Traditional marriage has a foundation thousands and thousands of years in the making. Same-sex marriage is still in the experimental stage.  If as a society we succumb to the rhetoric that traditional marriage supporters are anti-gay, bigoted and hateful, we turn our backs on the fundamental, rational reasoning that has held societies and nations together for millennia—as well as the democratic ideals upon which our country was founded. The family is the fundamental unit of society. Not just any family unit, but the family unit that provides a stable and protective foundation to bring children into the world. It is our responsibility as adults—the ones who are supposed to protect children—to make the world a better place for future generations. The reality is that the fight to protect traditional marriage is just that: A fight to protect the definition, sanctity and importance of marriage between a man and a woman.

Opposition to Same-Sex Marriage Isn’t Bigotry

Defenders of traditional marriage often do so based on their religious beliefs as well as their experience with families. A 53-page so-called “friend-of-the-court” brief filed with the 10th Circuit Court by five religious organizations, including The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (sometimes inadvertently called the Mormon Church), said:

Faith communities like ours are among the essential pillars of this Nation’s marriage culture. With our teachings, rituals, traditions, and ministries, we sustain and nourish both individual marriages and a culture that makes enduring marriages possible. We have the deepest interest in strengthening the time-honored institution of husband-wife marriage because of our religious beliefs and also because of the benefits it provides to children, families, and society. Our practical experience in this area is unequaled. In millions of ministry settings each day we see the benefits that married mother-father parenting brings to children. And we deal daily with the devastating effects of out-of-wedlock births, failed marriages, and the general decline of the venerable husband-wife marriage institution.

Religious leaders shepherd their flocks through times of trial—and see firsthand the devastating effect of the breakdown of the family. They are uniquely qualified to answer the questions of why the traditional family unit is so important. The brief continues:

In truth, we support the husband-wife definition of marriage because we believe it is right and good for children, families and society. Our respective faith traditions teach us that truth. But so do reason, long experience and social fact. … Faith communities and religious organizations have a long history of upholding traditional marriage for reasons that have nothing to do with homosexuality. Their support for husband-wife marriage precedes by centuries the very idea of same-sex marriage.

For The Church of Jesus Christ and other religious organizations, support for traditional marriage stems from their belief in God and in His commandments. Elder Dallin H. Oaks, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (with the First Presidency, the governing body of The Church of Jesus Christ), said:

Man’s laws cannot make moral what God has declared immoral. … Laws legalizing so-called “same-sex marriage” do not change God’s law of marriage or His commandments and our standards concerning it.

People of faith believe that we are here on earth as part of God’s divine plan for His children—because we are all literal spirit children of our Father in Heaven. Elder Oaks explained:

For Latter-day Saints, God’s commandments are based on and inseparable from God’s plan for His children—the great plan of salvation. This plan, … explains our origin and destiny as children of God—where we came from, why we are here, and where we are going. The plan of salvation explains the purpose of creation and the conditions of mortality, including God’s commandments, the need for a Savior, and the vital role of mortal and eternal families. … Our theology begins with heavenly parents, and our highest aspiration is to attain the fulness of eternal exaltation. We know this is possible only in a family relationship. We know that the marriage of a man and a woman is necessary for the accomplishment of God’s plan. Only this marriage will provide the approved setting for mortal birth and to prepare family members for eternal life. We look on marriage and the bearing and nurturing of children as part of God’s plan and a sacred duty of those given the opportunity to do so. We believe that the ultimate treasures on earth and in heaven are our children and our posterity.

Because marriage and children are central components of this plan, believers feel obligated to defend traditional marriage for the sake of children. Elder M. Russell Ballard, an Apostle of Jesus Christ, explained:

Church leaders have the responsibility to speak out on moral issues and to counsel individuals and families. The family is the basic unit of society; it is the basic unit of eternity. Thus, when forces threaten the family, Church leaders must respond.

The family is at the heart of Heavenly Father’s plan because we are all part of His family and because mortality is our opportunity to form our own families and to assume the role of parents. It is within our families that we learn unconditional love, which can come to us and draw us very close to God’s love. It is within families that values are taught and character is built. Father and mother are callings from which we will never be released, and there is no more important stewardship than the responsibility we have for God’s spirit children who come into our families.

Elder Neil L. Andersen, an Apostle of Jesus Christ, said:

While many governments and well-meaning individuals have redefined marriage, the Lord has not. In the very beginning, God initiated marriage between a man and a woman—Adam and Eve. He designated the purposes of marriage to go far beyond the personal satisfaction and fulfillment of adults to, more importantly, advancing the ideal setting for children to be born, reared, and nurtured. Families are the treasure of heaven.

Why do we continue to talk about this? As Paul said, “We look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen.” As Apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ, we have the responsibility to teach our Creator’s plan for His children and to warn of the consequences of disregarding His commandments.

The Nuclear Family is the Fabric of Human Society

The traditional, or nuclear, family is the fabric that holds society together. The marriage covenant regulates the use of the procreative powers—the ability for a man and a woman to create life—and provides a stable foundation for bringing children into the world. It binds husbands and wives to each other, and the children to their parents. From the beginning, our first parents Adam and Eve were married and commanded to have children. In that order. Their commitment to each other provided the framework into which their children were born, nurtured and taught. They formed the first family on the earth, setting the example for generations to follow and teaching their children the ways of God.  The 2012 State of Our Unions report explained:

Throughout history, marriage has first and foremost been an institution for procreation and raising children. It has provided the cultural tie that seeks to connect the father to his children by binding him to the mother of his children. …

There is now ample evidence that stable and satisfactory marriages are crucial for the well-being of adults. Yet such marriages are even more important for the proper socialization and overall well-being of children. A central purpose of the institution of marriage is to ensure the responsible and long-term involvement of both biological parents in the difficult and time-consuming task of raising the next generation.

Children need both biological parents because mothers and fathers have complementary roles. Husbands are the protectors and providers and mothers are the caregivers and nurturers. Elder Russell M. Nelson, an Apostle of Jesus Christ, taught:

… Parenting is a joint venture. The father exercises his leadership with light and love, never in any degree of unrighteousness. The mother provides the intuition, the inspiration, and the nurture that come from her so naturally.

The late Elder James E. Faust, until his death, an Apostle of Jesus Christ, explained:

For centuries the family was the bedrock of this and many other nations. It was the glue that held society together. Now many families are in trouble, and the glue is coming unstuck. As a result, many children are bewildered: they are growing physically but lack the support system, the disciplined moral framework, and the love and understanding that a strong family can provide.

It is in a home and with a family that values are usually acquired, traditions are fostered, and commitments to others are established. There are really no adequate substitutes. Church, school, and government programs can only reinforce and supplement that which is acquired at home. …

Alternatives to the legal and loving marriage between a man and a woman are helping to unravel the fabric of human society. That fabric, of course, is the family. These so-called alternative life-styles cannot be accepted as right because they frustrate God’s commandment for a life-giving union of male and female within a legal marriage (see Genesis 1:28). If practiced by all adults, these life-styles would mean the end of family.

Traditional marriage is the fabric that holds human society together because it is here where we are taught our values, morals and fundamental beliefs. President Gordon B. Hinckley, until his death, the prophet of The Church of Jesus Christ, taught:

A nation will rise no higher than the strength of its homes. If you want to reform a nation, you begin with families, with parents who teach their children principles and values that are positive and affirmative and will lead them to worthwhile endeavors. That is the basic failure that has taken place in America. And we are making a tremendous effort to bring about greater solidarity in families. Parents have no greater responsibility in this world than the bringing up of their children in the right way, and they will have no greater satisfaction as the years pass than to see those children grow in integrity and honesty and make something of their lives.

Redefining marriage would reform America’s homes by weakening the foundation upon which they are built. And if a nation will rise no higher than the strength of its homes, we owe it to ourselves to strengthen our homes, defend our families and protect the sanctity of our marriages. Marriage does matter—and it matters how it is defined. Why does traditional marriage deserve a protected status in our society? Because it is the only union capable of producing offspring—and it is the children, not the adults, who need to be protected.

