Who am I? September 17, 2016
Curious as to who I am? Well, I will now attempt to give a rundown of me in the church.
My father was raised in the church. My mother on the other hand was not. They both lived in neighboring small towns in Nevada. My mother knew LDS girls and wanted to be their friend. She wanted to be part of the church because it felt right to her. But because she wasn't raised a member, in her small town, those who were disliked her and wouldn't be nice to her when she tried to attend church. She was baptized, but that was her extent as a child. My father became inactive after high school.
My parents lived in St. George, Utah during college. There, sister missionaries visited them and they began to become active again. They were sealed in the St. George Temple (I will talk more about that later), and 9 months later gave birth to me.
I have gone to church all my life. When I was 8 I was baptized and so were all of my siblings when they turned 8. I have learned many children's church songs (most I still have memorized to this day) and when I turned the age of 12 I started to attend Young Women's.
Young Men and Young Women's is the youth program at the church. Lessons are focused on what challenges the youth are facing and what more mature lessons can they learn from the scriptures besides that Jesus said "love one another." The youth also have specially tailored programs with in the youth program that help them learn more about their role and who they are. The YM have what is called "Duty to God." I am not a man so I cannot explain all that that entails specifically. For the young women is has experiences and projects that coincide with the young women values. The values can be found in the Young Women's theme. It is like the Scout's Law (Young Men also follow the scouts program).
The theme goes like this:
We are daughters of our Heavenly Father who loves us and we love him. We will stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things and in all places, as we strive to live the Young Women's values which are:
Faith
Divine Nature
Knowledge
Choice and Accountability
Good Works
Integrity
And Virtue
We believe that as we come to accept and act upon these values, we will be prepared to strengthen home and family, make and keep sacred covenants, receive the ordinances of the temple, and enjoy the blessings of exaltation.
I know a lot of that was big words. You don't have to understand it all in one day.
After completing all the experiences and projects that help us learn and apply these values into our life, we receive what is called a young women's medallion. It is a necklace that reminds us to never let go of these values. It comes in Silver and Gold.
Okay. It's not that bad... sometimes... Right now that is where I am in my church life. I am 18, not married, and attending church with my peers. No parents telling us to shh, no weird lessons or talks that don't pertain to me and screaming children during the first hour of church in the sacrament hall (all of that is great by the way).
Now you may still be confused as to why us Mormons are weird in that we would sit through 3 hours of talks and lessons and sermons. Well, this is how our 3 hours are broken up, although some places the order is different and other counties still only have 1 hour on Sunday. This is how I have always known church to go.
1st Hour: Sacrament Meeting. This is where our bishop will give announcements on church events or new callings (roles in the church given to members). We also hear from member speakers or from special guest speakers. We also partake of the sacrament, thus why is is called Sacrament meeting. Sacrament is our way of remembering the Last Supper of Christ and his sacrifice for us. I will not get into much detail about it, but if you wish to learn more, please go to lds.org and there you will find lesson plans about sacrament, talks and more scriptures about the sacrament.
2nd Hour: Sunday School. This is where everyone is split up. In family wards, the children either go to primary (mix of all children 4-11 that sing church songs and learn simplified lessons) or a Sunday school class based on their age. This is split by age. 4-7 year old go to primary first while 8-11 year olds' go to Sunday school first. Those that are newborns to 18 months will typically stay with their parents (they are too young to learn about church in a class setting. 18 months to 3 year olds' go to nursery. It is essentially church day care. They will simple church lessons like Jesus loved the children, and Noah and the Ark. They mostly play with toys and have simple snack. Youth go to Sunday school with is also based on age and it is a mix of boys and girls. Adults have a choice of classes to go too (singles ward is the same but without the youth and children). There is Family History, Gospel Doctrine, Scripture Study, Mission Prep, and other depending on locations.
3rd Hour: Usual just called 3rd hour or whatever class people are attending. The children that went to Sunday School now go to primary, and vice versa. The Youth now split into Young Men classes and Young Women classes. Again also split up by age: 12-13 are considered either Beehives (YW) and Deacons (YM), 14-15 are considered Mia Maids (YW) and Teachers (YM) and 16-17 are considered Laurels (YW) and Priests (YM). This separation of gender and age help to make lessons that apply to them. The Adults are also split by gender but not by age (once your 18 your an adult till you die.) The Women go to what is called Relief Society and the Men go to Elder's Quorum. Again this is to help teach lessons that apply to them that would be hard to teach if the opposite gender was there.
If you would like to read more on any of this feel free to read articles and referenced scriptures on lds.org. I know this is a lot to take in with a lot of weird vocabulary, but you don't have to learn everything in one day. This is my personal over view of what church on Sunday's looks like.
But we don't have just Sunday. We also have children's actives once a month, our boys and young men participate in Scouts, we have youth activities once a week, adults plan actives as well.
Church is a very big part of my life, not just physically with my constant and abundant attendance, but also emotionally.
****I must ask that any comments posted are respectful. You may state things like, "Mormons are weird" or "That is too much church for me so you guys are crazy." But any hateful comments, degrading comments or just intensely filled opinions on why the Mormons are of the Devil, will not be tolerated. You may have your opinion, but don't shove it down my throat. I am not trying to do the same with mine. I haven't and will never say that you must believe everything I say and that you must convert to the church, I have and will not say that me and my religion are better than every other religion, and I will never go to another cite that is posting experiences in another religion and what things they teach from a member's or a preacher's point of view because that is mean and pointless. What are you trying to accomplish by telling someone else that they are stupid or of the devil? You are just trying to get a rise out of them, get them to feel hurt, and get them to second guess themselves. None of that you will get from me. The only thing I will feel is hurt from someone who thinks it is okay to post such things. Honestly that is my biggest pet peeve, so if such things happen, the comment will be ignored and blocked.*****
Thank you for taking the time to read my posts and be respectful of the fact that this is what I believe in and why. Thank You Thank You Thank You.
Have A Wonderful Day and a Wonderful Life.
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