch a movie or the New Year’s celebrations around the world on TV. There is always food too; sometimes LDS people joke that what they don’t consume in alcohol they make up for in sugar!

My friend Esther told me about how her family of six celebrates the New Year. They start the evening with takeout Chinese food, a special treat for their family. Then the family sits in a circle with unlit candles. They go around the circle one by one, lighting each other’s candles and telling about the accomplishments and positive qualities of another family member until everyone’s candles are lit. This promotes such great feelings of love between family members as they encourage and recognize the great in each other. After enjoying the accomplished goals of the previous year, the family looks forward to the next year. They read a scripture, Luke 2:52 that tells about Jesus Christ’s growth as a child. They use that scripture as a pattern for their goal making, setting goals in the four areas mentioned: wisdom (intelligence), stature (physical), God (spiritual), and man (social – family, marriage, friends). Everyone then receives a journal where they can record their goals, plan, and write about their progress. Great things have been accomplished in their family as they each strive individually, and collectively as a family.

Recently the leadership of the LDS church has given the youth of the church (ages 12-18) a special way to bring in the New Year. It is through a celebration called “A Brand New Year.” You can learn more about it on the website dedicated to it here. (And you can read more about it here and here). A DVD was produced (and translated into 11 languages) to be used as part of New Year’s events that are great alternatives for teens that want to celebrate with friends in a wholesome and safe atmosphere. (For photos from last year’s event, see here.)

I am always excited at the prospect of a new year. The renewal of the year reminds me of the renewal we all receive from Jesus Christ. Each new day is a blessing, each new year a chance for joy, love, and growth.

The post Ask a Mormon Woman: How Do Mormons Celebrate New Year’s? appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

I think celebrate may be too strong of word for many of us, but most LDS families happily participate in the family-oriented aspects of Halloween.

The following pictures were taken at a Halloween party that our ward (congregation) had. Everyone came dressed up — adults and children — and usually “Fall” type of activities take place such as apple bobbing, jack-o-lantern carving and costume parades. As a kid, I trick-or-treated until I was around 12 years old. My parents felt it was something more for little kids to do.

What about costumes? We had a few rules at our house (other families may do things differently). The costume needed to be modest, not gruesome or scary, and not expensive. After that, the sky was the limit. One year my sister was a hot dog. I tried to be a vacuum once, but couldn’t quite figure out the logistics. One year my mom stored the costumes for the ward roadshow [an original play], so I used those costumes. For my own kids, it is about the same. Lately, my daughter has been wanting to dress up a little scarier (witches, vampires, monsters). We discuss the costume options and figure out what will work best. For this last Halloween, my daughter wanted to be a vampire, but was grossed out by the thought of fangs and blood. So she decided to be a Vegetarian Vampire (I promise, this was not Twilight related).

What if Halloween falls on Sunday? This can be tricky because we believe in keeping the Sabbath Day holy, which usually means refraining from activities that cause people to work and be away from their family and/or detract from the spirit of the day. Again, different families may make different choices, but when I was young, I remember a time when it fell on a Sunday. My mom was also the Young Women President [working with the young women ages 12-18] at the time. They decided to have a Young Women’s activity to help the kids trick-or-treat at members homes on a Saturday. It was lots of fun. With my own kids, this has happened once. Again, the Primary had an activity on a Saturday at the church, similar to a trunk-or-treat [families park in the parking lot and children walk from car trunk to car trunk to do their trick-or-treating]. On Sunday, my daughter spent the the night giving out treats to neighborhood kids. She had fun and we felt that we were able to still keep the Sabbath Day holy.

To those who live where Halloween is a holiday, what (if anything) do you to enjoy the day?

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Here are some pictures provided by other Mormon women of costumes from Halloween past.

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**Please note: The answers in “Ask a Mormon Woman” and (other content on this site) reflect the thoughts and perspectives of the administrators at Mormon Women. Although we strive to have our content consistent with the Church’s doctrine and teachings, we do not speak officially for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. For official information about or from the Church, please visit www.mormon.org or www.lds.org.
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For more Ask a Mormon Woman questions/answers, please click here.

Do you have a question you would like us to address? Simply include a comment below, or send an email at gmail with the username ‘mormonwoman’ or ‘mormonwomen’

The post Ask a Mormon Woman: Do Mormons celebrate Halloween? appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

We do. But not in the way it is sometimes described.