Marriage Between a Man & Woman is Good Public Policy

In addition to benefiting children, traditional marriage, frankly, is good public policy. It is economically beneficial for both spouses, and it eases the economic burden on society when both parents work together to provide for their children. The 2012 Report State of Our Unions found:

The institution of marriage itself provides a wealth-generation bonus. It does this through providing economies of scale (two can live more cheaply than one), and as implicitly a long-term personal contract it encourages economic specialization. Working as a couple, individuals can develop those skills in which they excel, leaving others to their spouse. Also, married couples save and invest more for the future, and they can act as a small insurance pool against life uncertainties such as illness and job loss. …

Beyond the economic advantages of marriage for the married couples themselves, marriage has a tremendous economic impact on society. … Research has consistently shown that divorce and unmarried childbearing increase child poverty. In recent years the majority of children who grow up outside of married families have experienced at least one year of dire poverty…. The rise in child poverty, of course, generates significant public costs in health and welfare programs.

Marriages that end in divorce also are very costly to the public. One researcher determined that a single divorce costs state and federal governments about $30,000, based on such factors as the increased use of food stamps and public housing as well as increased bankruptcies and juvenile delinquency. The nation’s 1.4 million divorces in 2002 are estimated to have cost the taxpayers more than $30 billion.

Traditional marriage binds husbands and wives to their children, providing a stable foundation to bring children into the world. The financial costs alone of the breakdown of the family are staggering. Elder Oaks said:

Few measures of the welfare of our rising generation are more disturbing than the recent report that 41 percent of all births in the United States were to women who were not married. Unmarried mothers have massive challenges, and the evidence is clear that their children are at a significant disadvantage when compared with children raised by married parents. …

We should assume the same disadvantages for children raised by couples of the same gender. The social science literature is controversial and politically charged on the long-term effect of this on children, principally because, as a New York Times writer observed, “same-sex marriage is a social experiment, and like most experiments it will take time to understand its consequences.”

These are all very compelling reasons for the courts to uphold the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman. As eager as the courts seem to be to break new ground on the marriage front, they owe it to the nation as well as to future generations to slow down and really listen to those who are on the front-lines of the marriage culture—religious leaders who are dealing with the aftermath of the breakdown of the family.

Traditional Marriage is Different and Deserves Protection

The government’s role is to protect the common good. History has proven that this is best done by preserving and protecting traditional marriage and the family unit. The amicus brief concluded:

Marriage, understood as the union of one man and one woman, remains a vital and foundational institution of civil society. The government’s interests in continuing to encourage and support marriage are not merely legitimate but compelling. No other institution joins together two persons with the natural ability to create children for the purpose of maximizing the welfare of such children. No other institution strives to ensure that children have the opportunity of feeling a sense of security and being raised in a stable household by the mother and father who conceived them.  Undermining the husband-wife marital institution by redefining it to include same-sex couples will, in the long term, harm vital child-welfare interests that only the husband-wife definition can secure. The result will be more mothers and fathers concluding that the highest end of marriage is not the welfare of their children but the advancement of their own life choices. We know, from personal experience over numerous decades of ministering to families and children, that more focus on satisfying adult needs will not benefit vulnerable children. The societal ills caused by the deterioration of husband-wife marriage will only be aggravated if the State cannot reserve to marriage its historic and socially vital meaning.

Traditional marriage deserves protection and its own unique status because it is different. Traditional marriage has a power that no other relationship does. It was ordained of God from the beginning of the world. Elder Boyd K. Packer, an Apostle of Jesus Christ, taught:

I have seen and heard, as you have seen and heard, the signals all about us, carefully orchestrated to convince us that marriage is out of date and in the way. … Marriage is the shelter where families are created. That society which puts low value on marriage sows the wind and, in time, will reap the whirlwind—and thereafter, unless they repent, bring upon themselves a holocaust!

The same warning applies to those who would make a mockery of marriage in same-sex unions. Elder Packer also warned:

There are both moral and physical laws “irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world” that cannot be changed. History demonstrates over and over again that moral standards cannot be changed by battle and cannot be changed by ballot. To legalize that which is basically wrong or evil will not prevent the pain and penalties that will follow as surely as night follows day.

Opposition to same-sex marriage isn’t based on bigotry—it’s based on belief in God, His commandments and His plan for His children. It’s based on a fundamental desire to preserve and protect the family and its place as the foundational unit of society. Those who would redefine marriage to include same-sex unions would replace the strength of the family with a counterfeit replica.

Recent studies have shown that Mormons may be on to something when it comes to alcohol. Turns out, Mormons may just be right about drinking, and governments around the world are starting to realize it.[1]

Alcohol Consumption is Increasing–Along with the Consequences

Some may argue that negative consequences from alcohol consumption affect primarily the individual drinking, and that no one–especially the government–has the right to interfere with personal choices. But the effects from dangerous alcohol consumption are affecting more than we may realize. Alcohol-related deaths have tripled since 1990 (as of 2014), and is the third leading cause of death and disability worldwide. Drinking-related violence has also seen an increase, and the world’s younger population is one of the demographics most likely to binge drink.

With the world’s youth drinking more and more excessively, the prognosis for their futures isn’t optimistic. Aside from the violence and crime that can result from alcohol use (like drunk driving), the world’s young population are doing significant damage to their bodies, effects that could plague them for a lifetime.

Governments Try to Step In

Governments around the world are trying to step in and manage alcohol consumption by taxing the product and creating “ceiling floors” (imposing a minimum price on alcohol), though these efforts can’t reach the root of the problem. Higher taxes on alcohol may make drinking more expensive, but within those demographics most likely to be susceptible to addiction are those who can’t technically afford the tax but who will shell it out anyway. And ceiling floors will likely harm the manufacturing companies more than they will persuade the public to go easy on the drink.

What Mormons have in this matter is something that taxation and legislation can’t address: doctrine. And when people can internalize the reasons behind a directive and make it a part of their inner principles and belief systems, then personal–and global change–can happen.

The Doctrine of No Alcohol

The Mormons’ Word of Wisdom is a piece of revelation from God given to Joseph Smith, the modern-day prophet who restored the full gospel of Jesus Christ to the earth after centuries of worldwide doctrinal drift. It can be found in the Mormon scriptural canon in the Doctrine and Covenants (section 89). The exact wording is this:

To be sent greeting; not by commandment or constraint, but by revelation and the word of wisdom, showing forth the order and will of God in the temporal salvation of all saints in the last days–

Given for a principle with promise, adapted to the capacity of the weak and the weakest of all saints, who are or can be called saints. . . .

I have warned you, and forewarn you, by giving unto you this word of wisdom by revelation–

That inasmuch as any man drinketh wine or strong drink among you, behold it is not good, neither meet in the sight of your Father. (verses 2-5)

The scripture goes on to prohibit strong drinks (including other varieties of alcohol beyond wine), tobacco, and hot drinks (such as coffee and tea). The Word of Wisdom also encourages healthy eating, such as consuming grains, vegetables, fruits, and meat sparingly. The doctrine encourages us to eat according to the season and makes promises to those who adhere to this code.

The Word of Wisdom supports other doctrine in The Church of Jesus Christ. The Church teaches that our bodies are gifts from God, that we are created in His image, and that after we die we will eventually be resurrected with our spirits eternally reunited with our perfected physical bodies. Because of the eternal nature of our bodies, we have a responsibility to care for them properly throughout our mortality.

The Word of Wisdom is also doctrine that speaks to the power of obedience. Perhaps some Mormons (called “saints” in the actual scripture) could safely drink alcohol and not let it consume them. But the Word of Wisdom was issued for all saints, even the weakest one. And so the Word of Wisdom becomes as much a doctrine about health as it does about obedience to the word of God. The promise of the Word of Wisdom is marvelous:

And all saints who remember to keep and do these sayings, walking in obedience to the commandments, shall receive health in their navel and marrow to their bones;

And shall find wisdom and great treasures of knowledge, even hidden treasures;

And shall run and not be weary, and shall walk and not faint.

And I, the Lord, give unto them a promise, that the destroying angel shall pass by them, as the children of Israel, and not slay them. Amen. (verses 18-21)

Seeing Worldwide Change

Legislation will be able to do only so much in addressing the problem of alcohol consumption. Even in the 1920s and 1930s when alcohol was illegal in the United States, black market drink was prevalent and the black market strong. Government intervention can reach only so far. Real and lasting change can come only through understanding eternal doctrine and living it. Mormons understand the reasons behind the edict against alcohol, and they currently stand as an example of a worldwide group of people who can successfully abstain from drink and other harmful substances.

If you want to know more about Mormons, the Word of Wisdom, and what Mormons believe, go here.

