Of all the numbers in the Pew Research Center’s recently released survey of “Mormons in America,” the highest, most overwhelming numbers are these: 98 percent of respondents said they believe in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, and 97 percent say their church is a Christian religion.

This comes on the heels of earlier surveys indicating that 32 percent of non-LDS U.S. adults say the LDS Church is not a Christian religion, and an additional 17 percent are unsure of LDS Christianity. The theological and semantic reasons for this can be complex, but for the 1,019 self-identified Mormons who participated in the Pew survey, their theological position is clear: Mormons believe in Jesus Christ, and they consider themselves to be Christian.

“Certainly in Latter-day Saint theology is this idea that if you understand who you are, you understand that there’s a purpose in life, you understand your connection to God, that certainly has an impact on how you live your life and what you do, but also how you feel about your life and what you are doing,” said Michael Purdy of the LDS Church Public Affairs office.

For the vast majority of Latter-day Saints surveyed, those life choices have much to do with their religious beliefs. Eighty-two percent of survey respondents indicate that religion is “very important” to them, 83 percent say they pray every day and 77 percent say they attend church at least once a week. Beyond that, a stunning 69 percent of respondents fit all three descriptions, saying that religion is very important to them, that they pray every day and that they go to church every week.

“By this measure,” the report says, “Mormons exhibit higher levels of religious commitment than many other religious groups, including white evangelical Christians.”

Part of the explanation for these high numbers may be that the survey focused only on those who self-identified as Latter-day Saints.

“The method they used tended to identify people who are strongly committed,” said BYU sociologist Marie Cornwall, who advised the Pew Forum on the new survey. “They don’t have the people who are kind of marginal. But that’s okay; we just have to be careful with the way we interpret the findings.”

One such finding is the relationship between religious commitment and education among Mormons.

David Campbell, a University of Notre Dame associate professor and another adviser on the survey, noted that the more educated respondents were, the higher their levels of religious commitment.

“I was a little surprised by that,” said Campbell, who is LDS and who has extensively studied on the role of religion in the public square. “The more educated a Mormon is, the more likely they are to be wholehearted in their commitment to the church and its teachings.”

That is different from other churches, he said, where more education tends to lead to more religious skepticism.

Pew Research Center officials also noted “a significant gender gap in religious commitment, with more Mormon women than men exhibiting a high level of religious commitment (73 percent vs. 65 percent).”

According to the Pew report, a similar “gender gap” is seen among the general public. A 2007 survey found 36 percent of U.S. women exhibited a high level of religious commitment, compared with 24 percent of men.

One series of questions asked about what it means to be a good Mormon. According to the respondents, in order to be a good Mormon it is “essential” to believe Joseph Smith saw God the Father and Jesus Christ (80 percent), work to help the poor (73 percent), hold regular family home evenings (51 percent), not drink coffee and tea (49 percent) and not watch R-rated movies (32 percent).

Combining those who said “essential” with those who said “important but not essential,” the order changes a little bit: working to help the poor (97 percent), holding regular family home evenings (96 percent), believing Joseph Smith saw God the Father and Jesus Christ (93 percent), not drinking coffee and tea (81 percent) and not watching R-rated movies (79 percent).

“I think that result is rather interesting,” said Cornwall. “Mormons are known for not drinking coffee or tea and not watching R-rated movies. But compared to believing that Joseph Smith saw God and working for the poor, Mormons don’t seem to focus on the coffee and tea as much as people probably think.”

Other manifestations of religious commitment in the survey included:

The number of respondents (65 percent) who say they hold a current temple recommend (a certificate from local ecclesiastical leaders, issued every other year, indicating that an individual has permission from the church to enter LDS temples and participate in temple rites and sacraments)

The number (79 percent) who say they pay tithing (donating 10 percent of their income to the church)

The number (27 percent) who have served full-time missions for the church (this number includes 43 percent of men and 11 percent of women and varies significantly according to the age and education of the respondent, as well as whether or not the respondent was raised Mormon)

The number (82 percent) who keep food in storage for emergencies or disasters, as they have been counseled to do by LDS Church leaders (This number includes 23 percent who say they have three months’ worth, 35 percent who say they have more than three months’ worth and 23 percent who say they have less than three months’ worth)

The percentage who pay tithing is especially interesting to break down. According to the survey tabulations, “tithing is most common among Mormons with the highest levels of religious commitment (96 percent) … fully 91 percent of college graduates say they pay tithing … compared with 66 percent of those with a high school diploma or less education. And among those whose family income exceeds $30,000, 83 percent say they pay tithing, compared with 69 percent of those with incomes of less than $30,000.”

