Editor’s note: These insights came from a sister missionary currently serving in Europe. Although she is writing about missionary work, I think the principles she shares are profound for any of us who are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (sometimes nicknamed the “Mormon Church.”)

The post Unity and Diversity in the Church of Jesus Christ appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

This radio host got a call asking, “What about Mitt Romney’s magic underwear?” The answer about how Mormon temple garments are not unlike many other religious garments worn by people of other faiths.

Mitt Romney’s Underwear

[R]eligions around the world have various types of religious garments. If you do the math, most believers on earth belong to a religion that commands its followers or leaders to wear religiously significant clothing.

Mormons are part of that majority.

And Mitt Romney is a Mormon.

And he lives his religion.

So, yes, Mitt Romney wears a religious garment, beneath his outer clothes. He does this for the same reason almost all religious clothing is worn – to remind the believer that he is a believer, and as a token of promises the believer has made to God.

You can read more about Mormon temple garments in other articles as well:

What can you tell me about Mormon underwear?

Why do Mormons wear special underwear?

from lds.org, temple garments explained in a manual for Mormons preparing to “go through the temple” for the first time

LDS Church Temples: Mormon Underwear

Why Mormonism: Mormon Underwear

The post Mitt Romney’s Mormon (Magic?) Underwear appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

A few quick internet searches on “Why do Mormons…?” brings up topics like the following:

Why do Mormons wear garments?

Why do Mormons baptize for the dead?

Why do Mormons not drink coffee?

Why do Mormons store food?

Why do Mormons fast?

Why do Mormons have so many kids?

(And can I just debunk one of the commonly asked questions? Why do Mormons practice polygamy? We don’t!)

Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are often known for what we do (or what we don’t do — see our “I can’t. I’m Mormon” post.). We go to church for three hours each week. We pay tithing. We attend our temples in addition to our regular church meetings. We read scriptures and say our prayers daily. We’re passionate about family history (genealogy).  We don’t drink coffee, or tea. We don’t smoke. We dress modestly.

The list could go on.

Why do Mormons live this way? We welcome these kinds of questions, and address them regularly on our site.

But ultimately, I think it’s important to understand the fundamental elements of our faith. I was reminded of the importance of understanding the whys of Mormon life as I re-read the talk by Dieter F. Uchtdorf called Forget Me Not. We as Mormons need to be reminded of this, too…of the whys of all that we do.

In our diligent efforts to fulfill all of the duties and obligations we take on as members of the Church, we sometimes see the gospel as a long list of tasks that we must add to our already impossibly long to-do list, as a block of time that we must somehow fit into our busy schedules. We focus on what the Lord wants us to do and how we might do it, but we sometimes forget why.

[T]he gospel of Jesus Christ is not an obligation; it is a pathway, marked by our loving Father in Heaven, leading to happiness and peace in this life and glory and inexpressible fulfillment in the life to come. The gospel is a light that penetrates mortality and illuminates the way before us.

The whys of Mormon life are founded in our belief in God as our Father, who has provided a plan for our well-being now and our eternal happiness after this life. He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to be our perfect example and to be our Savior and Redeemer. Through living prophets, we are given guidelines for living that help us remember and trust God every day, and become disciples of Jesus Christ   and be changed by His grace. (Yes, Mormons believe in grace!)

If you are curious about Mormonism, again, we welcome your questions. (You can also chat anytime with a Mormon missionary by using the box in the right sidebar.)

But we also encourage you to take a few minutes to learn more about our basic beliefs and doctrines. You can’t really understand Mormonism until you understand what we believe, about why we do what we do. The elements of Mormon life that often show up in the media or in internet searches will often not capture what matters most to us, what is at the heart of our faith, and how it makes a difference in our daily lives.

The post Why do Mormons…? appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

We dance.

And eat and dance.

We play.

And sometimes local Mormon leaders do crazy skits for congregation “talent shows”:

Mormon Youth and fun with light:

The post Mormons Have Fun, Too appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

Do Mormons celebrate Lent? Not officially, but some Mormons choose to.

I remember, for example, a friend who gives up sugar for Lent.

Another friend recently said she was going to give up discouragement for Lent.

Another Mormon woman, rather than giving up something for Lent, has given something to God, adding something to her life (like more meaningful, deliberate prayer) during this time of year to help bring her closer to Christ.

Even if Mormons don’t celebrate Lent in an institutionalized way, this Mormon blogger, in her post “A Mormon Look at Lent” notes that “members of the LDS Church have much in common with our Catholic friends.  … [A]ll who love Jesus Christ, and recognize Him as our personal Savior, have a deep desire to express our love in similitude of His Great Sacrifice.”