The Church of Jesus Christ promotes doctrine on the family that states that marriage is meant to be eternal and is between a man and a woman. Any sexual relationships outside of a heterosexual marriage are considered sinful, but feeling attraction to someone of the same sex is not itself a sin.

This doctrine on marriage, family, and sexuality has led many to believe that Mormons are anti-gay and even discriminatory to gays and lesbians. The truth is that Mormons believe that all men and women are children of a loving Heavenly Father and that regardless of sexual orientation, we should treat those around us with love and kindness. Oyler makes it a priority to teach those church members he oversees about the importance of Christ-like love when it comes to interacting with the gay community and that no life choice is an excuse for ostracizing family members.[1]

Marriage and Family Are Central to God’s Plan for His Children

There’s no denying that for Mormons, the nature of the family is eternal and unchanging. In 1995, The Church of Jesus Christ published “The Family: A Proclamation to the World,” a statement that affirms the definition of marriage–between a man and woman–as well as the importance of bearing children and the potential for eternal families. The beginning of the statement first asserts our identity as children of God:

All human beings–male and female–are created in the image of God. Each is a beloved son or daughter of heavenly parents, and, as such, each has a divine nature and destiny. Gender is an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose.

Because of this unchanging doctrine, The Church of Jesus Christ opposes same-sex marriage; the Church does not, however, condone prejudice or discrimination against gays or lesbians. In fact, The Church of Jesus Christ supports gay rights that campaign for other legal rights and privileges.

When it comes to the possibility of legalizing same-sex marriage, The Church of Jesus Christ is also concerned about the affect such decisions will have on religious freedom. In a news release published in 2008, the Church stated, “Where same-sex marriage becomes a recognized civil right, it inevitably conflicts with the rights of believers, and religious freedom is diminished.”[2]

In the same statement, the Church emphasized,

As Church members strive to protect marriage between a man and a woman, they should show respect, civility, and kindness toward others who have different points of view. . . . Church members are to treat all people with love and humanity. They may express genuine love and kindness toward a gay or lesbian family member, friend, or other person without condoning any redefinition of marriage.

Because the family is so central to Mormon doctrine, Oyler instructed that “the family unit is the most important thing, and under no circumstances should [Mormons] find themselves ostracizing or disrespecting members of their family.” Oyler continued on to say that if Mormons would cultivate more open expression of their unconditional love toward gay family members that the struggles many gays face–like depression and suicidal tendencies–would greatly diminish.

Because family is so central to God’s plan for His children, Christ-like love is just as central. It must be difficult for parents to witness a child making decisions that are not in line with what they taught or agree with, but the crux of Mormon doctrine is rooted in love. That love shouldn’t alter based on another’s decisions.

No One But God Is Qualified to Judge

At the heart of this sensitive issue, we must all remember that only God is qualified to judge His children. Yes, Mormons will continue to support heterosexual marriage, and Mormon doctrine will continue to emphasize that none of us is qualified to judge another.

In the New Testament, Christ issues two commandments:

Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

This is the first and great commandment.

And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. (Matthew 22:37-40)

Yes, according to the gospel of Jesus Christ, homosexual relationships are sinful, yet even with that knowledge, we are in no position to assign blame or guilt to any of our fellow brothers and sisters. We do ourselves harm whenever our efforts to campaign morally or politically conflict with our duty to express Christ-like love. Oyler emphasizes the second great commandment to his fellow church members and tries to remind them of their responsibilities to be like Christ.

The Church of Jesus Christ heads up a website aimed at fostering discussion on same-sex relationships and marriage, MormonsAndGays.org. The site seeks to cultivate understanding on all sides of this emotionally charged issue; content includes interviews of gay Church members and also words from general leaders about the importance of treating all children of God with love and kindness.

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Fostering Understanding and Genuine Love

Mormons are currently in a position where they could accomplish much good through love and understanding. Oyler understands this and has spent time and energy teaching the Mormons in His region about the crucial importance of unconditional and Christ-like love. The family is the most important social structure we have, and Oyler rightfully explained that while it is important to express what we believe, we should never let that damage our own relationships with family members. Gays and lesbians who choose to be a part of The Church of Jesus Christ need love and acceptance rather than discrimination.

Oyler’s efforts to soften Mormons’ approach to gay struggles and especially the way Mormons may deal with gay family members will have not only an important impact on his local community, but also on the greater Mormon community nationwide.

Mormon Are Counseled to Prepare

The Mormon pioneers who trekked across the plains were required to adequately prepare their food supply for the exodus west. The trip took several months to complete, and even with church-supplies rations, hunger was a very real concern for those early pioneers. Without the preparation from these early members, certainly none of the companies would have made a successful trip.

Mormons today are still counseled to prepare for emergencies, and The Church of Jesus Christ does what it can to make that preparation as easy as possible. Spread throughout the United States are food storage facilities and farms whose product goes directly to the Church for storage purposes. These storehouses are often used to provide food and living supplies (like dish soap, shampoo, and toilet paper) to those in need.

The Church of Jesus Christ also produces food storage kits that are available at cost to members. The Church, however, isn’t the only producer of these kits. Several companies have sprouted that cater to emergency preparedness. Some offer specialized kits geared toward a certain food type, like grains, freeze-dried veggies, or dry dairy products. Some collections include ingredients for full meals. Most food storage companies offer food that can be shelved for up to 25 years.

The Importance Behind Food Storage

Food storage is more than about preparing for the apocalypse, though that’s the tone many Mormon leaders adopted during the Cold War. The Church of Jesus Christ does not preach doom and gloom, and does encourage its members to live their lives as fully as possible. Life, however, is not free from bumps and detours. Job loss is still a very real pitfall for many breadwinners, and a well-stocked food storage can go miles in stretching a family’s food and finances.

Food storage emphasizes self-reliance, a principle that has long been valued by The Church of Jesus Christ. In addition to encouraging food storage, Mormon leaders have counseled members to work out of financial debt and save funds for emergencies and for the future. Again, these principles are nothing new. Financial gurus all across the nation purport those same ideas in books, podcasts, and classes.

The Ease of Preparedness

With temporal and financial preparedness becoming more mainstream, becoming prepared is easier and easier. If you don’t want to buy a whole food storage kit, you can find countless lists for long- and short-term storage online, as well as lists for 72-hour kits and other emergency kits. Being prepared for emergencies is now a major industry for web content and physical production, and those who wish to equip their homes and families have every resource available to them.

If you are needing to get your home in order with food storage and emergency preparedness, visit The Church of Jesus Christ’s page about provident living.

User-friendly access

The Church of Jesus Christ has a whole network of websites dedicated to making its message of the Savior accessible and easy to understand. LDS.org is the primary site for members and contains access to canonized scripture, lesson manuals, General Conference messages, church magazine articles, and web-only featured content. Church members can register at the site and then gain access to online notebooks for personal study as well as congregation directories and calendars. The site has evolved over the years to be more user-friendly and interactive, and it continues to improve in the richness of its content, adding streaming of conferences, audio files, and video.

In addition to LDS.org, The Church of Jesus Christ maintains several other websites. Mormon.org is a site directed to those who aren’t Mormons and who are looking to learn more about the faith and teachings. Through Mormon.org, users can read profiles of Mormons (submitted directly by members), read concise content about beliefs, order their own free copy of the Book of Mormon, and even live-chat with missionaries.

In addition to several other sites, The Church of Jesus Christ also operates FamilySearch.org, a family history and genealogy website; Mormonsandgays.org, a site for openness and dialogue regarding the Church’s standing on homosexuality and gay marriage; and Overcomingpornography.org, a website to foster support and recovery for those struggling with pornography addiction.