While previous surveys have clearly established LDS agreement with certain key Christian doctrines — 90 percent of Mormons believe in God, 91 percent believe the Bible is the word of God and 98 percent believe in life after death — the new survey explores Mormon confidence in points of doctrine that are unique to LDS theology. And in these points of doctrine, Mormons proved to be unified and believing. They believe overwhelmingly that God and Jesus Christ are separate physical beings (94 percent), that the president of the LDS Church is a prophet of God (94 percent), that families can be bound together eternally in temple ceremonies (95 percent) and that the Book of Mormon was written by ancient prophets and translated by Joseph Smith (91 percent).

Overall, 77 percent say they believe “wholeheartedly” in all of the teachings of the LDS Church. That number increases to 82 percent among Mormons ages 18-49, and to 85 percent among Mormons who are college graduates.

“Ultimately, I suppose other Americans will judge our church — and perhaps all churches — by their relevance in how they touch and improve human lives right here on Earth as well as what they offer in the life to come,” wrote Michael Otterson, Public Affairs director for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in his “On Faith” blog in the Washington Post. “Meanwhile, we welcome the friendship and regard of all groups, even as we retain our commitment to a unique identity. In the end … Latter-day Saints will strive to be good Mormons, true believers, kind neighbors and faithful friends.”

Pew Study Reflects Mormons’ Religious Commitment to Christ, Mormon Beliefs in Tithes and Temples

Mormons in America

About 300 members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints heeded the call to be their brother’s keeper in Minot after the flooding there damaged many homes. So far, the Mormons have helped gut 200 homes, and 600 other families have requested their help. Their selfless service is especially helpful to people who otherwise would have to hire contractors who charge anywhere from $8,000 to $20,000 for the same service.

These volunteers, who all wear yellow shirts to identify themselves, make a seven hour journey from Winnepeg and sleep in tents on the front lawn of the Minot Mormon Church while they work on the houses. They provide their own food and supplies. Their twelve hour work day starts at 6:30 AM. They have made incredible progress and will be continue their work for many weeks to come.

Service is an integral part of the Mormon faith. Many members all over the world go out of their way to help others by assembling hygiene kits for poverty-stricken areas, collecting canned food and school supplies for those without access to nutritious food and educational materials, and helping with construction projects in areas that have been struck by natural disasters.

The media has spent a lot of time on the Book of Mormon Musical, a Broadway production people either love or hate. The reviews have often demonstrated the biases of the reviewers. One rejoiced that the musical showed that religion believes in a lot of silly things (not just Mormonism, but all religion). Another suggested the message was that blind faith is a sin, with his unspoken message being that religious faith is always blind. A Jewish writer argued that Jewish people, with their great knowledge of the dangers of religious persecution, should speak out loudly against the musical. Other writers have noted that the musical attacks all religions, even though it focused on only one. Some have noticed it is an inherently vicious portrayal of Africans, mocking their poverty and suffering.

The official statement of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was a single sentence:

“The production may attempt to entertain audiences for an evening, but the Book of Mormon as a volume of scripture will change people’s lives forever by bringing them closer to Christ” (Church Statement Regarding The Book of Mormon Musical, 07 February 2011).

Michael Otterson, the managing director of the Mormon’s Public Affairs Department, wrote a less official personal response to the musical for the Washington Post. There he explained he would not be seeing the Book of Mormon Musical. “But I’m not buying what I’m reading in the reviews. Specifically, I’m not willing to spend $200 for a ticket to be sold the idea that religion moves along oblivious to real-world problems in a kind of blissful naiveté.” The Mormon Church’s official statement along with other LDS news and events can be found at the LDS Newsroom.

Brother Otterson took an interesting approach to the topic. He learned it took seven years to create the musical that made fun of African suffering. He wondered what the Mormons were doing in those seven years. Were they ignorant of real-world problems and suffering? He quickly learned Mormons weren’t making fun of Africans during those seven years. They were working diligently to resolve some of the hardships the musical mocks. In Africa, Mormons were bringing clean water to four million Africans who had never had it, providing wheelchairs for 34,000 children, vaccinating millions of children, training 52,000 Africans to resuscitate newborns, and providing emergency supplies to 20,000 people in flooded Niger. In the long run, who had the most important impact on the world in those seven years?

The world has protested the desecration of sacred Muslim texts, as they should, but the same outcry has not really been present for the desecration of sacred Mormon texts through crude language and portrayals in the musical. Mormons have a great respect for sacred things—our own and the sacred things of others.

