So what’s it like being a mormon? You may ask. I can’t say what it’s like for other people, but I will say
what it was like for me.
I thought I had found the answers to
life. Where was I going? The Celestial Kingdom (the highest
degree of Heaven, more on that here).
What was my purpose in life?
Follow the gospel, helping as many people as I could along the way. There was nothing for me to fear
anymore! Life was great and I was ecstatic.
I’d wake up in the morning and read my
scriptures. We were very
encouraged by the leadership to dedicate some time morning and night to
studying. Preferably the Book of
Mormon, as it is taught to be the most correct book on the earth, but the Bible
was also very important. Before I
re-entered the work force, I’d dedicate around 45min to an hour, morning and
night, pouring over the sacred word of God. I’d prop open my institute manuals, pull out my highlighters
and journal and have at it marking and writing. It was a great way to start the day.
I also prayed every morning and every
night, bare minimum. Also highly
encouraged by the leadership, as it is very important to keep God in your
thoughts all day. He provides for
us, shelters us, gives us comfort and guidance and helps us through our day-to-day
struggles.
On Sundays I’d go to church for three
hours. I attended a Young Single
Adults (or YSA) ward for; you guessed it, young single adults. Ages 18-30. Which I honestly thought was great, because I was meeting
people around my age. And we all
had at least one thing in common: church.
Sunday meetings are split into three,
one-hour blocks. In my ward it was
Sacrament meeting, then Sunday school, then the ward separated into male and
female classes. Priesthood for the
men, Relief Society for the women.
Sacrament meeting was the most important of
the three, though all are very important. It’s where we partake of the sacrament, the bread and water
(since mormons don’t drink alcohol) and think of the sacrifice that Christ made
for us through the Atonement.
Then, for most Sundays, we’d hear talks by selected members of the
ward. They’d cover various
subjects from Pride, the Atonement, Christ, Service, etc, etc, etc, and there’d
be hymns and music and so on.
Sunday School was all held in one class,
though depending on the ward there may be a variety of classes available. When you first start converting to the
church you attend a class especially for investigators (those thinking of
joining the church) and new converts.
Think of it as the light version of doctrine. Classes were taught by
members of the wards who were called to the position (because it’s taught you
were chosen by divine inspiration for the role), and there was often much time
for discussion and questions. It’s
where you learn the basics.
Tithing, prayer, repentance, modesty, so on and so forth.
There’s
also, of course, a class for the members who’ve been there for years. That’s where you go more into detail of
the doctrine, the meanings behind it, and how they apply to your lives and what
you can do to improve yourself.
Then there’s the third hour where the men
and women are separated. Men go to
Priesthood, where they do their manly thing (I’ve never attended) and the women
go to Relief Society.
To be completely honest, Relief Society is
a tomboy’s nightmare. Many of the activities
(outside of church) were about baking, homemaking, spa days, and the like, and
it’s just not the sort of thing that I like to do, all the time. Albeit
once in a while is fun. Who doesn’t like to learn new recipes? It also stressed the importance of the role of woman in the church. To be mothers, caregivers, and raising children in the True Gospel of Christ. I still wasn't sure I wanted kids of my own, but it was somehow appealing the way they talked about motherhood being a sacred privilege.
But I did enjoy having a break from the
guys. It was nice to be among
women my age, talking about our role in the church and what we can do to
support the men. Support the
church and raise our families.
Throughout the week there were different
activities. I can only account for
the ones in YSA, because that’s all I ever attended. Families are encouraged to hold Family Home Evening (FHE)
on Mondays. Where you get to study
the gospel and scriptures with your family! For YSA, especially in my area since a lot of the members
were in the area for school and couldn’t be with their families, they’d hold
FHE at the ward building. I think
I only attended twice. I rarely
went, what can I say? My pony is
my first priority.
Then on Wednesdays there was
Institute. Again, another
opportunity to learn more of the gospel.
The teacher we had was really great, really fun and I really enjoyed
it. We got to have a lot of
intelligent discussion about doctrine, the scriptures and such and it was so
good the feel the Spirit so often.
(More on the Holy Ghost later).
It was also great, because again, I get to see and spend time with
people my age and the friends I was becoming close too. In my ward there was also Institute on
Fridays, but I also rarely attended.
(When you drive an hour one way to see your horse and the chapel is
20min one way from your house, it adds up!)
Outside of those there’d also be fun things
like dances (okay I didn’t actually enjoy them that much, only attended one
actually), movie nights, pool parties, and whatever else we could come up
with. The social aspect was good
for me and there’s a lot of great people that I met.
It also gave me an opportunity to get over
my fear of public speaking. I gave
I think 3, maybe 4 talks while I was a member, and each one was easier than the
last. Until I didn’t even write
them out before hand, just read the related material, got up to the pulpit and
talked. I taught a class on doing
genealogy work, and did a couple lessons in relief society.
So, I will not deny that there were many
aspects of the Church that were good for me.
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