The Church of Jesus Christ officially manages the following sites:

• LDS.org

• Mormon.org

• JesusChrist.lds.org

• Ensign.lds.org

• Youth.lds.org

• ProvidentLiving.org

• LDSjobs.org

• YouTube.com/MormonMessages

• Temples.lds.org

• FamilySearch.org

• Countries.lds.org

• Languages.lds.org

• Images.lds.org

• Braille.lds.org

• Music.lds.org

• OvercomingPornography.org

• MormonTabernacleChoir.org

• ItsAboutLove.org (LDS family services adoption website)

• Newsroom.lds.org

• AddictionRecovery.lds.org

• MormonsAndGays.org

• MormonsAndChina.org

Faith on-the-go

The Church of Jesus Christ has jumped on the smart-device bandwagon and has developed apps for both phones and tablets. Especially for millennials, these technological adaptations make scripture much more accessible. You can literally carry thousands of pages of scripture in your pocket and access it at any time. The app enables access to canonized scripture, General Conference messages, church magazine content, hymnbooks, and dozens of lesson manuals. The app also has highlighting, note-taking, and bookmarking tools; you can even create specific “notebooks” to store specific content. (For example, I have an in-app notebook for my personal goals and one for my Sunday lessons.) And unlike the log-in access on LDS.org, the Gospel Library app doesn’t require a username and password. It’s free and available for anyone.

With the Church adapting to technology by harnessing it, the organization ensures that its methods of spreading the word are still relevant. Some religions are having a hard time keeping up with the trends, and some are even being left behind. The Church of Jesus Christ knows how important its message is–that the Savior is the only and ultimate source of peace and redemption–and will use every honorable method it can to enable people to connect with God.

For members, The Church of Jesus Christ has also developed a practical app called LDS Tools. This allows members access to congregational and local leadership directories as well as local congregational calendars.

The YouTube presence

Mormons have staked out a clear spot on YouTube with the Church’s official channel, the Mormon Channel. The Church of Jesus Christ continues to produce short videos to spread its message and to help bring the faith out of the margins. Mormon Channel produces video series like Mormon Messages, Bible Videos, and the  I’m a Mormon campaign. These videos are able to be shared on social media platforms and are a great way to both introduce people to the faith and support and edify existing members.

Twice a year, General Conference can also be streamed live on YouTube (as well as through the LDS.org website and other internet channels), and the individual talks are promptly published in video, audio, and text formats just days after their initial broadcast.

Curriculum adapted for technology

The Church of Jesus Christ has also started adapting its curriculum to include more technological content. This weaving in of technology with curriculum has started with the content for the Church’s youth ages 12 – 18. The messages are the same, but the method of delivery has been updated. Lessons now include interactive PDFs and links to related video content. This new curriculum allows for teachers to better adapt the lessons to the needs of their students, because while the ultimate message of The Church of Jesus Christ doesn’t change, the needs of youth are so varied that the teachers need greater flexibility in presenting the curriculum.

Online missionary work

More and more Mormons are participating in online missionary work. Elder M. Russell Ballard, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles), said in a 2007 BYU – Hawaii commencement speech, that members should be doing more to share the gospel via blogs and social media. (Read this article by M. Russell Ballard, one of the members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.)

In addition to an increase in “civilian” missionary work, the rise of online media has allowed for more full-time missionary service. Many more missionaries with disabilities who aren’t able to proselyte on the streets in foreign countries are able to spread the gospel officially through the internet. This is a wonderful advancement that is also more inclusive to all church members who want to participate in the “Great Commision,” that of taking the gospel to the world.

Technology is important

Technology is important in the work of God. While almost all technologies can be used for degenerate purposes, these same tools can also be harnessed to spread the joyful message of Jesus Christ. Mormons have been asked by their leadership to learn these new technologies and use them to help in the worldwide missionary effort.

The Church of Jesus Christ wouldn’t be advancing the way it has been without the use of valuable and advanced technology. The message Mormons have to share is relevant to everyone, and they’re using the new tools available to make a mark and spread the word.

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Joseph Smith, first prophet of The Church of Jesus Christ, knew that the Church would grow in this way.  Joseph often received revelations from God, and the Doctrine and Covenants is a collection of many of those revelations. Several of them speak to the exponential growth of the Church:

• “For, verily, the sound must go forth from this place into all the world, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth–the gospel must be preached unto every creature, with signs following them that believe” (Doctrine and Covenants 58:64)

• “The keys of the kingdom of God are committed unto man on the earth, and from thence shall the gospel roll forth unto the ends of the earth, as the stone which is cut out of the mountain without hands shall roll forth, until it has filled the whole earth” (Doctrine and Covenants 65:2)

• “And this gospel shall be preached unto every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people” (Doctrine and Covenants 133:37)

The Book of Mormon (a record of nations in the ancient Americas translated by Joseph Smith) also contains prophecies about The Church of Jesus Christ and its growth:

• “In the latter days, when our seed shall have dwindled in unbelief, yea, for the space of many years, and many generations after the Messiah shall be manifested in body unto the children of men, then shall the fulness of the gospel of the Messiah come unto the Gentiles, and from the Gentiles unto the remnant of our seed” (1 Nephi 15:13)

• “And the Lord will set his hand again the second time to restore his people from their lost and fallen state. Wherefore, he will proceed to do a marvelous work and a wonder among the children of men” (2 Nephi 25:17)

• “Behold, because of their belief in me, saith the Father, and because of the unbelief of you, O house of Israel, in the latter day shall the truth come unto the Gentiles, that the fulness of these things shall be made known unto them” (3 Nephi 16:7).

Even the Bible contains prophecies about The Church of Jesus Christ filling the earth and gathering God’s children:

• “That then the Lord thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the Lord thy God hath scattered thee” (Deuteronomy 30:3)

• “And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldst be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth” (Isaiah 49:6)

• “As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day” (Ezekiel 34:12)

The Church of Jesus Christ has placed heavy emphasis on missionary work ever since its restoration in 1830 — it is the “great commission” of the Lord. In the early days of the Church, Mormon missionaries went to Europe to teach, and soon after that, entered Asia and the Pacific islands. In 2012, Mormon leadership lowered the minimum age for full-time missionaries from 19 to 18 for men, and from 21 to 19 for women. As of 2013, The Church of Jesus Christ had over 80,000 full-time missionaries serving all around the world. This missionary force is key in the fulfillment of prophecies about the spreading of the gospel around the world.

During his ministry as prophet, Joseph Smith prophesied powerfully about the influence the gospel would have on the world:

The Standard of Truth has been erected; no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done (History of the Church, 4:540).

Why Would Anyone Want to Join Such a Church?

Skeptics can’t deny that something has to account for the rapid growth of The Church of Jesus Christ, especially with the lifestyle changes new converts have to make. Anyone baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ is required to give up coffee, tea, tobacco, and alcohol, and commit to live the law of chastity, which in many cases, requires converts to marry their significant other or end their relationship. Some converts even encounter harsh disapproval from friends and family members.

Dieter F. Uchtdorf, one of the general leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ, said that converts to the Church have powerful reasons for doing so. These reasons include love for the Savior, opportunities to make a difference, and paths to dear blessings like guidance, healing, and knowledge. (Read this talk given by President Uchtdorf.)

Mormons bear a unique and powerful message of peace and redemption. Mormon missionaries encourage people to ask God for themselves whether or not the message they share is true. The Church of Jesus Christ teaches each member that he or she needs to develop a personal relationship with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Mormon missionaries are not called to convince or prove to investigators of the truth; anyone can receive his or her own personal witness of the Mormon message through studying the Book of Mormon and sincerely praying about it.

At the very end of the Book of Mormon, Moroni, the last of the Book of Mormon prophets, extends this invitation:

And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.

And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things (Moroni 10:4 – 5).

The rapid growth of The Church of Jesus Christ is not evidence of highly trained salespersons or polished marketing (most missionaries are young men and women in their late teens and early 20s). The exponential rise in membership is explained by the fact that the message Mormons have to share is true, that its promises are real. Millions of people all over the world have put the message to the test, and God has answered them personally.  If you’re interested in what Mormons have to say, you can chat with missionaries here. You can order a free Book of Mormon by clicking here.

Elizabeth Smart has a story to tell: hers. But it’s not just a story of tragedy and despair and the depths of human depravity. Rather, it is hope when things seem hopeless, strength and resilience in the face of overwhelming odds, and the knowledge that no matter what, God is always with us.

The now-25-year-old became a household name in the summer of 2002 when she was kidnapped from her affluent home in Salt Lake City, Utah, at the age of 14. For 9 months, her parents, family and community prayed, searched and clung to the hope that she would be found safe and alive. Her family—members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, sometimes inadvertently called the Mormon Church—worked hard to ensure that Elizabeth’s name and picture were not forgotten in the hopes that someone, somewhere would recognize her and bring her home. And through their faith, prayers and dedication, miracles happened. Elizabeth was brought home.