A Mormon instructor once explained how Mormons could show respect for people of other faiths. He wrote:

“We can treat things that are sacred to them with respect. The yarmulka of an orthodox Jew, the crucifix or rosary of a Catholic, the icon of a Greek Orthodox, the shrines and temples and sacred places of other faiths—we can treat all these things with the tolerance of heart we desire people to have for our way of life. This does not mean that we need to adopt their religious practices: but it does mean that we should not treat lightly these things or their use of them. “

He also suggested, “We must never ridicule another person’s manner of worship. Many of our practices may seem strange to him, too! Though we may disagree with another person’s form of worship, we ought not to make light of it or criticize him for it. For these things represent other people’s sincere efforts to worship God, and though we may make every reasonable effort to give them a fuller understanding in the appropriate setting, these methods of worship are still the outgrowth of the individual’s sincere faith.” (See Gerald E. Jones, “Respect for Other People’s Beliefs,” Ensign, Oct 1977, 69.)

There are some who have suggested Mormons need to see the musical in order to evaluate it. Most people study reviews prior to deciding how to spend their money and reviews make it clear Mormons who practice strict obedience to the commandments and the teachings of the prophets will be unwilling to see the musical. This is not just because of its attacks on Mormons, religion, and Africans, but also because the language and content are labeled vulgar even by those who liked it.

Mormon teenagers are given a pamphlet that outlines the moral standards a good Mormon will follow. It has been made clear these standards are not just for teens—they are for everyone. Concerning media and entertainment choices, Mormons are taught:

“Whatever you read, listen to, or look at has an effect on you. Therefore, choose only entertainment and media that uplift you. Good entertainment will help you to have good thoughts and make righteous choices. It will allow you to enjoy yourself without losing the Spirit of the Lord.

While much entertainment is good, some of it can lead you away from righteous living. Offensive material is often found in web sites, concerts, movies, music, videocassettes, DVDs, books, magazines, pictures, and other media. Satan uses such entertainment to deceive you by making what is wrong and evil look normal and exciting. It can mislead you into thinking that everyone is doing things that are wrong.

Do not attend, view, or participate in entertainment that is vulgar, immoral, violent, or pornographic in any way. Do not participate in entertainment that in any way presents immorality or violent behavior as acceptable,” (“Entertainment and the Media,” For the Strength of Youth: Fulfilling Our Duty to God, (2001).

From this and other statements, it is easy to discern why good Latter-day Saints simply cannot attend a musical in which “vulgar” is the one word every reviewer uses to describe the script. Mormons subscribe to what are called the Articles of Faith, a statement of thirteen basic beliefs. The last one ends with the following sentence: “If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.” Conversely, then, Mormons avoid anything that is not virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy.

Brigham Young University, also called BYU, is a university in Provo, Utah. It is sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, whose members are also known as Mormons.

BYU Honor Code helps students live a Christ-like life.

Although a student does not have to be Mormon to attend BYU, most students are LDS (Mormon.) Any student, whether or not they are Mormon, must sign the honor code and then live what it says. For BYU, unlike some universities, the honor code is not a PR tool or a suggestion, but a serious way of life. Students know about the honor code before agreeing to come to the university and they have given their word to live it. Not doing so results in suspension. The university puts this code above all other considerations and will enforce it even when the person who violates it is the star of a sports team. Some newspapers have noted that most schools who suspend a student for violating an honor code or even for breaking a law will do so during exhibition games or some other time that won’t hurt the team. BYU has gained attention several times for removing a student permanently from the team at great risk to their own success in the world of sports.

The Honor Code is perhaps one of the strictest in the nation. It applies to both students and staff, with the only exception being that non-Mormons do not have to attend church. Students agree to:

Be honest

Live a chaste and virtuous life

Obey the law and all campus policies

Use clean language

Respect others

Abstain from alcoholic beverages, tobacco, tea, coffee, and substance abuse

Participate regularly in church services

Observe the Dress and Grooming Standards

Encourage others in their commitment to comply with the Honor Code

It should be noted that no one, even Mormons is required to attend a Mormon-owned university and so students are electing to attend and to follow the rules. They must be living these standards at the time of acceptance and are required to continue to live them even between semesters and when off-campus.

Living the Honor Code helps students to uphold the standards of the Mormon Church, but it does more than that. Students learn self-discipline and they learn the importance of keeping their word. The Honor Code, simply because it is strict, allows students to learn the value of setting and keeping high standards, whatever the cost. While much of the nation considers standards outdated, we continue to see the consequences of not having any. Many political leaders resign due to their unwillingness to live up to moral standards of marital fidelity. Business leaders get carried away by greed and violate the law, ending a promising career with a prison sentence.