The idea of simply acknowledging Jesus Christ as one’s Savior is sometimes seen as enough to be “saved” in the Kingdom of God. Paul, in Acts 16:30-31, tells a man, who has asked what to do to be saved:

Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.

Sounds simple, right? And yet, there is so much more. If we read in James 2, we learn that we cannot be saved through faith alone:

Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone…But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?

So, where is the line? Mormons believe it is found through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Grace is defined as “the help or strength given through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.” This help or strength can be accessed in our lives now, and is necessary for any eternal blessings we can and will receive. For example, it is through the Atonement of Christ that we will all be resurrected, having our spirits reunited with a body that will be immortal, never to die again. In that sense, we will all be saved from physical death. Resurrection, the gift of immortality, is a gift freely given through the Savior’s Atonement and grace.

We can also be saved from sin (which we sometimes call spiritual death) through the Atonement of Christ, but this element of “being saved” requires us to do something. All sin must be paid for in order to make the blessing of eternal life — the highest blessing we can receive from God — possible. Eternal life is reserved for those who overcome spiritual death by obeying the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Savior has suffered for our sins; He has made it possible for us to partake of mercy. But justice cannot be satisfied by the Savior if we don’t do our part. Simply put, we can’t rely only on grace. God has given laws and ordinances that we are asked to accept and obey to fully access the cleansing, enabling power of the Savior’s Atonement and His mercy and grace.

What does He ask of us? Christ asks us to have faith in Him and believe, but then He asks us to repent of our sins, and enter into covenants through authorized priesthood ordinances. We need to strive to live as He lived — to forgive, live a charitable life, keep God’s commandments, follow Christ’s teachings. Then,  after we have done everything we can — knowing full well that we will come up short, since we are mortal, imperfect, and in need of intercession — Christ’s Atonement will make up the difference. Our works aren’t a matter of trying to be perfect through action; they are more of a matter of having a willing heart and trying our best. As we choose to give our heart to Him, even as we stumble and fail at times, God promises to keep us clean from sin, and to also help change our hearts through the Atonement, enabling us through grace to be more like Him.

I often tell my piano students that anything worth having in this life (or the next!) takes hard work. It truly does! Think about it for a moment. In order to get good grades in school, it takes study, preparation, and diligence. If one wants to become proficient at playing a sport, they must take care of their bodies, attend practices, get along well with teammates, and be on time! To learn a musical instrument, it takes dedication and lots (and lots and lots and lots) of practice. The same goes for relationships: marriage takes work. Being a good parent takes work. All of these things take work –but they are all worth it. The payoff comes in scholarships to college, athletic ability, the joy of being able to perform and share music, fulfilling/meaningful relationships.

Progression toward eternal life also requires hard work and practice. It takes dedication to covenants and endurance through trials. We call this enduring to the end. And even though hard work alone won’t save us, doing what God has commanded to come to Christ (faith, repentance, baptism by water and by fire, obedience to commandments, Christlike living) brings great blessings available through the grace of the Atonement. We can have comfort and peace, knowledge and strength — and in the end, we can have the most glorious reward there is: exaltation, or life with God forever in eternal families.

It is my belief and sincere testimony that Jesus Christ knows and loves us –and loves us enough to know what we need in order fully access His grace. Accepting Him is vitally important, yes; but we also are invited to demonstrate our devotion to Him and to Heavenly Father by how we live our lives —by our works and desires.

The following is a fabulous video that came to mind as I was pondering this topic; to me, it gives a better understanding of how the Atonement of Jesus Christ works in our lives.

**Please note: The answers in “Ask a Mormon Woman” and (other content on this site) reflect the thoughts and perspectives of the administrators at Mormon Women. Although we strive to have our content consistent with the Church’s doctrine and teachings, we do not speak officially for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. For official information about or from the Church, please visit www.mormon.org or www.lds.org.

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For more Ask a Mormon Woman questions/answers, please click here.

Do you have a question you would like to submit? Simply include a comment below, or send an email at gmail with the username ‘mormonwoman’ or ‘mormonwomen’.

The post Ask a Mormon Woman: Do Mormons Believe in Grace? appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.