In the ensuing decade, Elizabeth Smart has refused to look back at her traumatic ordeal—only looking forward. She wants to show the world—and other victims—that you can move past your circumstances and find happiness. You do not need to be defined by your tragedy—but by the stronger person you become afterward. Elizabeth’s memoir, “My Story,” was released Oct. 7 in hopes that it might help others move forward after tragedy—and know that God will never abandon us in our darkest hours.

Elizabeth is Telling ‘My Story’

The Elizabeth Smart story is every parent’s worst nightmare—putting your child safely in her bed for the night and waking up to find her gone. But her rescue also brought hope to other families with missing children. In the days, months and years following Elizabeth’s return home, the Smart family asked that the public respect her privacy and allow her time to heal. She became a motivational speaker and advocate for change related to child abduction, but she held tight to the private, horrific details of her days in captivity. Now, 10 years later, Elizabeth is ready to tell her story in intimate detail—100% of what happened to her. She said:

I didn’t just want to go 10% and sugarcoat the rest. I wanted it to be really what happened and what it was like every single day I was there, because I don’t think I’m doing anyone any favors by sugarcoating it. [1]

Why now, so many years later, is she opening up? She said that people don’t often acknowledge the “just staggering” number of children who are sexually abused before the age of 18—one in 4 girls and one in 6 boys. She said:

I want to reach out to those survivors and those victims. I want them to know that these things do happen, but that doesn’t mean that we have to be defined by it for the rest of your life. You can move forward and you can be happy. [1]

Elizabeth’s advice to other victims speaks volumes as to the reasons that she waited to write a book. She said:

To have so many people speculate on what happened and what I must be going through, and just so many lies being told. It was hard. I didn’t like it. I don’t think anybody likes having people guess at what they’re going through. Privacy is so sacred and any time a victim is returned, a survivor is found and rescued, privacy is one of the greatest gifts we can give them because if they decide to share, that’s up to them and they will come forward. [2]

So Elizabeth is coming forward with her story, in her own time, and in her own way.

Faith in the Face of Fearsome Foes

Elizabeth Smart’s terrifying ordeal began on June 5, 2002, when she was taken at knifepoint from her bedroom by a bearded transient street preacher named Brian David Mitchell. She said:

To me, in my bedroom is the ultimate place in safety. I mean, I felt like that was the safest place in the world for me, so waking up in the middle of the night in my own bedroom having this strange man standing over me, someone I didn’t recognize, not only that but having a knife being held to my throat, I was terrified. I had grown up in a very happy home and I really didn’t know what the definition of fear was until that moment. That brought whole new meaning. [1]

As the street preacher, who called himself “Emmanuel,” led her out of her house and up the steep mountain trail above her home, Elizabeth said she prayed for a way to escape. She said, “All I could think was, if he could part the Red Sea for Moses, He can part some of the scrub oak for me and I can escape…[But it] didn’t happen.” [3]

Instead, she was held captive and endured unspeakable abuse at the hands of her two captors—the street preacher and his wife, Wanda Barzee. Mitchell forced her to act as his second wife, telling her that God told him to do this to her. As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ, Elizabeth was taught differently. She said:

When I was kidnapped and he was telling me all of these things, I remember what my parents said: “You’ll know a person by their actions.” And so even though he was sitting there telling me that he was a prophet, that I should be thankful for what was happening to me, I was really a lucky girl—I realized that he wasn’t a good person. He was hurting me. He made me feel terrible. And growing up believing that I have a kind and loving Heavenly Father, I couldn’t believe that God had called him to do what he was doing to me. [4]

Throughout her ordeal, Elizabeth never lost faith in God nor in His goodness. She held tightly to her parents’ teachings and remembered the words of her mother: “I may not always love your choices…but I will always love you, and I will always be your mother, and nothing can ever change that.” [3] Elizabeth said she knew one thing: “My family was still there. And because of that, because I had that and because I knew that, I was able to make the decision to do whatever it took.” [5] No matter what it took, Elizabeth was going to find a way to get home to her family.

Ice-Cold Water and Other Tender Mercies from God

Elizabeth said that although “God won’t make the evil go away,” He will visit us in our afflictions. [6] She recounted one experience when the camp’s water supply ran out and she became severely dehydrated. One morning, Elizabeth said, she woke up to an ice-cold cup of water. She said she never knew where the water came from—but she knew that it was a gift from God. She said:

I could just feel the cold water running down inside of me and just how grateful I was for it. And just feeling like it was God telling me that I wasn’t forgotten, that He still knew I was there. And that He wasn’t abandoning me. [5]

Elizabeth also described how she prayed nightly for shoes, and then found a perfect-fitting pair under a bush. Other blessings include a rainstorm when her throat burned with thirst and a Thanksgiving or Christmas meal prepared by volunteers. She also said that she could feel the presence of her late grandfather. Elizabeth writes that those “tender mercies literally kept me alive.” Elizabeth says that she “never felt closer to God than I did throughout my nightmare with Mitchell.” [6]

What-Ifs and Missed Rescues— Don’t Second-Guess What Might Have Been

The armchair quarterbacks who speculate on what she and others could have or should have done need to know one thing, Elizabeth said:

You can never judge a child or a victim of any crime on what they should have done, because you weren’t there and you don’t know and you have no right just to sit in your armchair at home and say “Well, why didn’t you escape? Why didn’t you do this?” I mean, they just don’t know. That’s wrong. And I was 14. I was a little girl. And I had seen this man successfully kidnap me, he successfully chained me up, he successfully raped me, he successfully did all of these things. What was to say that he wouldn’t kill me when he’d make those threats to me? What was to say that he wouldn’t kill my family? [1]

And Elizabeth had heartbreakingly close near-rescues throughout her 9-month ordeal. There was the time that she heard her uncle calling for her. The time that the helicopter was just above them—so close that the trees were bending from the blades—but never saw the hidden campsite. The Salt Lake police detective who saw them at the public library—but never lifted the veil that covered her face because Mitchell said it would violate her religious beliefs. Of that incident, she said:

When he turned around and walked away, being 100% convinced that it wasn’t me, I mean, it felt like I was being kidnapped all over again. I mean, it felt like I was being stolen from my family again and being ripped away from my life and my happiness. [2]

And there were others, but ultimately, Elizabeth herself outwitted Mitchell at his own game.

Elizabeth Manipulates the ‘Master Manipulator’

After the close call with the Salt Lake police detective, Mitchell and his wife took Elizabeth to Southern California—where she encountered a few more near rescues. Although only a 15-year-old, self-described naïve child, Elizabeth soon realized that her best chance of escape lie in Salt Lake. She said that Mitchell started talking about going the East Coast—New York or Boston. But, she said her thinking was:

We have to get back to Salt Lake. There’s no way anyone was going to find me if I don’t. But there’s every reason for them not to want to go back to Salt Lake, every reason in the world for that to be the last place for them to ever go. [2]

Elizabeth said that she knew her captors wielded religion as a tool for manipulating others—and that it was wrong. But she prayed that if just once, God would let this idea work—she would never ever do it again. She knew the only way Mitchell would take them to Salt Lake was if he thought the idea was his. [3] She said:

I remember turning around and facing my captors and just telling them, “I just have this feeling and I know that God would never speak to me, but I know he’ll speak to you because you’re his servant. You’re practically his best friend. Could you please ask him if we’re supposed to go back to Salt Lake, because this feeling, it just won’t leave me and, this is just crazy coming from me, but if you ask him I know he’ll tell you.” And so he did end up asking. And that was how it was decided we’d go back to Salt Lake. [2]

‘Are You Elizabeth Smart?’

Soon after the trio’s return to Salt Lake City—on March 12, 2003—they were walking down State Street in the nearby suburb of Sandy. They had just been in Walmart, where Mitchell shoplifted hiking shoes and other items. Elizabeth said:

I remembered all these cars pulled up and then the policemen jumped out of their cars and they came over and surrounded us and started asking questions. And my two captors, they kept giving the answers and the officers started to ask me questions. [2]

Initially, Elizabeth gave the officers the back story that Mitchell had prepared for her. She said, “I was scared. I was petrified.” [2] Elizabeth writes in her book:

“She’s scared,” one of the other officers whispered from the back. “She doesn’t dare say anything.”

The officers huddled together, a couple of them keeping their eyes on Mitchell and me. Barzee seemed to have melted into the background. It was as if no one cared that she was even there.