College years are formative. It is when many young people are choosing how they will live and who they will be. Living the Honor Code can help students get through this time safely and to become aware of the value of living with honor. While many students are using their first years away from home making mistakes they will have to cope with the rest of their lives—unwanted pregnancies or diseases, drug or alcohol addictions, even criminal behavior—a Brigham Young University student who lives the Honor Code gives himself time to grow up, get into the work force, and become mature enough to evaluate the long-term consequences of his choices. Young adults who develop the habit of living with honor go on to have successful and happy lives as honorable adults.

At the World Congress of Families V in Amsterdam, Netherlands, on Aug. 12, 2009, Russell M. Nelson spoke to the delegates about the importance of the traditional family. Elder Nelson is an apostle for The Church of Jesus Christ of

 Latter-day Saints, whose members are sometimes informally referred to as Mormons. He said,

“Dear friends, future happiness and even the future of nations is linked to children. Families with children need to be re-enthroned as the fundamental unit of society. We simply must value children more than we do! Without a new generation to replace the old, there is no wealth; without families, there is no future.”

The traditional family is a fundamental principle of Mormonism. Mormon beliefs center around Jesus Christ as the head of the church, and the family as the fundamental building block of society. Children learn their first values from their parents, and parents should always be the primary teachers of values. Churches and other organizations can only support the family in this process, not replace it.

Mormons have many programs to support families. Some involve practices carried out in the home. A practice that has received much attention and has been emulated by many who are not Mormon is the Family Home Evening program. Every Monday night, Mormon families turn off the telephone and close the doors to outsiders. This evening is devoted entirely to strengthening the family. Generally, the family-only meeting begins with a song and prayer and the conducting of family business. Then a lesson on an essential spiritual or moral lesson is taught. Following the lesson, families play games and enjoy treats before closing with a song and family prayer.

A unique feature of Family Home Evening is that each family member participates in the program. Most families have a chart that rotates assignments, often pairing young children with someone older. In the security of the home, children learn to lead a meeting, conduct a song, offer a public prayer, and teach a lesson. The meeting gives parents an opportunity to share sacred beliefs with their children and for children to learn and share their own beliefs. It also serves to strengthen the family bonds, which increases the ability of the parents to influence their children over the years.

The prayers offered in this meeting are only two of many given in the home. Mormon families gather for family prayer twice a day, in addition to their personal prayers and the prayers of the husband and wife together. Generally, the morning prayer includes a brief devotional, in which family members read the scriptures together and discuss them. Once again, parents have an opportunity to demonstrate how important Jesus and His gospel are to them, and to spend time with their children.

On Sundays, families attend the main worship service together. Even babies and small children are welcome and the increase in noise and movement from the little ones is accepted without complaint by church members because they understand how critical this meeting is for children. Even though the toddlers and babies do not understand much of what is said, they are experiencing church snuggled in a parent’s arms or playing quietly beside them, making their first memories of church pleasant. As they become a little older parents are able to begin training their children to be reverent in the church setting, rather than leaving it to teachers. All learning begins in the home.

The Mormons value their children. They have worked to create programs that support parents in the challenging work of training children to live the gospel. Organizational leaders and teachers understand they do not replace or come first before the parent, but only support them in their efforts by being an additional witness of the truth.

Formal classes begin at eighteen months. After attending the main worship service, known as Sacrament Meeting, as a family, families split up for various classes. The toddlers, ages eighteen months to three years of age, attend the Nursery Class. Here, although there is some playtime, children learn in age-appropriate and fun ways about Jesus Christ and His teachings. Older children have more structured classes, but which also teach through activities and music. Children ages eight to twelve have a weekday program as well. In most areas, boys belong to the Cub Scouting program through the church and girls belong to Activity Days. In areas where Boy Scouting isn’t approved, the boys use the girls’ program.

In these programs, children learn to set and achieve goals, to put gospel principles into action in the real world, master practical life skills, and serve others. For instance, girls might learn to hand sew and then make hand-sewn toys for needy children after learning that Christ taught us to serve others. A group of young boys might learn to cook simple meals for themselves and then make cookies to take to a retirement home. The gospel taught on Sunday is put into practice during their weeknight activities.

