You may wonder why I bother having a page on my blog specifically about my beliefs and the church of which I am a member of. The reason is because you can't know me without knowing what I stand for. My beliefs shape my life and who I am as a person.
We are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS). You may know our church as the mormon church. We believe many things, but here are a few key things that I would like to share with you.
Heavenly Father - We believe in God, our eternal father. We often call Him our Heavenly Father because we are literally His children. We believe that He knows, loves, and cares for every one of His children who has lived, does live, or will live upon the earth. He has established a way for us called the plan of salvation in which we can return to live with Him after we depart this earthly life if we repent and live our lives righteously in accordance to His teachings.
Jesus Christ - We believe that Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer. He came to earth and lived a perfect life, a life free of sin. He took upon Himself the literal and spiritual pain for the sins of the world in the garden of Gethsemane. This pain was so tremendous that it caused Him to bleed from every pore. He then was crucified on a cross at Calvary. Because of His sacrifice, we can repent and be cleansed from our own sins. We strive to live our lives as he did, as His disciples.
Temples - We believe that temples are the houses of the Lord upon the earth. After these buildings are constructed, there is a period called an "open house" where the general public can go and see the inside of these beautiful buildings. They are then dedicated, and from then on only worthy current LDS temple recommend holders may go inside. In order to receive a temple recommend, church members must live up to high standards of righteous living. Inside these holy buildings, sacred ordinances are performed such as baptisms for the dead and the sealing of families for all eternity.
Joseph Smith - We believe that after Christ's death, much of God's church and doctrine was altered or lost. We call this time the great apostasy. When Joseph Smith was a boy in Palmyra, New York, he longed to know which church he should join. In response to his earnest prayer, Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ visited him and told him to join none of them but that they would re-establish the true church to the earth through him. He received and translated the Book of Mormon through the power of God and became the first prophet of this dispensation.
The Book of Mormon - The book of Mormon is the book given to the prophet Joseph Smith. Joseph Smith then translated this book through the power of God. In form, the Book of Mormon is written and structured like the Bible. It is complementary to it. The Book of Mormon, along with the Doctrine and Covenants and Pearl of Great Price, restores full truths to doctrines outlined in the Bible. It is a collection of writings by ancient prophets. Unlike the prophets of the bible, these prophets were in the Americas. The "crowning event" of the Book of Mormon is Christ's visit to the Americas after His resurrection. Joseph Smith said that a man can get closer to God by abiding by [the Book of Mormon's] teachings than by any other book.
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If you would like to find out more, I would love to speak with you personally. You can contact me by phone, on Facebook, or via e-mail.
Don't feel comfortable speaking to me about it? We have full-time missionaries serving for our church. You can schedule an appointment with them here.
If you would like to attend a service at a church near you, find one here.
On-line resources:
lds.org
mormon.org