“She’s scared of him,” the officer said to the others. “She’s too scared to even answer. You’ve got to get her by herself.” [7]

So the officers separated her from her captors. Elizabeth said:

At first, I was still really scared. I kept giving the answers that I had been told to give, and then finally one of the officers said, “Well, if you’re Elizabeth Smart, your family misses you so much and they love you so much and they have never given up hope on you the entire nine months you’re gone. Don’t you want to go back home to your family?” And it was just at that point that I felt like, well, no matter what the consequences are, I don’t care, I want to go home. [2]

Then, she said:

I told them that I was Elizabeth Smart. It was scary because I didn’t know if they thought I had done something wrong or if they had thought I had run away. I didn’t know what they were thinking. [2]

The officers took Elizabeth to a Salt Lake City police station and put her in a room by herself.

Not long after that, the door flew open and her dad ran in. Elizabeth said:

I knew in that moment that nobody would ever be able to hurt me again in the way my captors had. No matter what lay in front of me, it was going to be okay, because my dad was there. [3]

Hope and Healing After Tragedy

The trauma of Elizabeth’s captivity sets the stage for the miracles that happened after her rescue. Not long after Elizabeth returned home, her mom gave her the best advice she ever received:

My mom said, “Elizabeth, what this man has done to you is terrible, and there aren’t words to describe how wicked and evil he is…but the best punishment you could ever give him is to be happy. Move forward and follow your dreams and do exactly what you want to do. You may never feel like justice has been served, but you don’t need to worry about that because in the end, God is our ultimate judge, and He will make up every pain and every suffering that you’ve gone through. Those who don’t receive their just reward here will certainly receive it in the next life, so you don’t have a reason to hold on to that. If you relive it, you’re only allowing him to steal more of your life away from you.”

That’s the best piece of advice I’ve ever been given, and I have tried to live it every single day. We always have a choice to move forward, to make a difference. I like to think that we’re not defined by what happens to us…because so many times they’re beyond our control. I like to think that we’re defined by our choices and our decisions. [3]

Elizabeth said:

Healing takes a lot of different forms, and it’s different for everybody. There’s not a wrong way, there’s not a right way. And for me, I’ve had a lot of different therapies. [8]

For Elizabeth, who plays the harp, her therapy included music as well as riding horses, her family and her faith. [8]

Life is So Good: Elizabeth is Choosing Her Happily Ever After

Elizabeth Smart took her mother’s advice to heart—and has lived it to the best of her ability. She served a proselytizing mission for The Church of Jesus Christ. She got married last year. And her book is expected to be a best seller. She said:

It couldn’t get better than that, right? I’ve got great dogs. I’ve got a great family. I mean, I couldn’t be happier. …That happened to me. But I’m so much more than that girl that was kidnapped. [2]

Chris Stewart—with whom Elizabeth wrote her memoir, which was published by St. Martin’s Press—said:

She is one of the most compelling people I have ever met in the sense that she absolutely refuses to view herself as a victim who is going to let this unbelievable experience define her ability to be happy for the rest of her life. It’s inspiring. I think one of the main reasons she wanted to write this book was to show people that. …

Some people have challenges that the rest of us look at and wonder how they endure, and yet Elizabeth will tell you that life is always good, that there is always hope that life will get better, and we decide whether we are happy or not. [9]

Elizabeth’s captors are in prison for their crimes, and she has moved on with her life. She is working as an advocate on children’s issues, using her experience to help others. She said:

I have let go of the past. I have let go of what they have done to me. And I’ve let go of them. They no longer have a part in my life, and I have no desire to see them. I have just moved on….

Although I never asked to be kidnapped or for something like that to happen to me, I can find that goodness can still come out of it, and that I can be grateful for the opportunities that it’s opened up to me that otherwise wouldn’t have been. [4]

Elizabeth Smart has a story to tell: hers. But it’s not just a story of tragedy and despair and the depths of human depravity. Rather, it is hope when things seem hopeless, strength and resilience in the face of overwhelming odds, and the knowledge that no matter what, God is always with us.

The now-25-year-old became a household name in the summer of 2002 when she was kidnapped from her affluent home in Salt Lake City, Utah, at the age of 14. For 9 months, her parents, family and community prayed, searched and clung to the hope that she would be found safe and alive. Her family—members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, sometimes inadvertently called the Mormon Church—worked hard to ensure that Elizabeth’s name and picture were not forgotten in the hopes that someone, somewhere would recognize her and bring her home. And through their faith, prayers and dedication, miracles happened. Elizabeth was brought home.

In the ensuing decade, Elizabeth Smart has refused to look back at her traumatic ordeal—only looking forward. She wants to show the world—and other victims—that you can move past your circumstances and find happiness. You do not need to be defined by your tragedy—but by the stronger person you become afterward. Elizabeth’s memoir, “My Story,” was released Oct. 7 in hopes that it might help others move forward after tragedy—and know that God will never abandon us in our darkest hours.

Elizabeth is Telling ‘My Story’

The Elizabeth Smart story is every parent’s worst nightmare—putting your child safely in her bed for the night and waking up to find her gone. But her rescue also brought hope to other families with missing children. In the days, months and years following Elizabeth’s return home, the Smart family asked that the public respect her privacy and allow her time to heal. She became a motivational speaker and advocate for change related to child abduction, but she held tight to the private, horrific details of her days in captivity. Now, 10 years later, Elizabeth is ready to tell her story in intimate detail—100% of what happened to her. She said:

I didn’t just want to go 10% and sugarcoat the rest. I wanted it to be really what happened and what it was like every single day I was there, because I don’t think I’m doing anyone any favors by sugarcoating it. [1]

Why now, so many years later, is she opening up? She said that people don’t often acknowledge the “just staggering” number of children who are sexually abused before the age of 18—one in 4 girls and one in 6 boys. She said:

I want to reach out to those survivors and those victims. I want them to know that these things do happen, but that doesn’t mean that we have to be defined by it for the rest of your life. You can move forward and you can be happy. >[1]

Elizabeth’s advice to other victims speaks volumes as to the reasons that she waited to write a book. She said:

To have so many people speculate on what happened and what I must be going through, and just so many lies being told. It was hard. I didn’t like it. I don’t think anybody likes having people guess at what they’re going through. Privacy is so sacred and any time a victim is returned, a survivor is found and rescued, privacy is one of the greatest gifts we can give them because if they decide to share, that’s up to them and they will come forward. [2]

So Elizabeth is coming forward with her story, in her own time, and in her own way.

Faith in the Face of Fearsome Foes

Elizabeth Smart’s terrifying ordeal began on June 5, 2002, when she was taken at knife-point from her bedroom by a bearded transient street preacher named Brian David Mitchell. She said:

To me, in my bedroom is the ultimate place in safety. I mean, I felt like that was the safest place in the world for me, so waking up in the middle of the night in my own bedroom having this strange man standing over me, someone I didn’t recognize, not only that but having a knife being held to my throat, I was terrified. I had grown up in a very happy home and I really didn’t know what the definition of fear was until that moment. That brought whole new meaning. [1]

As the street preacher, who called himself “Emmanuel,” led her out of her house and up the steep mountain trail above her home, Elizabeth said she prayed for a way to escape. She said, “All I could think was, if he could part the Red Sea for Moses, He can part some of the scrub oak for me and I can escape…[But it] didn’t happen.” [3]

Instead, she was held captive and endured unspeakable abuse at the hands of her two captors—the street preacher and his wife, Wanda Barzee. Mitchell forced her to act as his second wife, telling her that God told him to do this to her. As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ, Elizabeth was taught differently. She said:

When I was kidnapped and he was telling me all of these things, I remember what my parents said: “You’ll know a person by their actions.” And so even though he was sitting there telling me that he was a prophet, that I should be thankful for what was happening to me, I was really a lucky girl—I realized that he wasn’t a good person. He was hurting me. He made me feel terrible. And growing up believing that I have a kind and loving Heavenly Father, I couldn’t believe that God had called him to do what he was doing to me. [4]

Throughout her ordeal, Elizabeth never lost faith in God nor in His goodness. She held tightly to her parents’ teachings and remembered the words of her mother: “I may not always love your choices…but I will always love you, and I will always be your mother, and nothing can ever change that.” [3] Elizabeth said she knew one thing: “My family was still there. And because of that, because I had that and because I knew that, I was able to make the decision to do whatever it took.” [5] No matter what it took, Elizabeth was going to find a way to get home to her family.