Mormon families are regularly counseled to put their families first, making certain employment and civic activities don’t get out of balance and deprive children of active parents. The Church offers parenting classes and many lessons include help for parents. Church men and women can turn to other parents for support and mentoring on an informal basis as well, because congregations are assigned by geographical boundaries and normally include a wide range of ages and experiences.

These support systems are one reason Mormon families are noted for their lower divorce rate. Both marriage and parenting are considered priorities in a Mormon home. Because marriage that takes place in a Mormon temple is forever, and not just until death, Mormons have a strong motivation to create strong loving families that can continue into eternal life. Husbands and wives can continue to be married after death, and children can continue to belong to their parents.

Society has a vested interest in the well-being of its families. At the same conference, Sheri L. Dew, also a Mormon, said, “We all know that every nation is ultimately at the mercy of its families. If families are riddled with problems, society eventually collapses under the weight of problems too vast for any government to meet. If families are strong, society is strong.” (See Sheri L. Dew: The Power of Virtue.)

In order for our society to succeed, we must begin to put families first and value the work of the parents who care for children. We must treat the children as if they matter.

Those who read the Bible remember that there was a day when Jesus had been working long, hard hours. A group of parents showed up late in the day with their children, but the apostles turned them away. However, the Savior summoned the children to Him, instructing His apostles to never turn away children. He demonstrated for His followers that day that He made children a priority, even during times of exhaustion. He understood that what children learn as children they generally take into adulthood. For this reason, we can’t wait until we have time to take care of the children of our world. As Elder Nelson said in the statement at the start of this article, “Families with children need to be re-enthroned as the fundamental unit of society.”

The Mormons are sometimes seen as having a great many restrictive rules. Mormons themselves know that within the rules are many opportunities for freedom, and that these rules actually make them freer than those with no rules.

An often-used example of freedom within structure is the sonnet. A sonnet is a poem with very strict rules.

Shakespeare’s sonnets each contained fourteen lines. Every line had ten syllables written in iambic pentameter. Despite this very strict structure, Shakespeare managed to come up with 154 sonnets, all different, and many other people have also created sonnets based on this formula. The structure does not prevent people from being creative and writing something close to their heart. Rather, it actually frees the author. By having the structure in place, the poet is free to focus all his attention on the message and wording of the poem, which, after all, is the point of a poem.

In the same way, a Mormon is free to live a life of great variety without breaking any  commandments. Mormons are found in many different careers living very different lifestyles and fitting well into the good parts of their cultures and neighborhoods. They do have similarities, because they have certain values and practices in common, but there are thousands of life patterns within that structure.

The structure provided them by the teachings of the church allow them a greater freedom than is possible for most people. It is a great deal of work to have to decide for oneself what is right or wrong, studying it out, analyzing, and researching and then constantly making course corrections to fit into society’s changing norms. Mormons, although taught to study issues for themselves, know they can turn to God for a final answer, rather than constantly, throughout their lives, having to monitor their choices against the priorities of ever-changing fads and values found in the world.

Truth is unchanging, and once a Mormon has determined what is true, he is free to move on and focus on other aspects of his life, such as building a strong family and serving others. The priorities have been set and they can then structure their lives accordingly. This may be one reason Mormons are often in the forefront of many important movements and services. They have time to do them because they aren’t constantly rebuilding their foundations.

N. Eldon Tanner said:

We must know and understand the doctrines in order to be obedient, and we must be obedient in order to be free. This applies to the laws of God and the laws of the land. Too often we think of freedom only as the quality or state of being free from external restraint or compulsion, and not subject to the will of another, where we have the power of choice with every person free to “do his own thing,” regardless of its effect on him or others.

Brigham Young made this statement:

“There is not a man of us but what is willing to acknowledge at once that God demands strict obedience to his requirements. But in rendering that strict obedience, are we made slaves? No, it is the only way on the face of the earth for you and me to become free, and we shall become slaves of our own passions, and of the wicked one, … and servants to the devil, if we take any other course.” (Journal of Discourses, 18:246.)

N. Eldon Tanner, “‘Ye Shall Know the Truth’,” Ensign, May 1978, 14

A Mormon makes one important choice and that allows some other choices to fall into place. At some point in their lives, whether they are converts or have been attending church all their lives, they each take the time to decide for themselves that the church is true and that God has restored his gospel and provided a prophet to guide us. This is not blind faith, because they have gone to the only source of truth to learn whether or not they are following someone who is receiving his instructions from God. They need not trust the prophet’s word that he is the prophet until God has agreed. At any time in the future, a Mormon may pray about a specific doctrine he isn’t sure about, but he generally finds it unnecessary to pray about each teaching. This is much like when a child learns a hot stove will burn his hand if he touches it. He may test it out a few more times, but after that, he has no need to test it every time he encounters a hot stove, or even a different type of hot item. He simply acts according to the knowledge he has already received and takes precautions each time he encounters heat.

