Personal Narrative: Myself As An Orthodox Mormon

One might be fooled by the title of Joana Brooks book The Book of Mormon Girl. While the book may seem like it is aimed at a specific audience, its chapters reveal stories and thoughts that have a broad appeal. The book shares valuable insight about the Mormon culture, but its core is about how you fit into the religion, culture, or tradition that you were raised in or chose to be a part of later in life. The Book of Mormon Girl is divided into two parts; the first part being a recount of her childhood and life in general as a member of an incredibly dedicated Mormon family. Brooks details her “unorthodox Mormon story” in a way that is both affectionate and critical as the daughter of an LDS bishop. As a young child, her imagination was full

Mormon culture has developed over the years in many different ways. I never knew its significance until I observed many different people’s lives on the Brigham Young University-Idaho’s campus. They all have the similar beliefs, ideas, knowledge, behavior, material creations that are learned and shared, which was transmitted through a language. The specific culture shares many beliefs, but yet there are differences in these subcultures that we find in Mormonism. The differences have to do with their personalities, personal influences, and the opinions that come out of those things.

faith-promoting myth was necessary. Young had to be set apart from the masses, even from the Twelve itself, by a wondrous miracle. Nineteenth- century Latter-day Saints in a rather classic example of spontaneous collective behavior 84 began to interpret as miraculous what in 1844 had simply been a turf battle and a changing of the guard. ()

In the two-part series, The Mormons, this four hour documentary by Frontline and the American Experience examines the development and growth of the Mormon faith. The documentary explores both the history and the present reality of the Mormon faith, allowing the viewer inside the compelling and often misunderstood religion. The first part of this documentary explores the birth of Mormonism and the history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints under the charismatic leadership of Joseph Smith, while the second segment studies the contemporary Mormon Church (including the discussion of Mormon missionaries, homosexuality, and the role of women). Although I was aware of some of the history of Mormonism (my mom was raised in the LDS

People and religion are a part of everyday life. The world is sure to be empty without the existence of God’s creation. When people and religion are viewed as different, the history, beliefs, and practice are formed unrealistically by outsider, more so than an insider. In an interview with a LDS, the author attempts to write and summarize a Mormon‘s journey through life with God and others.

The Mormon Church teaches that technology is a necessary evil. They teach that, while vital for communication and occupations, cell phones and the internet posses a massive destructive capability and, thus, their use should be limited. Mormons view the destruction as ethical or religious: stumbling onto pornography or an "anti-Mormon" website. I have somewhat adopted the overarching viewpoint, but with different justifications. I went a week without screens over my freshman year, and realized a sense of clarity comparable to when I first got contacts; in both instances I gained an appreciation for previously overlooked details. Crisp breezes, real conversations, environmental exploration, these treasures were previously muddled down by constant

With renewed devotion to the miracle of the gospel and a desire to meet with my fellow saints, I searched for the church in the phone book. I called the bishop and organized a ride to church the following Sunday for Reggie and me. Reggie decided not to attend anymore. I waited for my ride that never came. I was unaware, but I lived in a very dangerous neighborhood. Once the person at the other end of the phone found out where I lived, it must have deterred them. It was a blessing in disguise. What I did not know was there existed another latter-day Church, The Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, now called the Community of Christ. I had called a splinter group that had nothing to do with the church I had joined. If someone

I live in Independence, MO, literally a stone's throw from where the Mormons go to get super married, or sacrifice their young to some guy named Joe or whatever they do there. So as you can imagine I get the occasional pair of guys on a ten speed regurgitating their propaganda all over my front porch. So when I saw this sticker, I knew exactly what I had to do with it.

I’m a Mormon. I Believe in marriage in the LDS Temple. I Believe I pay 10 percent of my earnings to the church also known as tithing. I Believe in being that I must get baptized at the age of 8, but if you were converted to the church, you can be older. I Believe that I am a Latter day saint of the church of Jesus Christ, but there is a lot of history to us, to make us form who we are today. For example, Brigham Young. He is one of the most important people to us. He helped make “The Book of Mormon.” He was also a apostle, he was also a prophet, a dad, a husband, and a bishop. But most importantly, he traveled from Salt Lake City, Utah, to all over NM, to Nauvoo, Illinois. He brought many Mormons, to basically make the city of Nauvoo, they

From artistic eyes and shady trees and still at the start of the long journey of

I grew up in Virginia with lots of close friends, both near me and in the church. We were in a fairly big ward and hung out with many families. There were not many members of LDS church, but it was enough to have good examples and friends with the same standards. Although many of my friends were not LDS, they were supportive and knew what I believed and the way I wanted to live. However, this was all going to change the summer after my freshman year. In the summer of 2013 my family moved to England for my dad’s job. With this came a new ward, new friends, a new school, and a new community. Leaving my friends I had been close to for ten years was hard. When we got to our new ward it was really small, especially the youth. My two sisters and

Imagine yourself a kindergarten student who was told that the Book of Mormon is not a source of truth; imagine yourself a grade school student who was told by your classmates and your teachers that Joseph Smith was not a Prophet of God; lastly, imagine yourself a 16-year-old college student of one of the top universities in the country who was taught by the professors that worshipping God in our time is similar to worshipping the Greek gods and goddesses in the olden days – trivial and tedious.

Since I was a boy, it had been a dream of mine to serve an LDS Mission. I had the opportunity to begin serving my mission in Hawaii in February 2011. At the beginning of my mission, I carried self afflicted burdens that caused internal torment that is indescribable. I struggled and prayed to God every day for over seven months that I would find a way to rid myself of my burdens.

When was the last time that you read the Book of Mormon from cover to cover? Read it again. It will increase your faith. (Neil L. Anderson, Oct

Being raised Mormon and later realizing the faith didn’t mesh well with me at all, (at the behest of my parents) I had a period of grudgingly attending church services, Wednesday night youth activities, early weekday morning seminary, and other meetings. I was constantly a part of this group of people I felt entirely separate from, surrounded by those who were valiantly upholding the precepts and beliefs that I had internally discarded. While at first this situation was seemingly unbearable to my angsty teenage soul, I eventually grew accustomed to the people there, who were all certainly respectable, some of the most diligent and righteous people I have known. My attitude, which had turned sour with my initial spiritual paradigm shift, grew