Mormon Observation Paper

The Church of Latter-Day Saints (also known as the Mormon Church) was founded by Joseph Smith. God commanded him to translate the Book of Mormon to rebuild the true church. Joseph Smith also wrote the Doctrine of Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price which contained the revelations and additional commandments of God. The Mormons believe in the enteral life and that we will all be resurrected. I will describe more on what I have learned through my observations and interviews. I have learned a great amount in regards to the Mormon’s views on life after death, the process in getting baptized, and their views on the men and women’s different roles.
As I entered the Mormon Church in the Enchanted Hills ward of Rio Rancho, NM on a Sunday morning. Everyone looked proper and very formal. Men and boys wore a suit and tie. Women and girls wore skirts or dresses. The majority were wearing black and white. They all acted in an orderly fashion into the Sacrament meeting. At the beginning of the service we all took our seats and started the meeting off with a hymn while the organ was playing in the background. The organization felt traditional and old-fashioned. As we were finishing

the hymn, a random woman from the crowd went up to the stand and started the meeting off with a prayer. Then the Bishop comes up to the stand, thanks the woman for a wonderful prayer to start the morning and then described how the rest of the service will go. He stated, “We will have people take the chance to bear their testimony and then we will have two assigned speakers discuss about the Holy Ghost.” We sang another hymn and then we continued by partaking of the sacrament. The sacrament consisted of prepared bread and water, which was blessed and passed by twelve young boys who were the priesthood holders. They came by each row working as a group to make sure everyone had a chance to partake of the sacrament. Once they were finished, the Bishop went up to the stand again to bless us all. Then random individuals went up to bear their testimonies on the stand. A few of the children stated, “I know the Church of Latter-Day Saints is the true church of God and Joseph Smith is a true prophet.” Others went up to the stand and started to cry on how much they believed in God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost. Afterwards, we all sang another hymn before the speakers went up to the stand. The two speakers were women and as they were describing the powerful ways in which the Holy Ghost works, they started to also become emotional. We sand another hymn, then everyone went to their separate meetings. Through the entire sacrament meeting, I felt as if I did not belong there. I did not feel welcomed or acknowledged even after my two friends introduced me to a few people. I had a great deal of eyes on me as everyone was leaving to their various meetings. I would assume it was because I wore a bright yellow shirt with short sleeves and a v- cut shaped blouse.
Furthermore, the second meeting I went to was called Gospel Principles.

Every Sunday they would have someone who was a part of the priesthood to teach one chapter once a week. Then the men and women would split into two groups. The men would go into a room to study the ways of the priesthood while the women went to Relief Society. It seemed strange to me as to why men and women needed to separate to study their different roles within the church. It seemed patriotically divided. The men took the leadership roles of being responsible for baptizing new members, give blessings to the sick and struggling individuals, and making sure their families follow the commandments of the church by praying and reading the scriptures. Whereas, women are to find ways to help the community and care for the

youth.
Later on that week, I scheduled an interview with the Enchanted Hills ward’s missionaries. At one session two elders came to see me and two sisters came to see me at the second session. All of them were kind and taught me more on the beliefs of the Mormon church. I asked one of the elders, “how one would go about getting baptized in the Mormon church?” He said, “It’s an in-depth process compared to other religions. The Mormon Church expects individuals who wish to become a part of the church need to have a good understand of what God asks of them by having missionaries come to visit and teach the Gospel. Then after coming to church on three Sundays the individuals are to schedule a baptism interview with one of the elders to verify if they are accepted to join the church.” Then I asked, “What would be asked during the interview?” He then gave me a list of all the questions that would be asked, which were:
“Do you believe that God is our Eternal Father? Do you believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the Savior and Redeemer of the world?
Do you believe the Church and gospel of Jesus Christ have been restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith? Do you believe that [current Church President] is a prophet of God? What does this mean to you?
What does it mean to you to repent? Do you feel that you have repented of your past transgressions?
Have you ever committed a serious crime? If so, are you now on probation or parole? Have you ever participated in an abortion? a homosexual relationship?
You have been taught that membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints includes living gospel standards. What do you understand of the following standards? Are you willing to obey them?
The law of chastity, which prohibits any sexual relationship outside the bonds of a legal marriage between a man and a woman.
The law of tithing.
The Word of Wisdom.
The Sabbath day, including partaking of the sacrament weekly and rendering service to fellow members.
When you are baptized, you covenant with God that you are willing to take upon yourself the name of Christ and keep His commandments throughout your life. Are you ready to make this covenant and strive to be faithful to it?” (A Guide to Missionary Service).

This astonished me of how intense and descriptive these questions were. It truly amazed me how thousands of people have gone through this process and yet the church continues to thrive. Do all these individuals bear their testimony and truly repent for their past transgressions? Or do they simply lie to make sure that they’re saved for their eternal life? During my session with the sisters, I asked them, “What is God’s plan and what is our eternal life?” They start answering the question by telling a story of our pre-existence on how we all agreed to come down to earth so we could be granted a body. While we’re here on earth, we will go through trials and temptations. Then in the after-life we are placed in paradise or prison before judgement day. After judgement day, we are placed into certain degree in heaven which are “the Three Kingdoms of Glory: The Celestial Kingdom, the Terrestrial Kingdom and the Telestrial Kingdom.” The Mormon’s views on the post- existence seems more pleasant than other religions strictly saying there is only heaven and hell. So, I followed by asking, “Do Mormons believe in hell?” They replied, “Yes, the Mormons call it the outer darkness. This is where Satan and his followers spend all eternity to suffer.” It was overwhelming to learn so much information on this religion so rapidly. I was impressed by how well the church has progressed over the years and continue to teach others about their views regardless of how much they suffered in history.
In conclusion, I believe the Mormon religion holds great aspects to their belief system but seem to live in the past. The church is traditional yet original. The community in how they support each other is strong and reliable. They look after one another and help those in need. The Religion does have strict policies and orderly structure in how they operate which will difficult to change. Nonetheless, the Mormon church is slowly becoming more aware of the needs in gaining equality between men and women which is a move in a positive direction. The Mormon church has a few flaws within their own community like any other religion but they still continue to do great things for their community and all around the world today.