Sheri Dew, a prominent Mormon, said:

I personally know tens of thousands of youth and young adults who are living morally clean lives. They are happy, productive, and anxiously engaged in becoming engaged. Moral purity is not outdated. Admittedly, it is also not easy. But I submit that it is easier than the alternative. Virtuous men and women never worry about a surprise pregnancy or sexually transmitted disease. Never agonize over confessing unfaithfulness. Have no emptiness after a one-night stand. No pain in losing one’s family to infidelity. No haunting memories of indiscretions. Quoting C. S. Lewis, “Virtue—even attempted virtue—brings light; indulgence brings fog.”¹⁰  (See Sheri L. Dew: The Power of Virtue)

It is this freedom from fear, negative consequences, and uncertainty that gives Mormons assurance and peace, and the freedom to live a life that is meaningful and joyful.

On August 10, 2009, Sheri L. Dew, CEO of Deseret Book and a former General Relief Society President for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, spoke before the World Congress of Families V in Amsterdam, Netherlands. She offered this warning to nations and their families:

“We all know that every nation is ultimately at the mercy of its families. If families are riddled with problems, society eventually collapses under the weight of problems too vast for any government to meet. If families are strong, society is strong.” (See Sheri L. Dew: The Power of Virtue.)

Laws can demonstrate a nation’s priorities and enforce behavior, but deep, lasting change happens on a more personal level. When we read biographies of famous people, they nearly always begin with a study of the person’s family history and demonstrate how that affected the person’s choices in life. Parents and other family members have the most opportunity to influence the thinking and behavior of their children. While each person has agency—the right to choose for themselves how to live—children are most likely to eventually emulate their parents.

A parent has access to a child’s mind at the ages in which a child is most easily influenced. A child who grows up doing service projects from his earliest moments will consider that a natural way of life, just the way people live. A child who lives in a home filled with books will feel uneasy being in one without them. A child who has gone to church with his family every Sunday of his life will feel an odd little urge at the appointed time if he grows up and tries to stop going, especially if it was a pleasant experience.

It’s when a child is small that we have the best chance of helping him become the right sort of person. Those people who spend the most time with the child each day have the most influence.

Once a child has his values in place, he goes into the world to live accordingly. As an adult, it is very likely his life will reflect the way he was raised. The details may be different, but the overall values will be the same. This is why nations are at the mercy of families. Citizenship classes are not the means for creating good citizens, although they might help. It’s the family nations depend on to train up a child in the way he should go.

If we want the hungry fed, we have to take our children to a food bank with a bag of groceries so they will continue the battle when they grow up. If we want an educated population, we need parents who read to their children, take them on educational outings, and arouse their curiosity about the world. If we want a generation that obeys the law, we first need parents who set the example by obeying the law themselves and who talk to their children about this.

Nations are at the mercy of families, and this is very good news. It gives families a good amount of control over the world in which they live. While setting the course for your own family may not seem like much of a change, each of your children can go on to influence hundreds more, and within a few generations, influence multitudes of family members, in addition to people in the outside world. The Mormons have a number of traditions and routines which can help to strengthen families of any faith, and are easily adaptable to the faith of any given family.

One is family home evening. Each Monday night, Mormon families gather together to pray, sing, learn the gospel as taught by their own family members, and play. This treasured tradition ensures parents have an opportunity to impart values to their children. It also helps them strengthen the bonds that will increase the chances the child will emulate his parents.

Another tradition is family prayer and family scripture study. Mormon families gather each morning for a brief devotional which includes a family prayer, scripture study and discussion. In a busy day it can be a challenge for parents to get everyone together for those fifteen to twenty minutes each morning, but they find the benefits far outweigh the challenges.

Mormon families also attend church together. From birth, children sit in the basic worship service, known as Sacrament Meeting, with their families. While this admittedly makes Mormon services a bit noisier and busier as toddlers escape their parents and babies whimper, these children never know a day when church has not been part of their Sabbath. They spend the meetings cuddling with a parent or playing quietly in their seat, and this time becomes a treasured memory and a critical routine. Only after this service do children go into classes meant just for them while their parents attend their own meetings. Mormons don’t drop their children off at church; they attend with them.