Ice-Cold Water and Other Tender Mercies from God

Elizabeth said that although “God won’t make the evil go away,” He will visit us in our afflictions. [6] She recounted one experience when the camp’s water supply ran out and she became severely dehydrated. One morning, Elizabeth said, she woke up to an ice-cold cup of water. She said she never knew where the water came from—but she knew that it was a gift from God. She said:

I could just feel the cold water running down inside of me and just how grateful I was for it. And just feeling like it was God telling me that I wasn’t forgotten, that He still knew I was there. And that He wasn’t abandoning me. [5]

Elizabeth also described how she prayed nightly for shoes, and then found a perfect-fitting pair under a bush. Other blessings include a rainstorm when her throat burned with thirst and a Thanksgiving or Christmas meal prepared by volunteers. She also said that she could feel the presence of her late grandfather. Elizabeth writes that those “tender mercies literally kept me alive.” Elizabeth says that she “never felt closer to God than I did throughout my nightmare with Mitchell.” [6]

What-Ifs and Missed Rescues— Don’t Second-Guess What Might Have Been

The armchair quarterbacks who speculate on what she and others could have or should have done need to know one thing, Elizabeth said:

You can never judge a child or a victim of any crime on what they should have done, because you weren’t there and you don’t know and you have no right just to sit in your armchair at home and say “Well, why didn’t you escape? Why didn’t you do this?” I mean, they just don’t know. That’s wrong. And I was 14. I was a little girl. And I had seen this man successfully kidnap me, he successfully chained me up, he successfully raped me, he successfully did all of these things. What was to say that he wouldn’t kill me when he’d make those threats to me? What was to say that he wouldn’t kill my family? [1]

And Elizabeth had heartbreakingly close near-rescues throughout her 9-month ordeal. There was the time that she heard her uncle calling for her. The time that the helicopter was just above them—so close that the trees were bending from the blades—but never saw the hidden campsite. The Salt Lake police detective who saw them at the public library—but never lifted the veil that covered her face because Mitchell said it would violate her religious beliefs. Of that incident, she said:

When he turned around and walked away, being 100% convinced that it wasn’t me, I mean, it felt like I was being kidnapped all over again. I mean, it felt like I was being stolen from my family again and being ripped away from my life and my happiness. [2]

And there were others, but ultimately, Elizabeth herself outwitted Mitchell at his own game.

Elizabeth Manipulates the ‘Master Manipulator’

After the close call with the Salt Lake police detective, Mitchell and his wife took Elizabeth to Southern California—where she encountered a few more near rescues. Although only a 15-year-old, self-described naïve child, Elizabeth soon realized that her best chance of escape lie in Salt Lake. She said that Mitchell started talking about going the East Coast—New York or Boston. But, she said her thinking was:

We have to get back to Salt Lake. There’s no way anyone was going to find me if I don’t. But there’s every reason for them not to want to go back to Salt Lake, every reason in the world for that to be the last place for them to ever go. [2]

Elizabeth said that she knew her captors wielded religion as a tool for manipulating others—and that it was wrong. But she prayed that if just once, God would let this idea work—she would never ever do it again. She knew the only way Mitchell would take them to Salt Lake was if he thought the idea was his. [3] She said:

I remember turning around and facing my captors and just telling them, “I just have this feeling and I know that God would never speak to me, but I know he’ll speak to you because you’re his servant. You’re practically his best friend. Could you please ask him if we’re supposed to go back to Salt Lake, because this feeling, it just won’t leave me and, this is just crazy coming from me, but if you ask him I know he’ll tell you.” And so he did end up asking. And that was how it was decided we’d go back to Salt Lake. [2]

‘Are You Elizabeth Smart?’

Soon after the trio’s return to Salt Lake City—on March 12, 2003—they were walking down State Street in the nearby suburb of Sandy. They had just been in Walmart, where Mitchell shoplifted hiking shoes and other items. Elizabeth said:

I remembered all these cars pulled up and then the policemen jumped out of their cars and they came over and surrounded us and started asking questions. And my two captors, they kept giving the answers and the officers started to ask me questions. [2]

Initially, Elizabeth gave the officers the back story that Mitchell had prepared for her. She said, “I was scared. I was petrified.” [2] Elizabeth writes in her book:

“She’s scared,” one of the other officers whispered from the back. “She doesn’t dare say anything.”

The officers huddled together, a couple of them keeping their eyes on Mitchell and me. Barzee seemed to have melted into the background. It was as if no one cared that she was even there.

“She’s scared of him,” the officer said to the others. “She’s too scared to even answer. You’ve got to get her by herself.” [7]

So the officers separated her from her captors. Elizabeth said:

At first, I was still really scared. I kept giving the answers that I had been told to give, and then finally one of the officers said, “Well, if you’re Elizabeth Smart, your family misses you so much and they love you so much and they have never given up hope on you the entire nine months you’re gone. Don’t you want to go back home to your family?” And it was just at that point that I felt like, well, no matter what the consequences are, I don’t care, I want to go home. [2]

Then, she said:

I told them that I was Elizabeth Smart. It was scary because I didn’t know if they thought I had done something wrong or if they had thought I had run away. I didn’t know what they were thinking. [2]

The officers took Elizabeth to a Salt Lake City police station and put her in a room by herself.

Not long after that, the door flew open and her dad ran in. Elizabeth said:

I knew in that moment that nobody would ever be able to hurt me again in the way my captors had. No matter what lay in front of me, it was going to be okay, because my dad was there. [3]

Hope and Healing After Tragedy

The trauma of Elizabeth’s captivity sets the stage for the miracles that happened after her rescue. Not long after Elizabeth returned home, her mom gave her the best advice she ever received:

My mom said, “Elizabeth, what this man has done to you is terrible, and there aren’t words to describe how wicked and evil he is…but the best punishment you could ever give him is to be happy. Move forward and follow your dreams and do exactly what you want to do. You may never feel like justice has been served, but you don’t need to worry about that because in the end, God is our ultimate judge, and He will make up every pain and every suffering that you’ve gone through. Those who don’t receive their just reward here will certainly receive it in the next life, so you don’t have a reason to hold on to that. If you relive it, you’re only allowing him to steal more of your life away from you.”

That’s the best piece of advice I’ve ever been given, and I have tried to live it every single day. We always have a choice to move forward, to make a difference. I like to think that we’re not defined by what happens to us…because so many times they’re beyond our control. I like to think that we’re defined by our choices and our decisions. [3]

Elizabeth said:

Healing takes a lot of different forms, and it’s different for everybody. There’s not a wrong way, there’s not a right way. And for me, I’ve had a lot of different therapies. [8]

For Elizabeth, who plays the harp, her therapy included music as well as riding horses, her family and her faith. [8]

Life is So Good: Elizabeth is Choosing Her Happily Ever After

Elizabeth Smart took her mother’s advice to heart—and has lived it to the best of her ability. She served a proselytizing mission for The Church of Jesus Christ. She got married last year. And her book is expected to be a best seller. She said:

It couldn’t get better than that, right? I’ve got great dogs. I’ve got a great family. I mean, I couldn’t be happier. …That happened to me. But I’m so much more than that girl that was kidnapped. [2]

Chris Stewart—with whom Elizabeth wrote her memoir, which was published by St. Martin’s Press—said:

She is one of the most compelling people I have ever met in the sense that she absolutely refuses to view herself as a victim who is going to let this unbelievable experience define her ability to be happy for the rest of her life. It’s inspiring. I think one of the main reasons she wanted to write this book was to show people that. …

Some people have challenges that the rest of us look at and wonder how they endure, and yet Elizabeth will tell you that life is always good, that there is always hope that life will get better, and we decide whether we are happy or not. [9]

Elizabeth’s captors are in prison for their crimes, and she has moved on with her life. She is working as an advocate on children’s issues, using her experience to help others. She said:

I have let go of the past. I have let go of what they have done to me. And I’ve let go of them. They no longer have a part in my life, and I have no desire to see them. I have just moved on….