Jesus’ sacrifice and resurrection are central to Mormon doctrine, so Easter is an important holiday to us doctrinally. Some Mormons mark the time up to Easter with activities that celebrate Christ for days or weeks before the holiday.  We’ve compiled many ideas and resources for preparing for and celebrating Easter here and here. The new Bible videos would be an excellent resource for celebrating Easter.

For more Easter ideas, see the following Mormon blogs and articles sharing ideas for preparing for Easter:

The Living Christ: A 30 Day Easter Countdown

(scroll down to see each day’s activities, including all the links, or see here for the Living Christ Easter Countdown in a PDF form)

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Activities for Young Children to Prepare for Easter

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Preparing for Easter: Ideas for Celebrating

This post has scriptures for each day of the week before Easter, compiled and shared by Eric Huntsman.

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Here’s another list of that outlines spiritual devotionals for the Lenten season (designed for families with young children) (found originally here by Julie, who now blogs here)

The post Do Mormons Celebrate Lent? (Preparing for Easter) appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

Not long ago, we featured thoughts from Mormon women about the Mormon moment. Recently, Abalyn at Mormon Perspectives addressed what “Mormon moment” media often misses:

The plethora of articles I’ve been seeing on the web lately about Mormons are missing a very vital something.  They range from how Mormons try to keep the rules and stay cool, how we are leaving the church, our strangest beliefs, that Mormon doctrine is too complex for sound bites, or how the Book of Mormon is great Christian fan fiction.

These are all interesting ideas, but to me these articles are missing the essence of what makes being a Mormon so great. In an attempt to seem evenhanded, they never reach understanding. They never talk about what Mormonism means to the heart of the believer. They want to understand a religion from facts when religion exists in faith, feelings, and Spirit. It’s as much something you feel as something you think about.

Abalyn then goes onto discuss what being a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints means to her, personally: “Mormonism has changed and is changing my life. It brings me community, scripture, service, healing, and closeness to God.” (Be sure to read what she says about these things.)

As Jocelyn pointed out in her post about the Mormon moment that we featured earlier, “Mormon moments continue to happen quietly each day in homes around the world:  every time that someone prays for answers, reads scriptures, nurtures a child, strengthens a marriage, decides to follow God, enters the waters of baptism, or serves their neighbor.”

To Mormons reading this: Have you written about Mormon moments in your life? What is the heart of Mormonism to you? How does your faith help you in your life? We’ll be sharing your posts on Pinterest and Twitter. Please share your thoughts and blog links (with a little blurb) in the comments section, or if you would like to share a post here, please email us at gmail, username ‘mormonwomen’ (submissions from men are welcome, too). 

The post The Heart of Mormonism appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

By Eric Schulzke, Deseret News

Published: Saturday, Jan. 14 2012 8:12 p.m. MST

The Pew Foundation survey of Mormons released this past week confirms that U.S. Mormons are more conservative (66 percent) compared to the general public (37 percent), and on most issues, they closely track white evangelicals. But immigration is one issue that sets Mormons apart from their evangelical counterparts.

Asked whether immigrants are a strength or a burden, 59 percent of white evangelicals said they were a burden, while only 41 percent of Mormons felt the same, compared to 44 percent of the general public. The result is surprising given how staunchly conservative Mormons are on nearly every measure. Interestingly, 50 percent of white mainline Protestants and 49 percent of white Catholics also tilt against immigration, though neither group is as uniformly conservative as evangelicals or Mormons on other measures.

Dan Cox, Research Director at the Public Religion Research Institute in Washington, D.C. sees several reasons for the surprising result. He points first to demographics to explain why Mormons are more open to immigrants than are white evangelicals. “White evangelicals are significantly lower on the socioeconomic scale than most other religious groups. Those who are more economically vulnerable are more likely to see newcomers as threats,” he says.

The Pew results validate the socioeconomic explanation. The key is a strong link between Mormon religious commitment and socioeconomic status. Eighty-four percent of Mormon college graduates are highly committed to the Church, but just 50 percent of those with high school education share that same level of commitment. This socioeconomic gap also translates to immigration: 50 percent of less committed Mormons see immigrants as a burden, against 36 percent of highly committed Mormons.

Cox also points to age as a key factor, noting the surprising anti-immigration sentiment among mainline Protestants and white Catholics. “Both of these groups tend to be older than the general public,” Cox says, “and we find that younger people are much more open to immigration.” Sure enough, Pew finds that 49 percent of Mormons between the ages of 18-49 see immigrants as a strength, while just 39 percent Mormons over 50 say the same. The Mormon youth movement has an impact on the results: according to a 2009 Pew study, 41 percent of the general population was over fifty years old, while just 34% of Mormons fall into that category.