Small additions to the week can make a big difference in setting the stage for the future of our nations. As parents give children the values and the skills they will need to be good citizens and to fix the challenges our world faces, those children grow up to influence yet another generation. While it’s not an over-night cure for what ails our world, it is the most certain way to improve it for the long-term.

Gordon B. Hinckley, the previous Mormon prophet, said:

I am more concerned about the moral deficit in our nations than I am about their budget deficits, though that, too, is a most serious matter. Do societies need more policemen? I do not dispute it. Do societies need more prisons? I suppose so. But what they need, above all else, is a strengthening of the homes of the people. Every child is a product of a home. Societies are having terrible youth problems, but I am convinced that they have a greater parent problem. I am grateful that we of the Church have for a long time taught and are teaching and spending a substantial part of our resources to fortify the homes of our people….What can be done? We cannot effect a turnaround in a day or a month or a year. But I am satisfied that with enough effort we can begin a turnaround within a generation and accomplish wonders within two generations. That is not very long in the history of man. There is nothing any of us can do that will have greater longtime benefit than to rekindle wherever possible the spirit of the kind of homes in which goodness can flourish.

(See Gordon B. Hinckley, “Four Simple Things to Help Our Families and Our Nations,” Ensign, Sep 1996, 2.)

Personal Response by Natalie

Mormons (members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) have quite a few activities for youth. All activities sponsored by the Mormon Church are designed to provide youth with a fellowshipping base, or friends who are upholding the values of the Church.  Activities are also fashioned to encourage maturity and self-reliance, increase testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and teach skills while providing wholesome fun. All youth ages 12-18 belong to either of the Young Women or Young Men organizations. On Sundays during the three-hour block of meetings, youth meet for about an hour in their respective classes. There they are taught lessons about the scriptures and gospel. Within each of the organizations, there are three sub groups. For example, in the Young Women organization, 12- and 13-year-old young women meet in what is called the Beehive class, 14- and 15-year-old young women meet in the Mia Maid class, and 16- and 17-year-old young women meet in the Laurel class. Once young women are 18, they attend Relief Society with the adult women in the ward. Similarly, in the Young Men organization young men ages 12 and 13 attend the deacons’ quorum, ages 14 and 15 attend the teachers’ quorum, and ages 16 and 17 attend the priests’ quorum. Once a young man is 18, he is typically ordained to be an elder and will attend the elders quorum.

Once a week on a weekday evening, all the youth in the ward meet for about an hour or hour and a half for what is commonly called Mutual. Sometimes the girls and guys have separate activities, and sometimes they are combined. Mutual usually consists of an opening exercise (where everyone meets together at the beginning and has an opening song and prayer), a simple lesson, and an activity. Young Women often spend the activity time working on Personal Progress (see explanation of personal progress by clicking here) and young men often spend the activity time working on Scout merit badges or Duty to God. Examples of activities I have been a part of with the young women include learning how to crochet, tying quilts for newborn babies, going on a hike, learning how to cook, and playing board games. Examples of some activities that I have seen the young men do have been going on hikes, putting up American flags around the ward for holidays, and learning camping skills. About once a month the young men and young women usually have an activity together. Sometimes this activity is a service activity such as a canned food drive or making food for the local homeless shelter, and sometimes it is just something fun like going sledding or playing dodgeball.

Mormon youth also get together a lot to have dances. Depending on the particular ward or stake, some youth have dances a couple times a year and some have them almost every month. Usually these dances will include the youth from all the wards in the stake (commonly called stake dances) and sometimes even include multiple stakes. Usually, youth 14 and older can attend the dances. The dances are a lot of fun. There is usually a DJ playing upbeat, clean music, and appropriate dress standards are enforced at the dances to keep a fun, uplifting atmosphere.

During the summer, Mormon youth have a few extra fun activities. The Young Women attend a week of what is called girls’ camp. They usually go to a campground nearby. They spend the week getting to know each other, playing games and hiking, canoeing, etc., as well as having spiritual lessons and studying the gospel together. Girls’ camp is always lots of fun! The young men in the ward also go on a camping trip each summer, either to a scout camp or a local campground. They work on scouting merit badges, have fun activities, and study the gospel. In addition to these camping trips, the youth in a ward will usually have a large combined activity (young men and young women) and have a 2- to 3-day youth conference. Sometimes a youth conference activity is camping, sometimes it’s staying at college dorms, sometimes everyone just stays at home and participates in special activities during the day. Youth conference usually consists of service projects, fun activities such as sports, games, hikes, etc., as well as lessons and youth speakers.