Although I never asked to be kidnapped or for something like that to happen to me, I can find that goodness can still come out of it, and that I can be grateful for the opportunities that it’s opened up to me that otherwise wouldn’t have been. [4]

An exciting event occurred far away from where I live that shows the Mormons’ global mission outreach. Although Mormon congregations have been organized worldwide since 1830, it was only 10 years ago when the first meetinghouse was built in India and dedicated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (nicknamed Mormons by the media). On May 27, 2012, Elder Dallin H. Oaks, an apostle of Jesus Christ, formed the first stake (group of local congregations) in India called the Hyderabad India Stake. (“Apostle Creates First Stake in India,” Mormon Newsroom, June 1, 2012). I may never get the chance to visit India, but I know that God loves all of His children and will send the truth throughout all nations in the world. I myself was called by a prophet of God to serve as a missionary in Spain and taught people of all faiths and from many nations including Africa, South America, and Asia. Although The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon) was established by the Lord in 1830, in the United States, there are now “more members outside the United States than inside.” [1]

Know ye not that I, the Lord your God, have created all men, and that I remember those who are upon the isles of the sea; and that I rule in the heavens above and in the earth beneath; and I bring forth my word unto the children of men, yea, even upon all the nations of the earth? (See 2 Nephi 29:7 as recorded by ancient prophets in the Americas in The Book of Mormon.)

Christ’s Church Restored

Missionaries worldwide share the wonderful message that the Church of Jesus Christ has been restored. The apostle Luke taught that God “spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began” (Luke 1: 70). We know that God still speaks to prophets today and began the true restoration of Christ’s Primitive Church in 1820 when he called Joseph Smith to be a prophet. This prophet translated the scriptures (known as The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ) which contain the writings of ancient prophets in the Americas:

The prophet Nephi taught, “And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins” (2 Nephi 25:26).

History of Christ’s Church in India

Since the restored gospel of Jesus Christ was first introduced in India (1850), missionaries struggled learning the native language and taught their important message in English. Then, in 1981, The Book of Mormon had been translated into the Telugu language and more missionaries began teaching in the native language Telugu. However, many converts emigrated and India lacked strong local leadership. Fortunately, in the 1990’s missionary work was successful and there are presently about 10,000 members living in India. [1] For more information, read the below timeline of missionary work in India: [2]

1850 First messages of restored gospel shared by British sailors visiting Calcutta, India.

1851 First baptisms and converts called as missionaries by Elder Joseph Richards & small branch established and small meetinghouse built but most members emigrated.

1853 First messages of restored gospel shared by missionaries in Madras, Bombay, Rongoon, Karachi, Poona, and other areas.

1858 Missionaries returned to Utah and several converts emigrated.

1903 India Mission has not been successful and at least one branch existed.

1981 The Book of Mormon translated into Telugu & the government allowed a missionary couple to establish a branch.

1993 Bangalore Mission created & native of India (Gucharan Singh Gill) served as President. India had 1,150 members in 13 branches.

1998 India had 2,000 members in 18 branches.

2002 First meetinghouse dedicated in India for the Rajahmundry Branch (small local congregation).

2012 First LDS stake in India organized & named the Hyderabad India Stake (a stake is a group of “wards,” or congregations with over 200 members and good leadership).

Watch a short video about the LDS Mormon church global growth by stake:

Why Visit Christ’s Church?

Everyone is invited to attend services in local wards or branches (areas where there are fewer Church members [3]). These congregations are organized into stakes and there are currently 2,946 stakes worldwide. “A stake is an administrative unit composed of numerous congregations (called wards and branches) within a geographic area (similar to what other faiths might call a diocese).” [1] In the Mormon book, the missionary Ammon taught, “God is mindful of every people, whatsoever land they may be in; yea, he numbereth his people, and his bowels of mercy are over all the earth…”(Alma 26:37). The modern prophet Gordon B. Hinckley said:

This Church is true. It will weather every storm that beats against it. It will outlast every critic who rises to mock it. It was established by God our Eternal Father for the blessing of His sons and daughters of all generations. It carries the name of Him who stands as its head, even the Lord Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world. It is governed and moves by the power of the priesthood. It sends forth to the world another witness of the divinity of the Lord. Be faithful, my friends. Be true. Be loyal to the great things of God which have been revealed in this dispensation (“Keep the Faith,” Ensign, September 1985, 6).

I invite you to prayerfully consider this message and ask God of the veracity for yourself. I know that the current prophet (Thomas S. Monson) is led by God to guide the Church of Jesus Christ today. (See Prophets and Apostles Speak Today: Special Witnesses of Christ.) Everyone is invited to listen to him when he addresses the world during General Conference (broadcast biannually via satellite, LDS.org, and Ensign magazine publications).

Elder Holland began his remarks by congratulating the students on their openness to discussions of religious belief. “In the western world religion has historically been the basis of civil society as we have known it, and if I am not mistaken, men and women of the law are committed to the best—that is, the most just—civil society possible,” Elder Holland pointed out. “So thank you for taking religion seriously. You will not only be better attorneys but you will be closer to the truth in your own personal lives.”

Mormonism: The Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ

The origins of Mormonism were the first topic addresses by Elder Holland. Mormonism is a restoration of the original gospel established by Jesus Christ during his earthly ministry. Following Christ’s ascension into heaven and the deaths of the original twelve apostles, the primitive Christian Church entered a long period of confusion:

So what ensued was a millennium and a half of destroying Paul’s hope that there would be a “unity of the faith, and [a] knowledge of the Son of God, . . . that we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive.” It is commonplace to note that in the Christian world we now see anything but “a unity of faith” or any real Christian cohesiveness that could remotely be called “the building fitly framed together”that would reaffirm “one Lord, one faith, one baptism.”

The Mormon Prophet, Joseph Smith

By the time of Joseph Smith, who was a young man during the time of religious contention and revival during the early 1800s in the United States known as the second “Great Awakening,” huge divides of doctrine separated the different Christian sects from one another. According to Elder Holland,

This young boy-prophet lamented that his region was “a scene of great confusion and bad feeling . . . priest contending against priest, and convert against convert; so that [any] good feelings . . . were entirely lost in a . . . war of words and tumult of opinions.” “A war of words and tumult of opinions.” That says so much about post-New Testament Christianity.

Mormonism: Basic Beliefs

Mormons are Christians

We are not fourth-century Christians, we are not Nicene Christians, we are not creedal Christians of the brand that arose hundreds of years after Christ. No, when we speak of “restored Christianity” we speak of the Church as it was in its New Testament purity, not as it became when great councils were called to debate and anguish over what it was they really believed. So if one means Greek-influenced, council-convening, philosophy-flavored Christianity of post-apostolic times, we are not that kind of Christian. Peter we know, and Paul we know, but Constantine and Athanasius, Athens and Alexandria we do not know. (Actually, we know them, we just don’t follow them.)

Doctrinal Differences Between Mormons and More Recent Christianity

A few doctrinal differences between Mormon doctrines and post-fourth-century traditions were pointed out:

• God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, are separate and distinct beings with glorified bodies of flesh and bone. As such, we stand with the historical position that “the formal doctrine of the Trinity as it was defined by the great church councils of the fourth and fifth centuries is not to be found in the [New Testament].”…However, having affirmed the point of Their separate and distinct physical nature, we declare unequivocally that [God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ] were indeed “one” in every other conceivable way—in mind and deed, in will and wish and hope, in faith and purpose and intent and love. They are most assuredly much more alike than They are different in all the ways I have just said, but They are separate and distinct beings as all fathers and sons are. In this matter we differ from traditional creedal Christianity but agree with the New Testament.
• We also differ with fourth and fifth century Christianity by declaring that the scriptural canon is not closed, that the heavens are open with revelatory experience, and that God meant what He said when He promised Moses, “My works are without end, and . . . my words . . . never cease.” We believe that God loves all His children and that He would never leave them for long without the instrumentality of prophets and apostles, authorized agents of His guidance and direction.
• …we are unique in the modern Christian world regarding one matter which a prophet and president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints called our “most distinguishing feature.” That is, divine priesthood authority to provide the saving sacraments—the ordinances—of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The holy priesthood, which has been restored to the earth by those who held it anciently, signals the return of divine authorization. It is different from all other man-made powers and authorities on the face of the earth. Without it there could be a church in name only, and it would be a church lacking in authority to administer in the things of God. This restoration of priesthood authority eases centuries of anguish among those who knew certain ordinances and sacraments were essential but lived with the doubt as to who had the right to administer them. In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints we can answer the question of “who laid hands on him” all the way back to Christ Himself. The return of such authority is truly “the most distinguishing feature” of our faith.