Cox also thinks culture is a factor in the Mormon tendency to be more tolerant of immigrants, citing in particular the outward focus of the LDS church and the percolating influence of missionaries returning from foreign lands. “When you have more interaction with someone,” Cox notes, “you have increased comfort with them.” One statistic conveys the impact of this element of Mormon culture: 70 percent of the 33,000 students at BYU are bilingual.

Theresa Martinez, a non-Mormon sociology professor at the University of Utah, emphatically seconds Cox on the outward focus. “I’ve taught over 7,000 students,” she says, “probably about half of them LDS, with a large proportion of those return missionaries, and half of those from Latin American missions.” Her students express strong attachment to the peoples and communities they served, Martinez says. “And after that, you are not the sheltered little Mormon kid, and you understand that life is much bigger than your backyard.”

While the seeds of openness are embedded in the culture, others note that Church leaders recently gave a gentle push in that direction. Last year Utah illegal immigration hard-liners were poised to copy Arizona’s stern immigration policies, when centrists—with quiet but clear support from Church leaders—turned tables with widely-noted legislation that will allow some undocumented workers to obtain drivers’ licenses and work. In the fall of 2010, the Church also stated support for the principles of the The Utah Compact, which urges humane and measured solutions at the federal level.

And yet, divisions within the LDS community remain. Utah House Rep. Chris Herrod of Provo, a leader on anti-illegal immigration efforts in Utah, considers himself pro-immigration, noting that his wife is from Ukraine, his sister-in-law from Korea, and his business partner from Ethiopia.

Herrod points out that the Pew study addresses immigration per se, rather than illegal immigration, and says he has often been puzzled when debates on the two issues become muddled. “I believe in immigration,” he says. “It’s the melting pot that has made the country great. But lately we seem to be splitting into a bilingual and bicultural nation. We need to give equal chances to Africans, Asians, South Asians, and Eastern Europeans, and we need to get back to those core beliefs, where you adopt the language and blend the cultures.”

Richard Davis, a political science professor at Brigham Young University, sees the Church position last summer as impacting dialog on this issue within Utah and among U.S. Mormons. “For years the drumbeat was all about illegal immigration and the need to enforce the law,” he says. “The Church has nudged the agenda. Now it’s more about how we treat people, however they got here.”

Charles Morgan, a BYU sociologist who studies immigration, sees culture and Church positioning as mutually reinforcing. Morgan notes that the “closer the contact you have with a group, the more likely you are to have compassion and see them as equals.” Like Davis, Morgan also sees the Church’s positioning as significant: “The Church is projecting a positive image of immigrants, and I think this is resonating with the more devout Mormons.”

Morgan points to Arizona, where a Mormon state senator from the heavily Mormon Mesa area, who was president of the Senate and had authored the state’s controversial immigration policy, was replaced in November by another Mormon in a recall election. The new senator, Jerry Lewis, was encouraged to run by LDS members in the Mesa area who were concerned with what they saw as a harsh tone on illegal immigration.

Jason Labau, who researches Arizona political history at the University of Southern California, also sees recent Church policy and underlying cultural factors as reinforcing. “This is a much longer shift,” he says, “and it stems from the missionary experience. Several friends I grew up with in Arizona are staunchly conservative, and the only issue we see eye to eye on is immigration. They served missions in Chile, Guatemala, and Mexico, and they see these people as equals who are looking for something better.”

Eric Schulzke is the director of the Apollo 13 Project (a13.org), a prisoner reentry initiative based at Utah Valley University. He can be reached at eric[at]a13.org.

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With Mitt Romney recently making some progress on the U.S. political front, the “Mormon Moment” seems to be continuing, and the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life has made a significant contribution to the conversation, with a groundbreaking survey that explores “Mormons in America.”

In fact, it was the concept of a “Mormon Moment” (the notion first created last summer by a Newsweek cover story and an article in the New York Times) that got the Pew Research Forum thinking about doing this research.

In the preface to the new survey on Mormonism, Luis Lugo of the Pew Research Forum explains:

Over the years, numerous polls have gauged public attitudes toward Mormons, who make up about 2 percent of all U.S. adults. But what do Mormons think about their place in American life? With the rising prominence of members of the LDS Church in politics, popular culture and the media, do Mormons feel more secure and accepted in American society? What do they think about other religions? What do they believe, how do they practice their faith and what do they see as essential to being a good Mormon and to leading a good life?

Lugo says that the “hope [is] that [the survey] will contribute to a broader public understanding of Mormons and Mormonism at a time of great interest in both.”

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Read the full Pew Forum report.

Read the glossary of Mormon terminology from the Pew Forum website.