I feel so blessed to have grown up in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon Church) and to have participated in these great youth programs. I loved being surrounded by so many people my age who shared my beliefs and had high standards. It was great to be able to attend activities that I knew would be clean and uplifting.

Personal Response by Karim

I’ve always enjoyed romantic movies. Both in film and in real life, there are those married in big cathedrals decorated with gorgeous flowers; others exchanging vows at sunset by the beach. But regardless of the glamour or setting, there is something these versions of a wedding all lack: a union for eternity. Civil marriages claim that the couple will be together until death. A Mormon temple marriage guarantees that if you honor each other and the promises you made in the temple, you will be together forever- even past death–to enjoy a fulness of life and joy, and an increasing posterity.

This is such a comforting thought to me. My husband is my best friend and someone with whom I want to be forever. He made a similar commitment to me in a House of the Lord, kneeling before me, with an officiator holding the priesthood of God necessary to “seal” the union, depending upon our faithfulness. There is a serenity and security that comes from that sealing that cannot come from a lesser union.

Chris and I just celebrated our anniversary on May 11^th. We were sealed in the New York Manhattan Temple just one year ago. Even though not all my family could enter the Mormon temple because they were not members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (sometimes called the Mormon Church), they all knew how special this was for me, and waited for me outside with open arms.

Related Links:

LDS Weddings

Mormon Temples

Temples and Family History

Personal Response by Rachel
I have summed up the most significant lesson I learned on my mission in six words: “Come unto Christ and be happy.” This phrase has become a personal motto for the rest of my life. Each morning of my mission we had an hour to do personal study of the scriptures and Preach My Gospel. The more I studied the words of Jesus Christ through His ancient and modern prophets and apostles, the more I came to love Him and believe in Him. My growing belief and faith in Christ led me to follow His teachings, develop Christlike attributes, and testify of Jesus Christ’s restored gospel. As I obeyed the commandments of the gospel and became more like Christ, I felt the Holy Ghost’s influence more abundantly in my life. I felt the fruits of the Holy Ghost, which include “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance” (Galatians 5:22-23). I learned that “If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them” (John 13:17). Every day of my mission was an opportunity to do the things Jesus Christ has asked of us. When I chose to follow Christ, I was blessed with happiness, joy, love, and peace. My dad has often told me that he can always tell when I am happy and acting in a way that is pleasing to the Savior. “You have a sparkle in your eyes,” my dad has said. “So, I know that you are on the right path.”

I saw that sparkle, that light, in the eyes of many people during my mission as they followed the teachings of Jesus Christ. James is one of those people. We first met James when he was in a drug and alcohol rehabilitation center. His eyes were clouded and unfocused, he had difficulty reading the small print in the scriptures, and he was battling addiction to drugs and alcohol. In the first lesson, my companion and I taught James about the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, the Prophet Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon, prayer, and the Holy Ghost. James prayed with us and he immediately felt the Holy Ghost testifying to him that the message we had shared was true. My companion and I visited James once or twice a week for the next month until we were transferred from the area. Close to the end of that time, James told us that it was easier for him to read the words in the Book of Mormon. James was also finding it much easier to combat the cravings for drugs and alcohol. After we left, James continued to study the scriptures and pray often, as well as attend Mormon church meetings. Four months after I left the area, it was time for me to complete my mission. Before I came home, I went to visit James. The first thing I noticed when I saw James was the sparkle in his eyes. James was happy. I’ve often heard that the eyes are the window to the soul, but until that moment I didn’t believe that statement. The expression in James’s eyes was clear, focused, bright, and full of joy and hope. I immediately knew that James was still doing all he could to follow Jesus Christ because his eyes were “sparkling.”

James and I are not the only people who have experienced the enlightening and joy-filling power of the Holy Ghost. Millions of people around the world have been blessed by the influence of the Holy Ghost, which has testified to them of the truth of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ as taught by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormon Church). I know that as we truly seek to follow Christ, we will be blessed with the fruits of the Spirit. I also know that the Book of Mormon, as well as the Bible, is the word of God and invites all men to believe in Jesus Christ and obey His teachings. I know that when we follow the gospel of Jesus Christ, we will be happier than if we don’t follow the gospel. The message of the gospel is one of joy and gladness. The Prophet Joseph Smith wrote, “Now, what do we hear in the gospel which we have received? A voice of gladness! . . . Glad tidings of great joy.” How did serving a Mormon mission bless me and those I served? We were blessed with happiness, joy, and gladness (some of the fruits of the Holy Ghost) when we followed the teachings of the gospel of Jesus Christ.