See Key Findings infographic from the Pew Forum survey.

See infographic from the Deseret News article.

Read thoughts on the Pew Forum Survey on the LDS Newsroom.

During the next week or so, we’ll continue to focus more on this survey and Mormons’ thoughts on the “Mormon Moment” here at Mormon Women.

The post Mormons in America: Pew survey on Mormon life and belief appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

Once again, we have a few more responses that we’d already received to Len’s question before it ever posted here. Thanks to those who have contributed their own thoughts and experiences. (To comment, please go to the original post here.)

Our first response today comes from Koreen, who is not a Mormon herself, but has many family members who are. The emphasis on and principles taught about the importance of family are one thing that really stick out to her.

~by Koreen

I hope you don’t mind if I reply too. I have also tried to figure out what is different about “the Mormon population.” There are many faiths that hold many of the same beliefs as the LDS church and [use scriptures like the Bible] that are followed by many religions. So, what’s different about the LDS church?

Here’s my “outsider’s” point of view. Almost every Mormon I know is an emotionally healthy person. Why? One word…family. I have had experiences with many religions and none have as much focus on family as the LDS church. Children raised in the LDS church are loved and nurtured. Those children grow up to become emotionally healthy adults. I once read that the number one factor in helping an individual overcome an illness (be it physical or mental) was the level of their support network. If someone knows that they are loved unconditionally and that someone (or several someones) always has their back, they are much more likely to get through the trials of life more quickly.

I also saw a 20/20 show many years ago on centenarians. They compared all kinds of factors for as many people as they could find that were 100 years or older. The number one factor that they all had in common was their ability to deal with loss. Not whether or not they smoked, or drank, or ate healthy, or exercised. None of those. It was their ability to remain happy in the face of life’s trials. And the LDS church has that going for it in spades.

I wonder what the divorce rate is for LDS members vs. the rest of the population. I bet it’s much lower. In my own opinion, it is due in large part to the emphasis on family. Men and women choose their relationship and family first…always, not just when it’s convenient. I believe that many divorces could have been avoided if each person put their relationship first. Should I watch this football game or should I play with my children? No question. Should I buy this thing I’ve always wanted or should I save the money for the dishwasher repair? No question. Should I stay and do this one more thing at work or be home on time to have dinner with my family? Dinner…hands down. Should I flirt back with my co-worker? Not even a fleeting thought. All the little things add up and make relationships successful. And children surrounded by parents in a healthy relationship learn to continue that cycle when they marry and have children.

Where does the emphasis on family come from? Well, from what I’ve learned, it’s the restoration of the church that God and Jesus originally intended many, many years ago – with the family being an integral part of that.

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~by Marsha

I only know about my own family, but what I can tell you from that perspective is that the members of my family have trials like anyone else, but the source that they gain strength from is an overwhelmingly loving and personal Father. When I look at my blessings, it is pretty easy to be joyful and to recognize the long legacy of strength that I come from. That uplifts and buoys my spirit. I also know that my vision of the future is bright, and clear, and encouraging. That makes my difficult days smaller and the hope of my future a brilliant beacon before all I encounter.

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~by Cheryl

I think it’s for many reasons. But one of the most important reasons is because we have knowledge of the Plan of God. That knowledge gives us peace, and that peace brings us happiness. It’s not an act; it’s truly how most LDS members feel. I also truly believe it stems from our knowledge of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. We also know exactly where we came from, why we came here to Earth, what the point is of being here, and where we are going, and what will happen later. Ironically, this knowledge isn’t a “big secret” –anybody can learn this, we don’t hide it! (Thus our missionary effort.)

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The post Why do Mormons seem so happy? (part 3 — more responses) appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

We are regularly asked on our site about how and if Mormons celebrate certain holidays. We are getting many questions about if Mormons celebrate Christmas. The short answer is YES, Mormons celebrate Christmas!

The birth of the Savior, Jesus Christ, was a sacred and holy event in the history of the world and of Christianity. We as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints worship the Savior, who is central to our beliefs. At Christmastime, we seek to have Him at the center of our celebrations as well. This was a theme in the recent First Presidency Christmas devotional. Each of the members of the First Presidency reminded us to keep our focus during the season on the Savior, and on being more like Him by trying to serve others.

Some may wonder how Mormons celebrate Christmas. This question was addressed in this post: Ask a Mormon Woman: How Do Mormons Celebrate Christmas? You can also read about what Mormons do (or don’t do) about Santa.

This year, Christmas falls on a Sunday, which for Mormons is our Sabbath. Tomorrow, we’ll share some of the comments that have recently been left about how different Mormon families keep an extra-special focus on the Savior when Christmas Day falls on Sunday.

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